Despite offers of assistance from numerous criminal investigative agencies, including the FBI, U.S.
Inspector Feeney swore to a 61-page criminal complaint that afternoon, which detailed the criminal scheme and charged the defendants with wire fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy. While mail fraud charges were an early option, they were quickly supplanted by stronger counts of bank and securities fraud. The defendants allegedly failed to disclose billions of dollars in off-balance-sheet debt for which Adelphia was liable, inflated Adelphia’s operational and financial statistics, and used Adelphia assets—including cash, real estate, and corporate jets—for their personal benefit. One count accused the Rigases of using Adelphia funds to repay $250 million worth of margin loans. Investigations of large businesses invariably attract a slew of investigative agencies. In part due to its corporate fraud status in a post-Enron world, and in part due to Adelphia’s huge subscriber base, media interest was high. Despite offers of assistance from numerous criminal investigative agencies, including the FBI, U.S. Attorney James B. Comey chose to work exclusively with the Postal Inspection Service. Agreeing with the advice of AUSAs Owens and Coleman, Comey registered his vote of confidence in the Inspection Service by politely declining requests for inclusion, some of which were repeated as it became evident arrests were in the offing. The surveillances continued, with Inspectors following Tim Rigas to a Greenwich, Connecticut, repair shop where he picked up his car and drove back to New York.