Bankers group elects Scully chairwoman

Mary Ann Scully, chairwoman, president and CEO of Howard Bank in Ellicott City, has been elected chairwoman of the Maryland Bankers Assocation of Annapolis for 2011-12.

Scully has been a banker for more than three decades, and headed the organizing team that launched Howard Bank, according to an association statement.

“It is humbling to have been selected by my peers to lead our state bankers association at this time,” Scully said in the statement. "The committed employees of the Maryland banking industry are making a difference in communities across Maryland every day, funding small businesses, helping to create jobs and giving families the financial resources they need to meet their goals. We will continue to harness that energy and expertise throughout our Association and with public policy makers.“

New directors are Raymond W. Hamm Jr., market executive of PNC Bank; Denise L. Pope, market executive for mid-Atlantic market, Capital One; John A. Scaldara, chairman, president and CEO of the Columbia Bank; and Kelly Whitley Hobbs, vice president of public policy and state government relations, mid-Atlantic, Bank of America.

State's GDP rose 2.9 percent in 2010

Maryland's gross domestic product grew 2.9 percent last year, according to new data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, about the same as its neighbors and outpacing the national growth rate of 2.6 percent.

Maryland's rate put it in the fourth quintile in the nation. Its per capita real GDP was $45,878, 13th highest in the U.S. and 8 percent above the national average, according to state figures.

Last year, Virginia's GDP grew 2.6 percent, Pennsylvania's grew 3.0 percent and Delaware's grew 1.3 percent. Washington, D.C.'s rate rose 3.5 percent.

The GDP growth last year reversed a 2.5 percent contraction in 2009.

Pebblebrook buys $152M stake in Manhattan hotels

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust of Bethesda agreed to invest about $152 million in a joint venture with affiliates of Denihan Hospitality Group of New York, which owns six Manhattan hotels that will comprise 1,730 rooms by the fall: Affinia Manhattan, Affinia Shelburne, Affinia Dumont, Affinia 50, Affinia Gardens and the Benjamin.

The hotels are valued at about $910 million, according to a Pebblebrook statement, and carry about $600 million in existing first mortgage and mezzanine debt.

Pebblebrook will own 49 percent of the venture. It and Denihan will share joint control of all operating and financial decisions. Denihan will continue to manage the hotels.

Mortgage executive gets four years for fraud

Daniel E. Fink Jr., 44, the former owner of Homemaxx Title & Escrow, with offices in Middle River and Parkville, was sentenced June 17 in U.S. District Court to four years in prison for wire fraud, according to federal prosecutors.

Fink, who was a fugitive for almost a year, also was ordered to pay restitution of about $2.2 million, according to his plea agreement.

From 2003 to 2004, Fink defrauded lenders, a title insurance company and homeowners, according to the agreement. In several transactions, Fink told lenders that he was purchasing property and obtained a loan, but in fact purchased only the ground rent connected to that address and used the rest of the loan for personal expenses.

Those expenses included personal gifts for women, including more than $200,000 of escrow money to buy a property in Florida and $59,728 to purchase a new 2004 Mercedes CLK 500 for a woman Fink knew from the Gentlemen’s Gold Club. Fink also paid $61,965 for a used 2003 Hummer H2 and spent money on trips to Paradise Island in the Bahamas, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in February 2010 in Palm Beach, Fla.

Merchant gets 30 months for selling fake goods

Marvin A. Johnson, 47, of Baltimore, owner of Prestigious Fashions in Baltimore, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to 30 months in prison for trafficking in counterfeit merchandise with upscale labels such as Coach, Louis Vitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci.

As part of their investigation, police in September executed search warrants at six locations and vehicles associated with Johnson and seized about 3,600 items of counterfeit luxury items with a retail value of from $400,000 to $1 million, prosecutors said.