Northglenn police on Wednesday said they are investigating a website that is using the legitimate name of a local credit union to offer fraudulent loans to consumers.
The website – – indicates it is connected to Horizon’s North Credit Union in Northglenn and asks loan applicants to provide a variety of personal information as well as three loan prepayments to a Canadian address.
The credit union is not affiliated with the website, which calls itself Horizon North Credit Services, police said.
Police warn consumers not to use the website until their investigation is completed. Anyone with information can call Northglenn police at 303-450-8892.
Additional business news briefs:
BROOMFIELD
Level 3 CEO faces surgery for tumor
James Crowe, chief executive of Level 3 Communications Inc., said he will undergo surgery for a tumor of the pituitary gland that is likely benign.
Crowe, 58, said in a statement Wednesday he will work until the time of his surgery at the end of August and that his recovery will take two to three weeks.
Kevin O’Hara, president and chief operating officer of Level 3, a long-distance phone and data-network operator, will assume Crowe’s duties until he returns to work, company spokesman Josh Howell said.
DENVER
Rural health council to oversee $7.5 million
Gov. Bill Ritter issued an executive order Wednesday establishing a new Colorado Rural Health Care Grants Council, which will distribute a $7.5 million charitable gift from UnitedHealth Group over the next six years.
The funds will help the state address deficiencies in access to health care for rural and underserved Coloradans. The United Health Foundation has previously donated $1 million to rural health providers.
LAKEWOOD
FirstBank expands to Phoenix market
Lakewood-based FirstBank has entered the Phoenix market with the opening of a new bank Aug. 1.
FirstBank plans to open three more branches in the Phoenix metro area within the year. Two will be in the suburb of Scottsdale.
FirstBank Holding Co., with assets totaling more than $8.3 billion, also has three locations in California.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.
Fastest IBM computer headed to university
International Business Machines Corp., the biggest commercial maker of supercomputers, is set to build the world’s fastest computer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The National Science Foundation will award $208 million to fund construction of the machine over 4 1/2 years, the foundation said Wednesday in a statement. The computer, called BlueWaters, is the fastest to be announced, said Thomas Dunning, director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois.
LOS ANGELES
Toyota, GM on list of worst TV advertisers
Toyota and General Motors, the world’s biggest automakers, sponsor prime-time television shows with the most sex, violence and profanity, a children’s watchdog group said.
The annual lists of the 10 “best” and “worst” advertisers from the Parents Television Council are based on sponsorship of shows with the least and most content that the group finds objectionable, Melissa Henson, a senior director, said Wednesday in an interview.
CHICAGO
Rival papers deliver pact on distribution
Newspaper publisher Sun- Times Media Group Inc. signed an unusual deal with one of its biggest competitors Wednesday, announcing that the Chicago Tribune would deliver its flagship Chicago Sun-Times and 10 other suburban Chicago newspapers owned by the company.
Terms of the delivery deal weren’t disclosed. Tribune spokesman Michael Dizon said the new distribution would begin shortly and be phased in through the fourth quarter.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
Ford shares rise on ’09 profitability target
Ford, coming off a record loss last year, “absolutely” expects to reach its target of returning to profitability in 2009, chief executive Alan Mulally said. The shares rose their most in more than a year.
“We absolutely believe we can achieve that,” Mulally told reporters Wednesday in Traverse City.
The company can stem annual losses even with a weakened housing market and tightening credit, he said.
MINNEAPOLIS
Pilots are lining up for jobs at Northwest
Northwest Airlines said more than 1,400 pilots have applied for jobs since it began a hiring push July 24.
Northwest said Wednesday it plans to hire 250 to 350 new pilots in the next year. It has also recalled nearly 400 furloughed pilots. Those pilots need some training before they can begin flying again, but 230 of them were at the controls by Aug. 1, and 40 more will be flying by the end of the month, Northwest said.
TIGARD, Ore.
Blackstone to spread Hilton Hotels to Asia
With its pending $26.5 billion purchase of Hilton Hotels Corp., Blackstone Group LP intends to expand the hotel brand in Asia and other markets that are expanding faster than the U.S.
