Bank Accounts Of Gold Trader Suspected Of Murder Frozen

MOORPARK (AP) -- An Australian court has frozen a bank account linked to a Ventura County gold trader who's charged with murdering his wife.

The Ventura County Star says the Supreme Court of Western Australia issued a restraining order earlier this month for gold, silver and cash in an account held by Goldfinger Bullion Reserve Corp. The firm is one of several businesses involving James Fayed of Moorpark and his wife, Pamela.

A judge says authorities contend the firm accepted money obtained through fraud.

Pamela Fayed was estranged from James Fayed when she was stabbed to death in a Los Angeles parking garage in 2008, one day before a divorce hearing. Fayed and three other men are charged with murder and conspiracy.

U.S. prosecutors also are trying to seize millions of dollars in accounts tied to Fayed's businesses.