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Libya said its negotiating an order for six Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) CSeries planes and is also in contact with Boeing Co. (BA) about the re-engined 737 amid surging demand for air travel three years after the toppling of Muammar Qaddafi.

Libyan Airlines aims to swap eight Bombardier CRJ900 turboprops for a mix of CS100 and CS300 jets, and sister carrier Afriqiyah Airways is in talks on the 737 Max as it seeks 10 planes to replace Airbus Group NV (AIR) A320s, said Ali Elayan, general manager of Libyan African Aviation Holding Co.

Theres a lot of outbound and inbound traffic, Elayan said in a telephone interview from Tripoli. The Libyans are doing better financially and traveling for both leisure and business. It was unexpected after the revolution.

Load factors at the airlines are above 80 percent, a level of occupancy comparably with top-performing European carriers. Libya is also investing in airport capacity, with international and domestic terminals in the capital and second-city Benghazi 20 percent complete, and 14 airports around the country being fitted out with new ground equipment, Elayan said.

Bombardier executives will arrive in Tripoli on May 15 to continue discussions with Libyan Airlines on a CSeries accord involving six orders and four options, though there is no deal confirmed, he said. The executive said he has confidence in the Canadian aircraft even after program delays.

Talks with manufacturers should be completed this year, with funding likely to be via local bank loans, he said. The short-haul jets will be used on Mediterranean and North African routes and also to Europe should Libyas civil aviation authority broker the lifting of a ban on its carriers, he said.

Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways have a combined 31 aircraft, including five long-haul A330s, of which two more are due for delivery. The North African nation has plans for routes to New York, Montreal and Guangzhou in China using the Airbus wide-bodies, and is awaiting flying rights, he added.

The holding company also expects 10 Airbus A350s to arrive from 2019 and will raise $1 billion for payment in installments starting next year, Elayan said.

Libya has big ambitions for the future, the fleets are available, and there will be big developments, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Deena Kamel Yousef in Dubai at dhussein1@bloomberg.net

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Libya Targets Bombardier CSeries Order, Examines Boeing 737 Max

Jordan's ambassador to Libya who was abducted last month at gunpoint in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, returned home on Tuesday after being freed by his captors.

Ambassador Fawaz al-Etan was welcomed at Amman's military airport by jubilant family members who hugged and kissed him and top Jordanian officials, including Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh who hours earlier announced the diplomat's release.

Al-Etan waved to reporters as he stepped out of the plane at the Marka military airfield east of Amman.

He said he was in good health, ready and eager to return to his post in Libya, and that his captors had treated him well. He gave no further details about his ordeal and captivity.

Al-Etan was taken by gunmen from his vehicle in central Tripoli near the Jordanian Embassy on April 15. Assailants opened fire on his car, wounded his driver and then forced him out at gunpoint.

It was one the latest high-profile abduction in the North African nation still plagued by lawlessness, more than two years since the country's 8-month civil war ended with Moammar Gadhafi's killing in October 2011.

A week after the ambassador's abduction, Jordan released a Libyan detainee, Mohammed al-Darsi, who was arrested and convicted in 2007 of trying to carry out a suicide bombing at Amman's Queen Alia International Airport.

Jordanian officials at the time would not say whether the Libyan detainee's release was connected to al-Etan's abduction. But Libyan media reported at the time that Jordan had agreed to set free a convicted militant in exchange for the ambassador.

According to a Libyan official, al-Darsi arrived in Tripoli on Monday on a special plane from Amman.

The same Jordanian aircraft took the ambassador home on Tuesday, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

Excerpt from:
Jordan's Ambassador, Freed in Libya, Returns Home

By Ben Geier May 13, 2014: 11:13 AM ET

By Ben Geier, reporter

FORTUNE -- The Obama administration may have more than two years left in office, but U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is making his last push to take action against Wall Street firms, theWall Street Journalreported Monday evening.

In the next few days, the Justice Department is expected to look for a guilty plea from Credit Suisse Group (CS), according to the Journal. Following that, the department expects tofinalize deals with Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and BNP Paribas (BNPQY).

MORE: Big banks' annual meetings could be especially stormy

The settlements relate to various infractions committed by the banks; for instance, Bank of America's case relates to how it dealt with mortgage-backed securities going all the way back to the lead-up to the 2008 credit crisis.

Citi's situation also deals with mortgage-backed securities, while BNP Paribas is suspected of ignoring U.S. sanctions on other countries, including Iran.

"I am impatient," Mr. Holder told the Journal. "We're talking about conduct that contributed to the greatest financial disaster since the Great Depression. Not the sole cause, but contributed to it, so this is a priority, and that's why I'm dedicating so much time to it."

The story notes that Holder -- a frequent target of criticism from the right who has served in his role since the beginning of the Obama administration -- is expected to remain at his post through at least November's midterm elections.

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U.S. Attorney General closes in on multiple banks

WASHINGTON - Federal authorities announced a proposed $60 million settlement Tuesday in a lawsuit alleging that thousands of military servicemembers were charged excessive interest rates for student loans.

The legal action, the first of its kind filed against student loan owners and processors for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, involves about 60,000 servicemembers who were charged rates in excess of the maximum 6%.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the settlement involving Sallie Mae, now known as Navient, awaits approval by a federal judge in Delaware.

Holder said the lenders engaged in "a nationwide practice'' for nearly a decade that failed to provide military members the 6% rate.

"This alleged overcharging appears to have been the rule, rather than the exception,'' Holder said. "According to an audit, excessive rates were charged to 93% of active-duty servicemembers who had loans owned or serviced by Sallie Mae.''

If approved, proceeds of the settlement would be distributed among the 60,000 members.

The government alleged that the lenders improperly obtained default judgments against servicemembers who were protected under the Civil Relief Act.

As a result, the terms of the proposed deal require lenders to request that credit agencies delete any negative entries based on the interest overcharges and default judgments.

"This type of conduct is more than just inappropriate,'' Holder said. "It is inexcusable. And it will not be tolerated.''

Holder said lenders cooperated with the inquiry and endorsed the settlement proposal.

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Service members cheated on student loans

by KHOU.com staff

khou.com

Posted on May 13, 2014 at 7:12 PM

Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that a nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in six cities has resulted in charges against 90 individuals, including 27 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $260 million in false billings.

Medicare is a sacred compact with our nations seniors, and to protect it, we must remain aggressive in combating fraud, said Attorney General Holder. This nationwide Medicare Strike Force takedown represents another important step forward in our ongoing fight to safeguard taxpayer resources and to ensure the integrity of essential health care programs. Department of Justice will not tolerate these activities."

According to court documents, the defendants allegedly participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. In many cases, court documents allege that patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and other co-conspirators were paid cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never performed.

Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company owners and others charged are accused of conspiring to submit approximately $260 million in fraudulent billings.

Eleven individuals were charged by the Houston Medicare Strike Force. Five Houston-area physicians were charged with conspiring to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary home health services. According to court documents, the defendant doctors were paid by two co-conspirators to sign off on home health care services that were not necessary and often never provided.

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Medical Fraud Strike Force charges 5 Houston-area physicians for false billing