Keating Agrees to Obey Financial Curbs

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Charles H. Keating Jr., a key figure in the savings and loan crisis, had agreed to live by limitations a federal judge had temporarily imposed on his finances.

Under the agreement, Keating has to give the federal Office of Thrift Supervision 48 hours notice of any transactions exceeding $5,000 and is barred from transferring any assets out of the United States.

Those terms, plus a financial disclosure to the OTS that he has already provided, had previously been imposed on Keating by a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge in Los Angeles.

The Justice Department reached the agreement, which was filed in the Los Angeles court, on behalf of the OTS, an agency of the Treasury Department.

The OTS had previously ordered Keating to prove his assertion that he is broke. The thrift agency partially froze his assets in connection with its efforts to recover $41 million from Keating and five associates.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Keating on behalf of OTS on Aug. 17. Judge Stephen V. Wilson issued a temporary restraining order on Aug. 22 requiring Keating to abide by OTS’ financial restrictions for 10 days.

The government’s enforcement efforts stem from the collapse of Lincoln Savings & Loan Assn. of Irvine, which Keating controlled and has been accused of looting. Regulators estimate the failure may cost taxpayers $2 billion, ranking with Miami’s CenTrust Bank as the costliest S&L; failures.

Keating earned huge salaries, lived lavishly and contributed heavily to politicians while he headed American Continental Corp., a development company based in Phoenix that owned Lincoln.

His case has attracted particular attention because of his $1.3 million in contributions to the campaigns of five senators.