OTHER NEWS - Nov. 7, 1992

Keating Aide Backpedals: Charles H. Keating Jr.’s defense attorney began to chip away Friday at damaging testimony that the prosecution’s star witness has provided during the federal criminal fraud and racketeering trial of the former Lincoln Savings & Loan operator and his son. Keating’s top aide, Judy J. Wischer, acknowledged under cross-examination by defense attorney Stephen C. Neal that outside auditors knew about certain Lincoln transactions that weren’t documented in Lincoln files. Previously, Wischer, the former president of Lincoln’s parent company, American Continental Corp., testified that the thrift should not have recorded $135 million in profits on more than a dozen deals, mainly because the transactions weren’t fully documented for the auditors. She is expected to continue testifying on Tuesday. The Irvine thrift and its Phoenix parent company collapsed in April, 1989, and Lincoln became the nation’s biggest thrift failure, costing taxpayers $2.6 billion.