European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters thursday september 22.1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.62 dutch Guilder .1.69 German Mark. 1.51note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following arc Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies austrian Schilling 10.9050 Bahrain Dinar 0.37685 belgian franc .31.90 British Pound. 1.5775 Canadian Dollar. 1.3437 danish Krone. 6.0690 dutch Guilder 1.7180 French franc. 5.2885 German Mark. 1.5477 greek drachma 233.55italian lira. 1,557 Kuwait Dinar 0.29690 norwegian Krone. 6.7895 portuguese escudo. 157.41 saudi rial. 3.7503 Spanish peseta. 128.11 Swiss franc. 1.2835 turkish lira. 33,940.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $394j5 an ounce Silver quote $5.62 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co and the associated press new York Exchange new York a sales the 15 most Active new trading nationally on tuesday. Nam Digitale. We Marl Micron tech sat to corp for Molof 5 ref lab Ambia Rick Tim cads. No event coca cola. Mcdonalds s  Mac a com Otis  s closing Palco and net change York Stock Exchange issues volume5,044,100 4.916,600 4,786,000 4,581.200 4.122,900 4,108,800 3,639.900 3,166,200 2,943.400 2,928.700 2,760,50ff 2,745,200 2.399.300 2.384,700 2,309,100 list chg 2 7 a 1h 23w i 55 h 27v 6v4 vi25tt a 63v4 Evvi -1 48v v.26 w 70vi a 33 /4 -249v4 v4 49-1 american Exchange new York a sales closing Price and net change of the 10 most Active american Stock Exchange issues trading nationally on tuesday. Name volume lift . 1,481,900 13vvunch Colum lab 1,307,800 4tt unch us i Osci 1,262,600 7 a 1ttroyaloakg. 1,256,300 4m unch Andt cafe 842.300 231v 4vv pc Laid 816,800 1h-1/16/  640.900 3-w w pm limb. 579.800. 35 pc Chrystl a. 430.000 10 Pegasus gid366.300 17 i w America West trims pre Christmas fares Phoenix a America West airlines announced tuesday that it is of Fering savings of up to 48 percent on off Peak Lares Lor travellers completing their trips by dec. 20. The discount fares Good monday through thursday will be available on nearly 250 routes nationwide but ticket must be purchased by sept. 23. A trip from Atlanta to Las vegas and Bak will Cost of a a 4s percent savings from the regular $37s fare while a round trip from Newark n.j., to los Angeles will  $318, a 31 percent savings. Some fares Are nonrefundable and re quire a 14-Day Advance Purchase  Friday night stay. The Carrier also announced it will match a one Day promotion initiated by not fest airlines for Low fares to min Neapolis on saturday. Round trip fares will Range from "$119 to $129 from various Western cities representing savings of up to 71 percent off the regular fare. Fraud stung irs tightens rules for electronic filing by the Washington Post Washington in an Effort to cutback on fraud that has plagued its computerized tax return program the inter Nal Revenue service on tuesday tight ened procedures under which tax preparers Are allowed to file returns electronically. Under the new rules operators of serv ices that Send in electronic returns will be fingerprinted and their backgrounds will be checked for criminal records. The irs also will run credit checks on these operators and require them to be . Citizens or permanent residents and be at least21 years old. The Agency is very concerned about fraud both in the electronic filing pro Gram and throughout the system Saidis commissioner Margaret Milner Richardson. Fraud is a dynamic process and you have to be constantly changing tactics to combat it she said. The new rules affect Only the business a s that help prepare arid Send in elec tronic returns. Taxpayers themselves should notice no difference. The irs began testing electronic filing in 1986 and has been allowing taxpayers nationwide to file electronically since1990. Because of the technology and expertise involved the Agency require these returns to come through special electronic return originators. Some 13.5 million of the roughly 115million returns filed this year came in that Way and the irs Hopes that number will climb to 80 million by 200l computerized returns Are easier for the irs to handle and provide speedier refunds. However thieves have found Way around existing Security measures and siphoned millions of dollars out of the sys tem. The Speed with which refunds Are provided has made it possible for Crooks to obtain fraudulent refunds before theirs realizes something is wrong. Senate probes said that Iri the first four months of this year the irs caught21,000 fraudulent return applications but Only about two thirds were detected in time to Stop refunds. With paper returns the Agency prevents checks from going out in nine cases out of 10 if problems Are uncovered. By checking carefully on the Back grounds of people whom the irs allows to serve As electronic return originators Agency officials believe such precautions will discourage dishonest people from seeing the program As a Good Way to make Money said Ted Brown a Senio Rirs official in charge of combating fraud. Fingerprints will be checked against the Fri s files Brown said. Electronic return originators who herein the program last year and have not made any changes in address employ ment and the like will not have to go through the new background checks officials said. Profitable peddling workers at the fast bicycle factory at Sengerhausen in the Eastern German state of Sachsen Anhalt assemble two wheel ers that will join in a 1994 output expected to bring in about $18 million. The factory with 120 employees the largest in the state Hopes to put 70,000 bikes of All types on the Road by the end of the  the lawmakers spurn Cost of living pay raise Byers Pianin of congressional leaders Are paid More. I did not want to put Federal employee Vacti inn rat oct t \ _ i r t. _. Washington Post Washington for the second consecutive year congressional leaders tuesday cancelled a Cost of living pay raise for members avoiding a political showdown that might have jeopardized a scheduled 2.6 percent pay raise for Feder Al workers. Negotiators for the House and Senate appropriations committee agreed to Lan Guage in the 1995 Treasury postal serv ices spending Bill that blocks a $3,473 pay raise for members from taking effect. Most members of Congress receive $133,600 a year in salary while a handful of l s a Pai. The controversy came to a head this week when rep. Jim Lightfoot of Iowa the ranking Republican on the Treasury postal services subcommittee threatened to Force a vote in the House on the pay raise unless the House and Senate conferees eliminated the cola increase for members. Lightfoot claimed that con Gress was trying to sneak through a congressional pay raise a charge hotly disputed by democratic appropriators. Rep. Steny Hoyer d-md., chairman of the Treasury postal services subcommittee said he insisted on forthright Lan Guage barring the pay increase because i t t t t l employees in the position where they get stung be cause of the unwillingness of Congress to follow the Law in the face of political  under a government ethics Law de signed to take the politics out of the con Gressional pay Issue House and Senate members automatically receive the same Cost of living adjustments granted other Federal employees unless Congress takes action to rescind its own pay raise. President Clinton pledged last month that Federal employees would receive a 2 percent pay increase and half of their scheduled locality pay next year