Wright Express names chief of international operations

South Portland-based Wright Express Corp. has named Gareth Gumbley as executive vice president of the international division.

Gumbley will lead Wright’s international operations and oversee global expansion, according to a news release. He also will help develop payment processing products for global fuel cards and identify possible alliances and acquisitions.

In recent months, Wright has expanded its international reach, completing its acquisition of the Australian assets of fuel card issuer Retail Decisions.

Before joining Wright Express, Gumbley was CEO of epay, a division of the payment processing company Euronet Worldwide. He also was managing director of epay Australia, New Zealand and India.

Wright Express’ primary business is processing automotive fleet fuel transactions and helping customers capture and analyze detailed fuel and maintenance information.

Whole Foods compensation for pair of CEOs: $4.6 million

Whole Foods Market Inc.’s co-CEOs received compensation valued at nearly $4.6 million combined during its 2010 fiscal year.

The natural and organic grocer announced in May that it was making the top leadership position at the company a two-person job. Whole Foods promoted President Walter Robb to share the CEO role with company founder John Mackey.

Whole Foods paid Mackey compensation valued at $45,969 and Robb compensation valued at nearly $4.58 million during the most recent fiscal year, according to an Associated Press calculation based on a filing with regulators Tuesday.

The Associated Press compensation includes salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits and sometimes differ from the totals released by the companies.

Whole Foods paid Mackey $1 salary for the year, a level of pay he voluntarily instituted in 2007. Mackey also elected to forgo any future cash compensation, stock or options awards at that time.

Group defends pair linked to theft of e-mail addresses

An online group implicated in the theft of 100,000 e-mail addresses of Apple iPad users says two of its members arrested Tuesday did nothing wrong.

Daniel Spitler and Andrew Auernheimer face counts of fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. The counts each carry a five-year maximum prison sentence.

Spitler is a bookstore security guard from San Francisco. Auernheimer is from Arkansas. They’re involved in a group known as Goatse (GOHT’-see) Security, described in Tuesday’s criminal complaint as a “loose association of Internet hackers.”

Goatse says Spitler and Auernheimer acted within the law and in the interests of public security by exposing a flaw in AT&T’s security system.

Spitler says he’s “not worried about this case at all.” Auernheimer has mocked the case. He says the affidavit makes “fantastic reading.”

Judge says swindler ruined lives, sends him to prison

The head of a failed New Hampshire mortgage firm who admitted to swindling investors out of millions of dollars was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison by a federal judge.

Judge Paul Barbadoro told Scott Farah that he was giving a sentence longer than the 10 years sought by prosecutors because Farah’s actions destroyed so many lives.

Barbadoro took into account that Farah, 47, helped law enforcement in their investigation of Financial Resources Mortgage, which closed abruptly and went into bankruptcy in November 2009. But he didn’t think Farah had the best interests of the more than 200 victims at heart.

“He’s doing it to benefit himself,” the judge said.