NEW YORK - Opera-loving philanthropist Alberto Vilar was convicted on fraud charges Wednesday for swindling investors, including the mother of actress Phoebe Cates, out of millions of dollars.

Federal prosecutors accused Vilar and a business partner of falsely telling investors their money would be safe.

Instead, the men poured millions of dollars into risky technology stocks that later crashed, prosecutors said.

SEATTLE - Don Wakamatsu became the first Asian-American manager in major league baseball history when he was hired Wednesday by the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners' 14th manager, Wakamatsu was bench coach for the Oakland Athletics last season.

"When I started this process, there were some key attributes we were looking for," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a statement.