Bond Revoked for La. Lawyer Accused in $30M Law Firm Theft and Hacking Cases
A Louisiana attorney previously accused of stealing some $30 million from his law firm’s trust account has had his bond revoked after a more recent claim that he hacked into its computer system last month.
Former Adams and Reese partner James “Jamie” Perdigao, 46, had been free on $2 million bond secured by his parents’ homes in a 2004 mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion case. However, federal magistrate judge Louis Moore Jr. ordered that he remain in jail based on concerns about his Oct. 15 arrest by FBI agents in the hacking case and evidence that he lied to officials about his place of residence, reports the Am Law Daily.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, Perdigao contends in a racketeering lawsuit he filed earlier this year against Adams and Reese that his former law firm retaliated against him by claiming he had stolen millions of dollars after he objected to alleged unsavory practices at the New Orleans firm.
The law firm denies his claims and characterizes his lawsuit as a work of fiction.
The escalating court drama worthy of a John Grisham novel is a full employment act for a number of well-known lawyers, the AmLaw Daily notes:
Michael Sundermeyer and Joseph Terry Jr., of Williams & Connolly, and Stephen Kupperman and Bailey Smith of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver in New Orleans are serving as the law firm’s counsel in the civil case. Perdigao, meanwhile, is represented by New Orleans solo practitioners Robert Matthews and Pauline Warriner. His criminal defense team includes solos William Wessel and Charles Griffin II, locally, and Joseph Beeler of Miami.
Perdigao is scheduled to go to trial in December in the initial federal criminal case filed against him.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Hacking Charge Added to Alleged $30M Law Firm Theft Case Against La. Lawyer”
ABAJournal.com: “Indicted Lawyer Files RICO Suit Against Former Firm”
