Feds Seek $700M from Dreier, Claim Scam Cash Put in Firm Accounts
A new indictment against New York lawyer Marc Dreier now alleges he sold $700 million in phony promissory notes to investors, an amount $300 million higher than previously claimed.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of the higher amount, even though it still sets overall losses to investors at $400 million, the New York Law Journal reports. Prosecutors hope to seize Dreier’s yacht, luxury cars and high-priced artwork by masters such as Andy Warhol and Henri Matisse, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports.
The indictment also adds a money laundering count and says Dreier deposited funds from sales of the phony notes into accounts in the name of his former firm. The 250-lawyer firm was actually losing money, according to prosecutors, but Dreier was able to pay the bills. Some secretaries reportedly earned as much as $200,000 a year.
The indictment also states that Dreier “enlisted financial professionals to assist him in finding purchasers of the fictitious promissory notes and paid those individuals a percentage of the proceeds received,” according to the New York Law Journal.
