Lawyer Tells Sentencing Judge He Didn’t Know Tax-Lien Deal Was Illegal
A 72-year-old Baltimore-area lawyer apparently learned a lesson about the law of bid rigging too late to avoid a prison sentence.
Harvey Nusbaum was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison for his role in a conspiracy to divvy up the bidding at tax lien auctions, according to stories in the Daily Record and the Baltimore Sun. Nusbaum told U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz that he had “absolutely no idea” it was illegal to divide up the bidding with other large investors, according to the Daily Record story.
“This is positively the worst moment of my life,” Nusbaum said. His lawyer, Paul Mark Sandler, made a long speech on Nusbaum’s behalf that was “sprinkled with anecdotes and Shakespeare,” the Daily Record says.
Lawyer John Reiff emerged as the “star witness” during the hearing, according to the Daily Record account. He said he helped form an investment fund that conspired with Nusbaum to rig bids at the auctions. The idea, Reiff said, was not to bid against each other or “beat each other up.”
Nusbaum, who pleaded guilty in February, will also have to pay $800,000 in restitution, according to a press release. His co-defendant and friend, Jack Stollof, pleaded guilty in January.
The case against Nusbaum has spurred a Justice Department antitrust probe of at least three companies, including JPMorgan Chase and Co.’s Xspand unit, acquired when the bank took over Bear Stearns Cos., Bloomberg reports.
