Lawyers Say They Lost Millions to Con Artist Working as Elite Security Consultant
Kevin Richard Halligen wasn’t the elite intelligence operative he claimed to be, but a charming and audacious con artist who lived a luxe lifestyle by fleecing others, including a number of lawyers, of millions, authorities say.
After he had already duped high-level contacts on the other side of the Atlantic, Halligen was introduced to society in Washington, D.C., in 2005 by a lobbyist and adviser to a well-known law firm which later did legal work for Halligen, the Washington Post (reg. req.) recounts in a lengthy weekend article.
Now the subject of a United States effort to extradite him from a London prison to face a felony fraud case, Halligen reportedly made millions through a network of intelligence community contacts he apparently tricked into believing that he had security expertise and connections that he lacked. In addition, courts in Virginia and the District of Columbia have found him liable for millions more that former partners say he defrauded them of.
Halligen also, seemingly, married an attorney working for the U.S. Commerce Department at a lavish 2007 ceremony at which the Patton Boggs lobbyist was his best man. However, the wedding was conducted by an actor, after Halligen told his bride-to-be at the last minute that he couldn’t sign any legal documents, according to the newspaper. It isn’t clear that he informed her he was already married.
A prominent lawyer who offered a toast at the wedding later won a Fairfax County judgment against Halligen for $5.7 million.
The Commerce Department lawyer to whom he was seemingly married for a brief time told the newspaper that she and her family were “devastated” by Halligen, but declined to say more.
Through his British lawyer, Halligen declined to comment when contacted by the Post.
