Banking Law

Disbarred lawyer sentenced for using then-girlfriend’s identity to take out over $82K in loans

A disbarred Illinois lawyer has been sentenced to six years in prison for using his then-girlfriend’s identifying information to obtain four bank loans totaling $82,700.

Apr 2, 2025 8:55 AM CDT

Merely misleading statements aren’t illegal under false statements law, Supreme Court says

A federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly make false statements to influence the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not punish statements that are merely misleading, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Mar 24, 2025 3:41 PM CDT

Co-founder of defunct firm LeClairRyan may be able to avoid tax liability after 4th Circuit decision on his exit

The co-founder and former CEO of the defunct law firm LeClairRyan may be able to avoid tax liability in connection with the firm’s collapse because of a ruling Friday by a federal appeals court.

Feb 12, 2025 10:44 AM CST

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein accused of transferring millions in cryptocurrency after tax indictment

A federal magistrate judge has concluded that SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein violated his conditions of release on tax fraud charges by failing to disclose the existence of two cryptocurrency wallets through which he allegedly received and sent millions of dollars in the currency.

Feb 11, 2025 9:55 AM CST

Poker-playing SCOTUSblog founder has net worth of negative $3.3M, criminal court document says

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein

Feb 6, 2025 3:21 PM CST

DOJ announces $3B in fines for landmark money-laundering case

TD Bank pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges Thursday, agreeing to pay more than $3 billion in fines for enabling drug traffickers and other criminals to open accounts and transfer money through the bank. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the agreement and said the bank is the first in American history to plead guilty to conspiring to laundering money.

Oct 11, 2024 9:56 AM CDT

Former CFO at Tom Girardi’s law firm reaches plea deal, agrees to $3.1M forfeiture

The former chief financial officer at disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi’s law firm has reached a deal to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud that caused losses of at least $3.5 million.

Oct 10, 2024 9:18 AM CDT

No conflicts by Sullivan & Cromwell in representation of Samuel Bankman-Fried, report finds

Sullivan & Cromwell did not ignore “red flags” that would have alerted it to misconduct when it represented Samuel Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, in the purchase of shares in a mobile trading platform, according to a second report by a court-appointed bankruptcy examiner.

Sep 30, 2024 2:05 PM CDT

Personal injury firm sues TD Bank after loss in fraud scheme

A personal injury law firm has filed a lawsuit blaming TD Bank for its loss of about $146,000 in a check fraud scam.

Aug 29, 2024 12:19 PM CDT

Ex-lawyer Tom Girardi’s former CFO had escape plan and lavish spending habits, ex-fiancee testifies

The former chief financial officer of the now-collapsed Girardi Keese law firm in Los Angeles asked his former fiancee to flee to the Bahamas with him in 2022, she testified Tuesday in the embezzlement trial of disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi.

Aug 21, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi ‘didn’t seem all there’ in late 2020, ex-employee testifies in embezzlement trial

A public defender representing disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi in his embezzlement trial asked a former accounting employee Tuesday about a secret bank account being used by other lawyers at his now-closed law firm.

Aug 14, 2024 12:47 PM CDT

Convicted lawyer’s victimhood claim is ‘absolutely delusional,’ judge says at sentencing hearing

A Chicago lawyer sentenced to prison for bank embezzlement Tuesday interrupted the judge throughout the proceeding and claimed that the case against him “is an evil that’s going on here.”

Aug 14, 2024 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282M allegedly handed firm control to disbarred attorney

Updated: A lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282 million from as many as 60,000 debt-relief clients, either through intentional or “grossly negligent” conduct, had employed a disbarred lawyer alleged to be running the operation.

Aug 13, 2024 3:49 PM CDT

Lawyer thought he was working with feds when he lost retirement savings to scammers

A 76-year-old retired lawyer in Arlington, Virginia, lost about $740,000 in retirement savings to sophisticated scammers who led him to think that he was helping the federal government catch thieves trying to gain access to his retirement and bank accounts.

Jul 30, 2024 11:54 AM CDT

Milberg avoids sanctions despite filing fake claims in Visa and Mastercard settlement

Plaintiffs law firm Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman will not face sanctions after submitting fake claims as part of a billion-dollar settlement involving Visa and Mastercard, a federal magistrate judge ruled on Saturday.

Jul 15, 2024 3:30 PM CDT