White Collar Crime

Exec’s ‘Passion’ for NeuTec Pharma Led 2 Lawyers to Buy Stock, Jury Is Told

An executive of NeuTec Pharma had such a “passion” for his company that he told friends and family members “I work for the most amazing company that will save many lives and make me very wealthy one day.” But, although his enthusiasm for the biotech company “rubbed off” on about…

May 26, 2010 6:06 PM CDT

Law Firm Warns Super-Yacht Owners: Beware of Ship Seizures in Italian Waters

A London law firm has issued a travel-advisory to super-wealthy clients planning to sail their super-yachts into Italian waters. Due to an apparent crackdown on suspected tax evaders as Italy struggles to deal with a budget deficit, even legitimate vessels under a Cayman Islands flag could be seized there for…

May 25, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Ex-Mayor of Detroit Jailed, Loses $120K Job, for Living Lavishly Instead of Paying Restitution

An ex-lawyer and ex-mayor of Detroit is no longer an ex-inmate. Kwame Kilpatrick was sent back to jail today by a frustrated judge, for violating his probation by lying to the court and spending his money on a lavish lifestyle instead of putting it towards his $1 million restitution. The…

May 25, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

County Attorney Accused of Mortgage Fraud Will Stay on Job

A county attorney in Iowa will continue in office after having been criminally indicted in a federal mortgage fraud case. Clarke County Attorney Ronald Wheeler is accused of misstating his income and assets and lying about his intention to occupy an Ankeny home for which he allegedly served as a…

May 25, 2010 4:43 PM CDT

Prosecutor and Lawyer Charged with Attempted $6M Extortion via Indictment Misconduct

A lawyer and a prosecutor in Alabama were reportedly arrested at a law office Wednesday as they were accepting a check for $1 million allegedly obtained in a civil case through a threat to pursue or withhold prosecution. Coosa County Assistant District Attorney Frank Selman Teel, 59, and attorney Frank…

May 21, 2010 6:58 PM CDT

Jailed Paralegal Faces 23 New Charges in Alleged $700K Law Firm Thefts

A longtime paralegal and office manager for a suburban Philadelphia law firm is facing 23 new criminal charges after being indicted today by a federal grand jury. Jailed last year after being convicted of identity theft and filing a false police report in another case, Bonnie Sweeten now is facing…

May 21, 2010 12:22 AM CDT

‘Trust But Verify,’ Court Tells 2 Lawyers Suspended Over Partner’s $17M Fraud

Two lawyers who themselves were victims of a former partner’s $17 million fraud have been suspended for failing to do enough to catch Anthony Bellettieri in wrongdoing as he stole from client trust accounts. Although Bellettieri, who is now disbarred and serving a prison sentence, oversaw the Bellettieri Fonte and…

May 18, 2010 7:25 PM CDT

Blago Lawyer: ‘He’s a Celebrity Idiot’; Judge: Juror IDs Secret Until After Trial

To reduce the potential pressure on jurors to consider Internet material sent to them by outsiders about Rod Blagojevich, a federal judge in Chicago today said that juror identities will be kept secret from the public until after the former Illinois governor’s upcoming corruption-in-office trial is completed. At this point,…

May 17, 2010 10:13 PM CDT

Harvard English Major Criminally Charged Over Alleged Trail of Lies & Plagiarism

A 23-year-old senior majoring in English at Harvard University is facing 20 criminal charges over an alleged trail of lies and plagiarism. Among other claimed misconduct, Adam Wheeler is accused of creating a fraudulent life history to get into Harvard; lying to obtain $45,000 in grants, scholarships and financial aid;…

May 17, 2010 8:38 PM CDT

After Federal Judge Bans Counsel Changes, Onetime Billionaire Tells New Lawyer He’s Fired

Only six weeks ago, a federal judge in Houston, Texas, told onetime billionaire. R. Allen Stanford that his two new lawyers would be his last. But already Stanford is testing that limit on counsel substitutions: One of the two new lawyers defending the Houston businessman in a criminal case over…

May 15, 2010 12:07 AM CDT

2 Lawyers Among 17 Charged in $3M Mortgage Rescue Fraud

Two New York lawyers are among 17 defendants charged in a mortgage rescue fraud case announced today by the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Contacted by distressed owners seeking to save their homes from foreclosure, the defendants allegedly responded by stripping $3 million in equity from 26 properties, leaving the owners…

May 13, 2010 9:23 PM CDT

$40 Bounced Check Led to $884K Theft Case Against Longtime Law Firm Office Manager

A 24-year employee of a Chicago law firm has been charged with felony theft after allegedly stealing almost $900,000 from Kelly Olson Michod DeHaan & Richter. Other employees at the nearly 140-year-old business law firm became suspicious of office manager Joan Sanchez after a $40 check bounced while she was…

May 12, 2010 7:03 PM CDT

Would-Be Buyers Ogle Ex-Attorney Scott Rothstein’s Forfeited Classic Sports Cars

As the Daily Pulp blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times reports a lawyer’s claim that disgraced ex-attorney Scott Rothstein stole $168 million of his $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme proceeds for his own personal use, there isn’t much doubt where some of the money may have gone. At least a…

May 10, 2010 11:28 PM CDT

Airline, Law Firm on Hot Seat in Discovery Debacle & Collapse of Big Price-Fixing Trial

A well-known law firm is on the hot seat along with its client airline over a belatedly produced 2005 e-mail that reportedly undermined a high-profile criminal cartel trial against four present and former British Airways executives. The four were exonerated today after the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading said…

May 10, 2010 9:51 PM CDT

Ex-Attorney Antes Up $250 from Garage Sale, Gets 4.5 Years in Client Theft Case

Last month, when a Florida judge delayed sentencing ex-attorney Jessica Miller in a client theft case, he offered a hint about what she might do in the meantime to win a more lenient punishment: Pay back some of the money. Today, when the 32-year-old Miller showed up in court again,…

May 7, 2010 6:23 PM CDT