White Collar Crime

Unanimous House Committee OKs Impeachment Articles for Federal Judge

By a unanimous vote, the House Judiciary Committee today approved four articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. The articles, which assert a three-decade course of claimed misconduct, will now go to the full House of Representatives for a vote on whether to impeach the 63-year-old…

Jan 27, 2010 6:59 PM CST

A Subdued Scott Rothstein Pleads Guilty in $1.2B Ponzi Scheme

Former South Florida lawyer Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty today to all five counts against him in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. According to the South Florida Business Journal, “Rothstein looked pale and subdued—a far cry from the brash, cavalier man who threw around money and called the governor his friend.”…

Jan 27, 2010 3:58 PM CST

Judge Says Lloyd’s Must Defend Allen Stanford in Alleged $7B Scheme, Under D&O Policies

Accused of operating a $7 billion Ponzi scheme under the guise of running his Texas-based investment company, billionaire R. Allen Stanford has been fighting to force renowned insurer Lloyd’s of London to defend him and other executives on related criminal charges. Today, in a ruling by a federal judge in…

Jan 27, 2010 1:59 AM CST

Ex-Prosecutor Accused in Alleged RICO Scheme to Bilk Corporate Client of $3M

A former federal prosecutor who has been working as outside counsel for the U.S. headquarters of Glock has been accused with two other defendants of attempting to bilk the Austrian-based gunmaker of $3 million. James Harper III, 55, who also was a candidate for state attorney general a decade ago,…

Jan 26, 2010 7:46 PM CST

Madoff and His Confidants Take a Drubbing in Third Season of ‘Damages’

The television show Damages on FX has taken another case from the headlines, and this season it’s well-known: the massive Bernard Madoff fraud. Lawyer Patty Hewes, played by Glenn Close, is appointed to recover assets from a Ponzi schemer, Louis Tobin, whose fraud resembles Madoff’s, according to stories in the…

Jan 25, 2010 7:32 PM CST

Ex-Attorney Charged in Alleged Loan Modification Scheme Victimizing Over 400

A California lawyer who lost his license to practice in October and was sued by the state attorney general is now facing criminal charges over a claimed $1.25 million mortgage loan modification scheme targeting struggling homeowners. Christopher Lee Diener, 42, with the help of two business partners, allegedly defrauded more…

Jan 25, 2010 4:48 PM CST

Secretary Gets Probation for Using Law Firm Credit Card for Exotic Dancer Trip

A former legal secretary at Saul Ewing in Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to probation for using a law firm credit card to finance a trip involving her male exotic dancer business. Jarriette Richie was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $56,000 in restitution, according to the…

Jan 25, 2010 12:34 PM CST

Young Lawyer’s Soaring Career Is Interrupted by Federal Indictment

After he graduated from a North Carolina law school in 1998, Charles Ruffin Poole’s legal career clearly was on an upward trajectory for which the sky seemed to be the limit. Hired to work in the state attorney general’s office, he quickly gained a much higher political profile when former…

Jan 22, 2010 7:45 PM CST

WaPo: SEC Ignores Whistle-blowers, Lacks—and Violates—Tip Procedures

Even though the Securities and Exchange Commission often can’t offer a reward, whistle-blowers still come to the agency with tips about claimed wrongdoing. The problem is, the SEC may not follow up on them, reports the Washington Post. Lacking a uniform system for addressing tips, the agency apparently all-too-frequently lets…

Jan 21, 2010 7:58 PM CST

Judge Calls Ex-Detroit Mayor a Liar, Says He Must Pay $319K Within 90 Days

A Michigan judge called the former mayor of Detroit a liar today in a court hearing over Kwame Kilpatrick’s claim that he can’t afford to pay all of the $1 million in restitution called for in plea bargains in two criminal cases. The plea bargains resulted from a racy text-messages…

Jan 20, 2010 11:37 PM CST

Prominent Lawyers Charged with Failing to File Personal Income Tax Returns

Two New York attorneys who reportedly have been practicing as partners of well-known law firms and a Long Island personal injury lawyer have been charged in state court with failing to file personal income tax returns. The cases were brought, officials say, as part of a stepped-up effort to enforce…

Jan 20, 2010 7:56 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Accused of Using Still-Open IOLTA Account to Steal From Ex-Clients

Allegedly making use of an attorney trust account that remained open for four years after he was disbarred as a Pennsylvania lawyer in 2004, former practitioner George Guyer Young III is now accused of misappropriating thousands of dollars in former client funds. The 48-year-old suburban Philadelphia resident is charged with…

Jan 20, 2010 6:40 PM CST

Execs & Gen’l Counsel Among 22 Nabbed in 1st FBI Foreign Bribes Sting

In what one observer described as a case of “compliance roulette” marking an apparent new era of federal enforcement concerning illegal foreign bribes, 22 people—including corporate executives and at least one general counsel—have been arrested in what is reportedly the first FBI undercover sting operation concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices…

Jan 19, 2010 11:57 PM CST

Unswayed By ‘Tiger Woods’ Defense, Judge OKs Charges in Letterman Extortion Case

Unpersuaded by a defense argument that a television producer accused of attempting to extort money from David Letterman should be treated just like women who received seven-figure payoffs from golfer Tiger Woods, a New York judge has OK’d the continued prosecution of Robert “Joe” Halderman. In a bid to get…

Jan 19, 2010 6:35 PM CST

SEC Shines Tarnished Top-Cop Badge, Looks to DOJ for Post-Madoff Playbook

Embarrassed by lapses that allowed Bernard Madoff to operate a record-breaking Ponzi scheme for years despite warnings that his claimed hedge-fund earnings had to be fraudulent, officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission are shining the federal agency’s tarnished top-cop badge. Seeking to enhance the SEC’s reputation as a tough…

Jan 15, 2010 12:22 AM CST