White Collar Crime

Lerach Gets 2 Years in Claimed Milberg Weiss Kickbacks Case

A once-mighty partner at the nation’s biggest and best-known plaintiffs securities firm was given a two-year federal prison sentence today for his role in an alleged law firm scheme to pay $11.3 million in kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in securities class actions. In addition to the prison term, William Lerach,…

Feb 11, 2008 9:44 PM CST

50 Charged in Child-Care Fraud Case

An alleged child-care scam managed in part by a prison inmate, with the help of his wife, who works as a California government employee, reportedly has resulted in charges against more than 50 people. Some 20 arrests have been made in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas, and other suspects are being…

Feb 7, 2008 11:11 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Takes Deceased Dad’s ID, Gets $1.8M in Mortgages—and 4+Years

A disbarred New York attorney has reportedly pleaded guilty in the middle of a trial to assuming his deceased father’s identity and misrepresenting himself as a lawyer, in order to obtain almost $1.8 million in real estate financing through fraudulent mortgage transactions. Rafael Pantoja, 49, is now facing a potential…

Feb 7, 2008 8:39 PM CST

Bank’s Loss of $7.2B Could Mean Big Bucks for Rogue Trader

Jerome Kerviel’s career in the securities industry appears to be at an end after the stunning news late last month that the junior trader allegedly cost one of France’s biggest and best-known banks a record $7.2 billion in losses. Meanwhile, he appears likely to be criminally prosecuted, and the French…

Feb 4, 2008 5:10 PM CST

Facing Prison, Prominent Fla. Lawyer Still Has Many Friends

Disbarred and facing a prison sentence, a once-prominent member of Palm Beach County’s political structure still had a significant team of well-wishers in his corner as he was sentenced today to a two-year federal prison term in a corruption case . William Boose III, 63, kissed his former law partner,…

Jan 25, 2008 11:00 PM CST

Alleged $7B Fraud Brings Big Case to French Boutique

Once a record rogue trader fraud of $7 billion is announced by a major bank, a high-profile new representation is clearly on the horizon for some lucky law firm. In the case of Societe Generale’s embarrassing $7 billion alleged loss at the hands of a junior trader with back office…

Jan 25, 2008 5:07 PM CST

Feds Raid 4 Calif. Museums in Claimed Art Smuggling Scheme

More than 100 federal agents raided four Southern California museums and a Los Angeles art gallery this morning after a five-year investigation of an alleged foreign art-smuggling scheme. Dozens of agents from the Internal Revenue Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies descended upon the Bowers Museum of…

Jan 24, 2008 6:39 PM CST

Record $7B Rogue Trader Fraud Alleged at French Bank

Updated: An all-time record $7 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated on a renowned French bank by a rogue junior trader has left the Societe Generale reeling. One of the country’s oldest and biggest banks, SocGen discovered over the weekend that it had been the victim of a “scheme of elaborate fictitious…

Jan 24, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Prison Is Next Destination for Disbarred Lawyer Now Working at Kmart

The downfall of disbarred Charleston, W.Va.., lawyer Leonard Coleman, sentenced yesterday to almost three years in prison for embezzlement, is like a Greek tragedy, according to his defense lawyer. Coleman once made $240,000 a year as a partner at Goodwin & Goodwin. Now he stocks shelves at night at Kmart,…

Jan 24, 2008 4:43 PM CST

Ex-CEO of Monster Avoids Prison

The former CEO of Monster Worldwide Inc. has escaped prison under a deferred prosecution agreement for backdating stock options. Prosecutors said they agreed to leniency because the former CEO, 73-year-old Andrew McKelvey, suffers from terminal pancreatic cancer, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). He is the 18th executive to…

Jan 24, 2008 1:45 PM CST

Lawyer Gets 6.5 Years, Fined $5.8M for False Diet Drug Claims

A Mississippi attorney has been sentenced by a federal judge to 6.5 years in prison and ordered to pay $5.8 million in restitution for pursuing baseless diet drug litigation on behalf of clients. Robert Arledge, 50, of Vicksburg was convicted in October of seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud…

Jan 18, 2008 5:21 PM CST

Scammed Clients Seek Leniency for Convicted Lawyer

Clients of a disbarred Florida lawyer who pleaded no contest today to stealing some $200,000 from them are reportedly likely to seek leniency for the man they thought was representing their interests rather than his own. That’s not because they sympathize with the crimes, however, but because they will see…

Jan 17, 2008 11:57 PM CST

Man Collected $470K for Job He Didn’t Accept, Authorities Say

Oops. Somebody apparently got their wires crossed at a business telecommunications firm in an upscale area of northern New Jersey. After offering Anthony Armatys a job in 2002, which he declined, Avaya Inc. nonetheless set up a payroll account for him and reportedly direct-deposited nearly half a million dollars into…

Jan 17, 2008 9:08 PM CST

‘Seriously Misleading’ Affidavit Leads to Longer Sentence for Ex-Brocade CEO

A federal judge said yesterday he lengthened the sentence for the ex-CEO of Brocade Communications because he submitted a misleading affidavit. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco added six months to Gregory Reyes’ sentence for backdating stock options because of the “seriously misleading” declaration, making the total sentence…

Jan 17, 2008 2:08 PM CST

Ex-PI Lawyer, Accused of Keeping Client Settlements, Gets 41-Month Sentence

A former personal injury lawyer in Louisiana has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for lying to banks and forging client signatures. Mel Credeur of Lafayette pleaded guilty last year to making false statements to a bank and forging securities of private entities, the Daily Advertiser reports. The charges…

Jan 17, 2008 1:40 PM CST