White Collar Crime

Tyco Execs Lose Appeal

A New York appeals court has upheld the convictions of Tyco International ex-CEO Dennis Kozlowski and-ex CFO Mark Swartz. The Appellate Division found the evidence was sufficient to support their convictions for taking unauthorized bonuses, the New York Law Journal reports. The executives were convicted in June 2005 of larceny,…

Nov 16, 2007 12:39 PM CST

Kansas Utility Owes CEO $2.46M in Defense Costs

Echoing a similar holding by a federal judge concerning another company executive, a special master in Kansas state court has found that a utility company wrongly refused to pay $2.46 million in legal fees to defend its former chairman and CEO in a criminal fraud case. The utility, Westar Energy…

Nov 15, 2007 7:17 PM CST

Government May Seek Assets From Estate of Dead Enron Founder

A Houston federal judge has given the government the go-ahead to seek nearly $13 million in assets from the estate of Enron founder Kenneth Lay, who died last year after his conviction for fraud and conspiracy. The government will have to prove it has a right to the assets in…

Nov 15, 2007 6:54 PM CST

N.Y. Lawyer Stole $24M, Gets 10 Years

Updated: It isn’t every dishonest lawyer who manages to steal $24 million. But Anthony Bellettieri, a former real estate practitioner in wealthy Westchester County, N.Y., pleaded guilty earlier this year to doing so and was sentenced yesterday by a federal judge to a 10-year prison term. The onetime partner of…

Nov 14, 2007 8:05 PM CST

Insurance Brokerage: Possible Industry Bribery Issues

An insurance brokerage says it is receiving inquiries from federal investigators about possible bribery issues. And it doesn’t appear that Aon Corp. is the only such company being queried, reports Bloomberg. Aon has reportedly hired an unspecified law firm to look into the matter and make sure it is in…

Nov 9, 2007 9:30 PM CST

Execs Scammed on Internet Wild West

A lot of executives may be losing confidential information to Internet thieves, without even realizing it. Due to the widespread availability of specific information about individuals, particularly on social networking Web sites, sophisticated Internet scammers are able to target executives’ computers and send them seemingly legitimate personalized e-mail messages that…

Nov 9, 2007 8:50 PM CST

Stevens Rejects Former IL Gov’s Bail Appeal

A long-shot bid by former Illinois Gov. George Ryan to remain free on bail pending his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of his political corruption conviction has been rejected. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens today rejected the emergency bail application that Ryan made to him last week, according…

Nov 6, 2007 6:07 PM CST

Big White-Collar Prosecutions Dropping

An American Lawyer investigation of the Justice Department’s corporate fraud prosecutions shows a “precipitous decline” in major corporate fraud investigations since President Bush was re-elected. The number of white-collar filings dropped 64 percent so far this year, compared to the same period last year. The magazine says it’s not clear…

Nov 1, 2007 11:30 AM CDT

Lerach Guilty Plea Allows Him to Keep Millions

Securities class action lawyer William Lerach formally entered a guilty plea yesterday that acknowledges he paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs. Lerach faces up to two years in jail and has agreed to pay nearly $8 million in fines and penalties. But the settlement allows him to keep tens of millions…

Oct 30, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

New Fraud: Identity Fiction

Sophisticated identity thieves now have a new bag of tricks up their sleeves. Instead of stealing an actual person’s identity and siphoning money from his or her holdings, the new breed of ID fraudsters simply tricks banks and merchants into granting credit to nonexistent people. One such “synthetic” identify thief,…

Oct 29, 2007 9:38 PM CDT

David Boies Testimony at Issue in Tyco Appeal

Testimony from a well-known lawyer hired to investigate the finances of Tyco International was improperly used to convict ex-CEO Dennis Kozlowski, his lawyer argued yesterday. Lawyer John Martin told a New York state appeals court that lawyer David Boies should not have been allowed to testify about a conversation he…

Oct 26, 2007 6:24 PM CDT

Now on the Defense Side, McNulty Still Likes His Memo

Former deputy attorney general Paul McNulty may have switched sides when he jumped from the Justice Department to Baker & McKenzie’s business crimes practice, but he still sounded like a prosecutor at an ABA meeting yesterday. McNulty wrote a Justice Department memo that allowed prosecutors to continue prodding companies to…

Oct 26, 2007 4:07 PM CDT

Indicted Baker & McKenzie Partner Resigns

A now-former corporate partner of Baker & McKenzie has resigned following his indictment last week in a federal securities fraud case involving alleged corporate kickbacks. The megafirm says in a written statement today that Martin Weisberg, 57, has resigned effective immediately, reports the New York Times in its DealBook column.…

Oct 25, 2007 11:36 PM CDT

Florida Amps Up Health Fraud Prosecution

Health-care fraud reportedly may rival drug-dealing as Florida’s biggest illegal industry, and prosecutors are starting to take notice. Last year, for instance, 80 percent of the medicine billed to Medicare throughout the U.S. for patients with the HIV virus or full-blown AIDS emanated from South Florida, reports Reuters—even though the…

Oct 22, 2007 4:11 PM CDT

Ex Jenkens Partner Named in Fraud Case

A New York partner of Baker & McKenzie has been indicted in a federal securities fraud case involving alleged corporate kickbacks, along with executives and two individual investors. Attorney Martin Weisberg and the five other defendants “face a variety of charges, including conspiracy, securities fraud and money laundering,” reports the…

Oct 19, 2007 9:34 PM CDT