White Collar Crime

Ex-partner of Jenkens & Gilchrist gets 8 years in tax shelter case, is ordered to pay $190M

A former partner of the now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison for her role in what federal prosecutors have billed as the largest criminal tax fraud case ever. Donna Guerin, who pleaded guilty last year after winning a retrial, was also…

Mar 1, 2013 9:55 PM CST

New indictment accuses jailed lawyer of defrauding utility of millions

Jailed since November, when federal prosecutors accused him of a role in a claimed conspiracy to launder $600 million in Mexican drug cartel money, a once-prominent South Texas lawyer is now facing a new indictment issued Wednesday by a federal grand jury in El Paso. Marco Delgado, 46, also known…

Mar 1, 2013 5:49 PM CST

Prosecutorial misconduct allegations get huge ‘robo-signing’ case dismissed

A massive mortgage fraud case against two California title officers has been dismissed over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by the Nevada attorney general’s office. Lawyers for the two defendants claimed that prosecutors in the attorney general’s office gave a grand jury an improper definition of what constitutes forgery and threatened…

Feb 28, 2013 6:57 PM CST

Suspended lawyer is charged with impersonating dead client, in order to bilk his estate

A suspended Minnesota attorney has been criminally charged with impersonating a deceased client in order to bilk his estate. Linda Ann Brost is charged in Ramsey County District Court with identity theft, theft by swindle, aggravated forgery of a document and insurance fraud, the Star Tribune reports. Her license to…

Feb 26, 2013 8:03 PM CST

Client drug dealer tells jury he and lawyer worked on witness hit list and laundering of bail money

A former client of Paul Bergrin testified Friday that he and the once-prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney worked together on developing a list of individuals to eliminate as potential witnesses in his pending drug case by murdering them. Bergrin, a former state and federal prosecutor, also helped him with…

Feb 25, 2013 9:27 PM CST

Defendant attorney takes stand in latest corruption trial linked to convicted judge

An Austin lawyer being tried in a criminal corruption case linked to a South Texas judge who has already been convicted of racketeering has taken the stand in his own defense in federal court in Corpus Christi. Marc G. Rosenthal, who is charged with conspiring to bribe then-404th District Judge…

Feb 22, 2013 6:59 PM CST

State supreme court justice and sister are convicted in Pa. political corruption case

In a verdict that is likely to strip a suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge of her seat on the state’s top court and her pension, a Pittsburgh jury on Thursday found Justice Joan Orie Melvin, 56, guilty on six of the seven counts she faced in a political corruption case.…

Feb 21, 2013 8:18 PM CST

Team of 4 Linklaters lawyers joins Pepper Hamilton’s growing white-collar practice group

A former U.S. litigation chief of a major United Kingdom-based law firm is joining Pepper Hamilton, along with three other Linklaters lawyers. The move by Larry Byrne, an ex-federal prosecutor in New York and Washington, D.C. who focuses his practice on white-collar matters, underscores Pepper Hamilton’s growing emphasis on corporate…

Feb 21, 2013 5:02 PM CST

3 lawyers facing theft and RICO cases over private investigation work for Glock get reprieve

Three lawyers facing criminal charges over $3 million in private investigation work they did for gun maker Glock Inc. got a reprieve Monday from the Georgia Supreme Court. Suggesting the 4-year statute of limitations had run on theft and attempted theft charges against Jerry Chapman, former federal prosecutor Jim Harper…

Feb 19, 2013 10:10 PM CST

Former San Diego mayor charged with taking $2 million from charity to fuel gambling addiction

Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor has been charged with stealing more than $2 million from a charity she controlled to fuel a decade-long gambling addiction. O’Connor, 66, pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court Thursday as part of a deferred prosecution, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Under…

Feb 15, 2013 6:40 PM CST

No testimony from state supreme court justice in political corruption case against her

A defense lawyer for suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin got a rebuke from the judge overseeing her political corruption case this week over a comment made after an adverse evidentiary ruling. Told that he could not present to the jury charts showing that the defendant, who was…

Feb 14, 2013 4:44 PM CST

Drug trafficker serving time testifies attorney sold kilos of coke from his law office

A witness currently serving time for drug trafficking admitted in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Monday that he hopes to get his sentence reduced by testifying against attorney Paul Bergrin, who is accused of operating his Newark criminal defense firm as a racketeering enterprise. But Rondre Kelly also insisted…

Feb 13, 2013 1:20 PM CST

Red-light camera firm axed by city as corruption investigation heats up

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will boot red-light camera firm Redflex Traffic Systems when its contract expires in July amid claims the company showered a city official with thousands of dollars in free trips—including a jaunt to the Super Bowl. Ongoing probes into the lucrative deal, which has generated about $100…

Feb 12, 2013 10:19 PM CST

Defense begins for Pa. Supreme Court justice being tried in corruption case

Nearly two weeks into the trial of a suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice and her sister, who are accusing of using state superior court resources in Joan Orie Melvin’s campaign for a seat on the state’s top bench, the defense is beginning to present its case. Both Melvin, 56, and…

Feb 8, 2013 5:23 PM CST

Ex-partner of Grant Thornton charged with stealing $4M in client payments

Updated: A former partner of Grant Thornton has been charged with stealing $4 million in client payments to the accounting firm. Craig Haber, 59, is accused in a criminal complaint filed in federal district court in Manhattan of diverting the money to his personal bank accounts between 2004 and 2012,…

Feb 7, 2013 11:49 AM CST