Lawyer Charged in Alleged $60M Stock Scheme
An Ohio lawyer and a Florida business executive have been criminally charged in New York in connection with an alleged $60 million scheme to steal from a Manhattan public holding company and its investors by artificially inflating the price of the stock of Industrial Enterprises of America Inc.
Executive John Mazzuto of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and attorney James Margulies of Cleveland are also accused of using bogus consultant agreements and lying to regulators, among other alleged misconduct, to cover up their fraud, reports the New York Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
If convicted of the charges they face, which include violating the Martin Act and first-degree grand larceny, they could be sentenced to as much as 25 years in prison.
Both have pleaded not guilty in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan.
