Con Man Agrees to 5 Years in Swindle of Brobeck Partner's Widow

Criminal Justice

Con Man Agrees to 5 Years in Swindle of Brobeck Partner's Widow

October 15, 2008, 3:36 pm CDT

Corrected: A con man who swindled the widow of a partner of the once-legendary Brobeck Phleger & Harrison law firm out of $2 million via a fraudulent mortgage refinancing scheme will be sentenced to 63 months in federal prison under a plea deal.

Michael Edison, who was introduced to Jean Phleger by her son-in-law, actor Don Johnson, agreed to refinance her home to help her get cash to pay bills. Instead, he used the money “for a private jet, a boat docked in Malta, cars, and goods at Kmart, Foot Locker and other stores, according to court filings,” reports the Recorder. She is the widow of Atherton Phleger, whose father Herman Phleger was a founding partner of the dissolved law firm.

He pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court, apparently in the Northern District of California, to fraud and obstruction charges, according to the article.

An earlier San Francisco Chronicle article says the scam also resulted in an effort by Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to foreclose on Phleger’s home in San Francisco. She is now close to 70 years old, and he is in his early 60s, according to the article.

U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong granted a temporary restraining order (PDF) last year preventing the mortgage company from proceeding with the planned sale of Phleger’s home, finding that she was likely to succeed on the merits of her fraud and Truth In Lending Act claims against Countrywide.

According to the judge’s order, Phleger contended that she never signed the documents that Edison parlayed into nearly $4 million in financing, using her home as collateral (about $1.5 million was used to pay off the existing mortgage). She also alleged that numerous inaccuracies in the documents and other indicia of fraud should have tipped the lender off that something was amiss.

Under his plea, which hasn’t yet been finally approved by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, Edison is to be sentenced to 63 months in prison and required to pay about $2.5 million in restitution. If the judge gives him more time at his January sentencing, however, he can still opt out of the plea, the Recorder explains.

Earlier coverage:

The Recorder (2003): “Brobeck Falls”

Corrected at 2:10 a.m. CT to note that Herman Phelger was a founding Brobeck partner and Atherton Phleger was his son.

Correction

Corrected at 2:10 a.m. CT Oct. 15 to note that Herman Phleger was a founding Brobeck partner and Atherton Phleger, a Brobeck partner, was his son.