Judge is charged with money laundering in FBI sting operation
A magisterial district judge in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has been indicted for alleged money laundering as a result of an FBI sting operation.
Judge John Waltman was charged along with two others in an indictment (PDF) unsealed on Friday, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.) and a press release. Waltman is charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Judicial Conduct Board has filed a petition for Waltman’s interim suspension, according to another press release (PDF).
Waltman was charged along with Robert Hoopes, a lawyer who is director of public safety for Lower Southampton Township, and Bernard Rafferty, a county deputy constable in Bucks County who runs a consulting firm.
The three defendants are accused of taking $80,000 in money laundering fees to handle three money-laundering transactions. Undercover agents had claimed the money came from health-care fraud and illegal drug trafficking.
The indictment claims Rafferty’s consulting firm account was used to launder money, and all of the defendants obtained bogus documents to make the transactions appear legitimate. The documents included invoices, consulting agreements and zoning applications, according to the indictment.
They are also accused of planning to obtain a sham default judgment to obtain funds they believed to be bank fraud proceeds that were frozen in an overseas account. The indictment also alleges the defendants tried to broker the sale of a bar to the undercover officers, believing the bar would be used to launder money.
A clerk in Waltman’s chambers told the Legal Intelligencer that Waltman was on vacation. Hoopes and Rafferty did not immediately return the publication’s calls.
Magistrate district courts handle traffic citations and handle arraignments and preliminary hearings in criminal cases, according to the indictment.
