La. Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Bizarre $30M Law Firm Theft Case
A New Orleans gaming lawyer who until recently was contending that his former law firm concocted theft allegations against him pleaded guilty today to charges that he bilked the firm and casino clients out of $30 million, stashing most of it in a Swiss bank account.
James “Jamie” Perdigao, 46, pleaded guilty to 30 felony counts and agreed to forfeit $30 million, which he reportedly had already repaid, recounts the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Outside the courtroom, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who was earlier accused by Perdigao of going easy on the defendant’s former law firm, Adams and Reese, said the claims were “incredible, vicious and stupid,” the newspaper recounts. He described Perdigao as “the poster child for arrogance, greed and unmitigated complex ongoing theft.”
Perdigao filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year accusing the firm of racketeering, which Adams and Reese described at the time as fictional. But the filing apparently may have been part of what Letten described as a “game” of “theft and deceit and lying” by the former law firm partner.
The bizarre situation reached its apparent acme earlier this month, when Perdigao was accused of hacking into his former law firm’s computer network. As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, this resulted in additional criminal charges against him and the revocation of his $2 million bond.
According to the Times-Picayune, Perdigao sent fraudulent invoices to casino clients as part of his law firm theft scheme, and then stashed the money away when they anted up.
“U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon is scheduled to sentence Perdigao on Feb. 11,” reports the Associated Press. “While the charges carry a combined maximum sentence of more than 300 years in prison, Letten said it’s too early to say what Perdigao could face under federal sentencing guidelines.”
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Partner May Plead in Fraud Case Over Alleged $30M La. Law Firm Theft”
ABAJournal.com: “Indicted Lawyer Files RICO Suit Against Former Firm”
