2nd Circuit Court

Another Person is Charged in Alleged $100M Dreier Fraud

A former broker who reportedly also may have been a former client of the Dreier law firm has been criminally charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and allegedly helped Dreier’s founding partner swindle more than $100 million from two unidentified hedge funds. Kosta Kovachev, 57, is accused of pretending…

Dec 23, 2008 5:57 PM CST

Bad Year Gets Worse for Eliot Spitzer: His Real Estate Firm Invested With Madoff

Surely 2008 must already have been a year that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer won’t remember as a particularly good one, after resigning from office over a prostitution scandal. But it’s just gotten even worse for Spitzer, who is also a former state attorney general known for his crusades…

Dec 19, 2008 11:23 PM CST

How SEC Probe Missed Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud, Despite 2000 Tip

Pressured by his boss at a Boston investment firm to amp up results, after a colleague came back from a trip to New York with news of Bernard Madoff’s stellar hedge fund returns, Harry Markopolos tried to figure out how Madoff was doing it. Try as he might, Markopolos and…

Dec 18, 2008 10:28 PM CST

FOX Files FOIA Suit to Get Treasury Info About $700B Bailout

FOX Business Network has sued the U.S. Treasury in federal court in New York, saying that the agency has stonewalled Freedom of Information Act requests for information concerning its expenditures under the $700 billion federal bailout bill. “The television network, a unit of News Corp., said in a release that…

Dec 18, 2008 8:54 PM CST

Good News for Creditors: Dreier Firm Has $100M-$500M, Owes Up to $50M

Although the Dreier law firm apparently is significantly behind on numerous bills, including its rent, the firm’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing (PDF) on Tuesday contained good news for creditors. In it, receiver Mark Pomerantz estimates that the law firm has between $100 million and $500 million in assets and $10…

Dec 18, 2008 7:31 PM CST

3rd Parties Will Pay for Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud, Experts Predict

For those who invested in the claimed $50 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly run by Bernard Madoff under the guise of a hedge fund, exactly how they invested in the hedge fund could be crucial in determining whether they get their money back. Those who put their money directly into the…

Dec 17, 2008 8:32 PM CST

NY Law School Leads Litigant Pack in Suits Over Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud

Less than a week after Bernard Madoff’s claimed $50 billion hedge fund fraud first came to light, lawsuits are already being filed. Among the prime targets are apparent victims of the fraud who allegedly didn’t do enough to investigate before recommending the massive Ponzi scheme to others. And front and…

Dec 17, 2008 12:01 AM CST

Why Wasn’t Madoff’s Alleged $50B Ponzi Scheme Discovered Earlier?

After staggering news last week that the longtime head of a respected Wall Street investment firm had allegedly been running a massive $50 billion Ponzi scheme under the guise of a hedge fund for years, there has been fallout on many fronts. As victims lawyer up, both the Securities and…

Dec 16, 2008 6:25 PM CST

Dreier Law Firm to File for Bankruptcy

A receiver for the Dreier law firm says it will soon file for bankruptcy, following an alleged massive fraud by its founder and sole equity partner, Marc Dreier. “I have advised counsel for the SEC and counsel for Mr. Dreier of my intention to seek bankruptcy protection, and I believe…

Dec 16, 2008 5:04 PM CST

Lawyers’ Full Employment Act: Alleged $50B Madoff Fraud

In addition to keeping prosecutors and white-collar defense lawyers busy, the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme that 70-year-old Bernard Madoff is accused of operating under the guise of a purportedly profitable hedge fund is also providing plenty of work for securities and tax specialists, not to mention litigators. As accountants…

Dec 15, 2008 9:32 PM CST

Don’t Expect Paychecks on Monday, Receiver Warns Remaining Dreier Troops

For those who may have wondered what it’s like to practice law at a partnership that’s under receivership, a notice to Dreier employees filed in federal court in Manhattan within the past day or two provides a detailed account. Those who remove firm property without authorization do so at their…

Dec 12, 2008 7:51 PM CST

Feds: Attorney Marc Dreier Stole $380M; a ‘Houdini of Impersonation’

Calling New York attorney Marc Dreier a “Houdini of impersonation and false documents” who allegedly stole $380 million from hedge funds and investors, a federal prosecutor today urged that he be held without bail. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Streeter also said the alleged fraud has been ongoing since 2006 and…

Dec 11, 2008 5:12 PM CST

Dire Situation at Dreier: Bills Unpaid, Client Funds Allegedly Missing

Just when it seemed that the alleged situation involving the founder of Dreier and his disintegrating 238-attorney law firm could hardly get much worse, even more bad news is being reported. After he was arrested and jailed in Toronto last week, Marc Dreier allegedly managed to transfer $10 million in…

Dec 10, 2008 10:06 PM CST

Judge’s Law Clerk Gets 4 Months, Loses Motor Home in Prostitution Case

A former law clerk to a New York trial court judge has been sentenced in federal court to four months of home confinement and forfeited the motor home he used to drive a prostitute across state lines to a men’s club meeting in 2005. Michael Stebick, 61, also was sentenced…

Dec 10, 2008 8:50 PM CST

Convicted Ex-Gen Re Finance Chief: I Should Have Testified

Accused of participating in a $597 million fraud to deceive shareholders of American International Group Inc. into thinking the insurance giant had $500 million more in loss reserves than it did, Elizabeth Monrad took her lawyer’s advice and didn’t testify. Doing so, she felt, would not only pose a risk…

Dec 10, 2008 4:50 PM CST