Banking Law

In wake of Credit Suisse plea, US expects ‘wealth of information’ leading to ‘the rest of the world’

A guilty plea earlier this month by a leading Swiss bank to a charge of conspiring to aid tax evasion is expected to open the door to worldwide enforcement against Americans who sought to hide their assets. Characterized by one tax lawyer as “a less-than-subtle message” to banks worldwide to…

May 27, 2014 7:15 PM CDT

Credit Suisse will pay $2.6B in tax evasion case, but won’t have to identify US clients

Credit Suisse pleaded guilty on Monday to a criminal charge of conspiring to aid tax evasion and agreed to pay about $2.6 billion in penalties. According to the New York Times DealBook blog, Credit Suisse is the most prominent bank to plead guilty to a criminal charge in the United…

May 20, 2014 1:19 PM CDT

Those who lost homes in massive Wash. mudslide may still owe mortgage payments

It appears that at least most of the dozens of homes destroyed in a Washington state mudslide a little over a week ago didn’t have the special landslide coverage required to insure against such damage. And even if they had, homeowners likely will not be permitted by government officials to…

Apr 2, 2014 9:05 PM CDT

Charles Keating, former lawyer and key figure in S&L debacle, dies at 90

Charles Keating, a former Cincinnati lawyer who went to prison after the collapse of his savings and loan, has died at the age of 90. A Los Angeles Times obituary describes Keating as “the poster child of the savings and loan debacle 25 years ago.” He spent less than five…

Apr 2, 2014 12:51 PM CDT

Lawyer who pointed client in accident case to high-interest loan did nothing wrong, judge rules

Unable to work after a 2001 accident in which the Chicago commuter train she was riding hit a car at a railroad crossing, Debbie Crim eventually asked her lawyer for a loan to help with her medical bills and living expenses. Peter Vrdolyak instead referred her to Client Funding Solutions,…

Apr 1, 2014 9:50 PM CDT

Got cybersecurity? Some corporate clients ask law firms for proof

Some banks and corporations are demanding that law firms improve their computer security systems and seeking proof that adequate steps have been taken. Some bank officials have asked law firms to fill out 60-page questionnaires about their cybersecurity measures, while others are visiting firms to conduct their own inspections, the…

Mar 27, 2014 3:49 PM CDT

Indicted lawyer used client to impersonate his own mother in $100K loan fraud, authorities say

Arrested last week as he flew into New York from Istanbul, a 39-year-old suspended Missouri lawyer was charged with bank fraud and identity theft in a federal indictment that was unsealed after his apprehension. Authorities said at the time that Jeffrey Witt had gotten a female client to impersonate a…

Mar 13, 2014 9:53 PM CDT

BigLaw partner used his briefcase ‘as a weapon’ to bash opposing counsel, lawsuit says

A partner of one of the world’s biggest and best-known corporate law firms used his briefcase “as a weapon” to bash opposing counsel as he left a Brooklyn courtroom conference room after an adverse ruling by a referee in a foreclosure hearing last year, a lawsuit contends. Plaintiff Bruce Richardson…

Mar 5, 2014 9:39 PM CST

Lawyer gets one year in federal prison for his role in $14M mortgage fraud

A Pennsylvania lawyer has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for his role in a $14 million mortgage fraud that stripped homeowners in a suburban Philadelphia county of their equity. Stephen G. Doherty was also ordered to forfeit $202,000 by U.S. District Judge Mary A.…

Mar 5, 2014 8:25 PM CST

Closing attorney gets 7 months, must repay $2.1M in loan-fraud case

A Texas lawyer got seven months in federal prison and was ordered to repay $2.1 million after pleading guilty last year to misprision of a felony in a real estate loan-fraud case. Jerry Goh, 51, was sentenced Monday in Dallas in the Northern District of Texas case. He has until…

Feb 26, 2014 9:35 PM CST

Are Bitcoin ATMs legal? Las Vegas company will take a flyer on gray-area regulatory question

Despite the popular success of Bitcoin, dubious U.S. regulators worried about possible money-laundering have put the brakes on efforts to make the virtual global currency more widely available. The federal investigation of Bitcoin exchange operators who authorities say provided funds for anonymous drug purchases on the now-shuttered Silk Road website,…

Feb 18, 2014 9:45 PM CST

New credit card terms provide for home and workplace visits, phone call spoofing

Capital One doesn’t actually do this, a spokeswoman tells a newspaper columnist. But the language in a recent amendment to the credit card issuer’s contract with consumers says “we may contact you in any manner we choose,” including personal visits to a customer’s home or workplace. The contract language also…

Feb 18, 2014 5:35 PM CST

Suit challenges Justice Department’s $13B deal with JPMorgan

A group called Better Markets contends in a lawsuit that the Justice Department’s settlement with JPMorgan violates the separation of powers because it was never approved by a judge. The civil settlement resolved probes of the bank’s sales of troubled mortgage securities. But the Justice Department never filed suit against…

Feb 12, 2014 12:20 PM CST

Woman sues in effort to prove she is alive

A St. Louis-area woman has sued her bank and the credit-reporting-agency Equifax in an effort to correct reports that she is dead. Kimberly Haman says she has been turned down for a credit card and twice denied refinancing on her mortgage because of her status as deceased, report the St.…

Feb 11, 2014 1:44 PM CST

Despite money-laundering case, Bitcoin evangelist sees bright future for virtual currency

The arrest late last month of 24-year-old Charles Shrem in a federal money-laundering case wasn’t good news for the developing Bitcoin industry. But the founder of BitInstant, an exchange site for the virtual currency, said from his lawyer’s office that he still sees a bright future for Bitcoin, reports the…

Feb 6, 2014 3:05 PM CST