White Collar Crime

Lawyer who stole from clients gets 46-month max; ex-clients say it isn’t enough prison time

Standing in the courtroom where he tried his very first case, a former Georgia lawyer on Monday admitted to a federal judge “I’m a thief” and described “a surreal sense of shame” concerning his circumstances. Donald Carlton Gibson was a Brunswick practitioner who earlier gave up his law license. And…

Apr 12, 2016 1:40 PM CDT

SEC sues Texas AG Ken Paxton for securities fraud; his lawyer ‘vehemently denies’ claims

A lawsuit has been filed against the attorney general of Texas by a federal securities regulator over his claimed conduct in recruiting investors to purchase stock in a technology company. Bookending a criminal securities fraud case brought by the state of Texas last year based on similar allegations, the Securities…

Apr 11, 2016 4:10 PM CDT

Corporate lawyer with ‘spotless record’ faces RICO case over client’s payday loan business

Wheeler K. Neff, 67, is a corporate and banking lawyer with “a spotless record with the Delaware bar” during his 40-year legal career, his lawyer tells a local newspaper. Yet he has been indicted, along with a client with similar upper-echelon credentials. They face a federal racketeering case that claims…

Apr 8, 2016 10:30 AM CDT

Former lottery security chief and his brother, an ex-judge, charged with rigging payouts

A computer whiz installed software on random number-generating equipment while working as security director of the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association that enabled him to rig games and direct a number of jackpots to his friends, authorities say. Already convicted last year of rigging a $16.5 million Iowa jackpot, Eddie Tipton…

Apr 7, 2016 2:40 PM CDT

Judge overstepped his authority by blocking deferred prosecution agreement, appeals court says

A trial judge who refused to suspend speedy trial limits because of his disapproval of a deferred prosecution agreement “significantly overstepped” his authority, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision (PDF) on Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the refusal by U.S. District…

Apr 6, 2016 1:26 PM CDT

Former mining CEO is sentenced to prison in safety case

A former mining executive has been sentenced to a year in prison for a misdemeanor conspiracy to violate federal mine safety regulations. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger, the daughter of a coal miner, sentenced former Massey Energy chief executive Donald Blankenship on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. He was…

Apr 6, 2016 12:09 PM CDT

Attorney gunned down at Texas mall was de facto drug cartel chief, says defense lawyer for suspect

An attorney from Mexico gunned down at an upscale Texas shopping mall in 2013 was the de facto chief of a Mexican drug cartel, says a defense lawyer for one of the slaying suspects. But Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was also a U.S. government informant while serving as legal counsel…

Apr 4, 2016 1:20 PM CDT

Lawyer admits smuggling heroin into jail, but says he stopped practicing and sought treatment

A suburban St. Louis lawyer pleaded guilty Friday in a federal heroin-dealing case, after admitting Tuesday in a state supreme court document that he had smuggled the drug into a correctional facility while he himself was addicted. In the state-court filing, Jeffrey Bremer, 49, voluntarily gave up his law practice…

Apr 1, 2016 3:50 PM CDT

Synthetic DNA may help reduce fraud in the art community

Art has long been used for nefarious purposes, including money laundering and tax evasion. And the art market is increasingly plagued by fakes and sophisticated forgeries, which not only cost unsuspecting buyers millions each year but also result in the plummeting confidence of potential buyers.

Apr 1, 2016 3:50 AM CDT

Judge accused of embezzling $4K as prosecutor expected to return to bench after no-contest plea

A suspended Michigan judge facing an embezzlement case over $4,000 in funds he allegedly misspent while serving as a county prosecutor has accepted a plea deal that is expected to put him back on the bench. Originally charged with five felonies, Lapeer Circuit Judge Byron Konschuh pleaded no contest to…

Mar 31, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Law allowing pretrial freeze on assets untainted by crime violates Sixth Amendment, SCOTUS rules

A federal law that allows courts to order pretrial freezes on assets that are untainted by crime violates the Sixth Amendment rights of defendants who are unable to pay their lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 decision. The court ruled (PDF) Wednesday on behalf of Sila…

Mar 30, 2016 9:51 AM CDT

Feds: Law grad at finance firm stole $25M, sought $70M in ‘brazen fraud’

A Harvard Law School graduate is facing federal fraud charges for allegedly stealing $25 million from investors and seeking $70 million more under false pretenses while working as an executive at a financial advisory firm. Andrew Caspersen, 39, is accused of duping a charitable foundation and a hedge fund employee…

Mar 28, 2016 3:00 PM CDT

Supreme Court to decide double-jeopardy issue in political bribery case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether double jeopardy bars the retrial of a corporate president and a Puerto Rican senator convicted of federal bribery charges. The corporate president, Juan Bravo-Fernandez, was accused of financing a May 2005 Las Vegas trip by Hector Martinez-Maldonado, who served in the…

Mar 28, 2016 11:53 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer gets weekend jail time for collecting $247K in disability payments while still practicing

A former New York bankruptcy lawyer who admittedly collected more than $247,000 in Social Security disability payments over a seven-year period, while continuing to practice law, has been sentenced to weekend jail time. Christopher Chadick, 63, was sentenced Thursday to six months of weekend jail time, from 6 p.m. Friday…

Mar 25, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

Convicted of UPL, former bar president with no law degree ‘provided a good service,’ her lawyer says

A former county bar association president in Pennsylvania who never earned a law degree was convicted Thursday in an unauthorized practice of law case. Kimberly Kitchen, now 46, worked as an estate planning lawyer at BMZ Law in Huntingdon County. Kitchen had made partner at the firm before her lack…

Mar 25, 2016 11:20 AM CDT