White Collar Crime

Utah is first state with registry for white-collar criminals

Convicted white-collar criminals in Utah who want to remove their names from a new state registry will have to pay court-ordered restitution in full. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says the state’s new registry for white-collar criminals who don’t timely comply with court orders is a “carrot” for offenders to…

Mar 25, 2016 7:14 AM CDT

Judge who reduced verdict from $5M to $1M, expecting campaign gift, gets 10 years in bribe case

A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Thursday to a maximum 10-year prison term for admittedly reducing a jury verdict in the expectation of a contribution to his planned campaign for a state appeals court seat. Michael Maggio, now 54, lost his seat on the Faulkner County Circuit Court bench after…

Mar 24, 2016 3:30 PM CDT

Longtime lawyer and CEO of failed bank gets 11 years in fraud case

A longtime Nebraska lawyer who later served as the CEO of TierOne Bank when it became insolvent was sentenced Wednesday to an 11-year federal prison term. He was also ordered to pay a $1.2 million fine and undetermined restitution. Gilbert Lundstrom, 74, was accused by the government of causing more…

Mar 23, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Former BigLaw lawyer is accused of stealing $2M from elderly client in sham real-estate transaction

An Atlanta lawyer arraigned on Monday is accused of stealing more $2 million from an elderly client in a sham real-estate transaction. The lawyer, Bennett Kight, formerly worked at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, according to a lawsuit filed last year. The suit claims that Kight stole from trusts he oversaw…

Mar 22, 2016 9:10 AM CDT

Lawyer, a Harvard law grad, gets house arrest after he is convicted of theft and barratry

A lawyer has been sentenced to house arrest after his conviction for stealing $10,200 from a Seattle-area law firm where he was working despite having no law license in Washington state. Philip Kong, a Harvard law grad, was sentenced last Wednesday to 60 days of electronic home detention, 30 days…

Mar 21, 2016 9:01 AM CDT

Federal judge creates ‘certificate of rehabilitation’ for nurse he sentenced in 2003

A Brooklyn federal judge who was concerned about job obstacles for a nurse he sentenced in 2003 decided to create an alternative to expungement. In a March 7 order, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson said the nurse was entitled to a “federal certificate of rehabilitation” and he attached it to…

Mar 17, 2016 11:40 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer gets 3 years in theft and UPL case; judge blasts ‘disingenuous’ child-support excuse

A disbarred New Jersey lawyer was sentenced Friday to three years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to theft, unauthorized practice of law while his license was suspended and writing bad checks. Neil Lawence Gross, 47, said at his sentencing in the Morristown Superior Court case that he had not…

Mar 11, 2016 4:25 PM CST

Lawyer faces federal fraud case in claimed $7M straw-purchaser auto loan scheme

A New Jersey lawyer is among four individuals facing federal charges in a claimed $7 million scheme to use 20 straw buyers to obtain personal auto loans for 200 vehicles that actually were leased by the defendants to livery drivers. Former Hoboken city councilman Christopher Campos, 39, faces bank and…

Mar 11, 2016 3:30 PM CST

More gang members embrace white-collar crime

Some street gangs are finding white-collar crime can be lucrative. In a “national trend,” gangs are committing crimes such as check fraud and identity theft, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports in a story noted by the newspaper’s Law Blog. Such offenses have a bigger payoff, are more difficult…

Mar 10, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Former Brink’s worker pleads guilty in theft of $196K worth of quarters

An Alabama man has agreed to plead guilty to bank theft for stealing $196,000 worth of quarters from Brink’s Company at its Birmingham branch where he worked for less than two months. Stephen Lancaster Dennis, a money processing manager at Brink’s, was charged after an April 2014 audit of bags…

Mar 9, 2016 1:10 PM CST

Lawyer gets 17 years for helping fugitive client with stock scheme

A Texas lawyer convicted in 2014 of helping a fugitive client with fraudulent stock sales while the man was on the run was sentenced Monday to a 17-year federal prison term. Attorney Patrick Lanier, 67, also was ordered to pay $37 million in restitution after his release, the Houston Chronicle…

Mar 9, 2016 11:35 AM CST

Lawyer gets 90 days for filing ‘completion’ forms for unperformed counseling, community service

A judge on Monday imposed a 90-day jail term on a suspended Nevada lawyer who played a role in filing phony certificates of completion for court-ordered counseling and community service in 91 cases. In fact, as Brian Bloomfield now admits, the counseling and community service was never performed. After a…

Mar 8, 2016 4:45 PM CST

Disbarred securities lawyer pleads guilty to evading $1.5M in taxes

A New York securities law attorney who moved to Florida in 1998 has pleaded guilty to tax evasion concerning $1.5 million the feds say he didn’t pay the government in income tax. Court documents say William J. Reilly, 62, who practiced law in both states, used law firm bank accounts…

Mar 8, 2016 12:15 PM CST

March 14, 1984: The savings and loan crisis begins

On the morning of March 14, 1984, a team of federal regulators arrived at an inconspicuous strip mall in the eastern Dallas suburb of Mesquite to seize control of what had been one of the nation's fastest-growing thrift institutions, Empire Savings and Loan.

Mar 1, 2016 12:30 AM CST

Prison time for counseling service owner may not bode well for attorney in related case

The former owner of a Las Vegas counseling service that provided phony certificates of completion to individuals required to take court-ordered programs was sentenced Wednesday to two to five years behind bars. The prison term for Steven Brox, 50—who made a tearful apology to no avail and was taken immediately…

Feb 17, 2016 2:55 PM CST