White Collar Crime

3 plead guilty in attempt to pay $1.2M bribe to federal judge in cartel money-laundering case

Three Mexican citizens have pleaded guilty in a failed attempt to pay a $1.2 million bribe to a federal judge hearing a drug cartel money-laundering case in Austin, Texas. Court documents say Judge Sam Sparks didn’t know about the attempted bribe before he sentenced Francisco Colorado Cessa in September, because…

Mar 12, 2014 6:19 PM CDT

Actor and Hollywood producer, both lawyers, indicted over tax credits for film house rehab

A Hollywood producer and entertainment lawyer and a Tulane University Law School graduate who is also an actor and producer have been federally indicted, accused of submitting fraudulent documentation to obtain Louisiana tax credits under a program that is intended to encourage the film industry in the state. Peter M.…

Mar 11, 2014 3:50 PM CDT

Name partner of shuttered Fla. law firm faces criminal case, wants to ‘get on with his life’

A name partner of the shuttered Florida law firm led by imprisoned swindler Scott Rothstein has been criminally charged with conspiracy to violate federal election laws. Russell Adler was charged in a criminal information filed by federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale, which usually signifies that the defendant is cooperating with…

Mar 7, 2014 7:55 PM CST

Disbarred lawyer charged with client insurance settlement theft is jailed after return from Taiwan

A now-disbarred lawyer charged in December with stealing a significant portion of a client’s $500,000 insurance settlement has returned from Taiwan to defend the case. Edward Joseph Callow, 39, fled to that country before he was charged on Dec. 12, along with a Nationwide insurance claims adjuster. Callow returned after…

Mar 7, 2014 5:05 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

Once-prominent lawyer gets 5 years in federal prison for stealing $2.4M from clients

A once-prominent South Carolina lawyer was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison on Wednesday for stealing $2.4 million from clients. The defense had asked that Richard Breibart be sentenced only to the 18 months he had already served in the mail fraud case, saying that he is sick and…

Mar 5, 2014 5:10 PM CST

Lawyer who inserted client names into 100 asbestos suits to get defense fees takes wire-fraud plea

A New Jersey attorney who admittedly inserted names of his law firm’s clients into more than 100 actual asbestos cases filed in New York to generate defense fees has pleaded guilty in a federal wire fraud case. Arobert C. Tonogbanua, 44, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and…

Mar 4, 2014 10:35 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

Another lawyer takes plea in connection to $1.2B fraud by now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein

Another South Florida lawyer has taken a plea in connection with the massive $1.2 billion fraud by now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein. Douglas Bates, 55, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy Thursday in federal court in West Palm Beach, the Sun Sentinel reports. Federal prosecutors have said that he helped the…

Feb 20, 2014 9:45 PM CST

Former bar president gets six years in $300M Web gambling case but says he expects to win on appeal

Still insisting that he is innocent and only provided legal advice to Allied Veterans of the World, a Florida lawyer who formerly served as president of the Jacksonville bar association was sentenced Wednesday to six years in state prison for his role in masterminding a $300 million Internet gambling operation.…

Feb 12, 2014 11:00 PM CST

Outside counsel, in charge of cemetery after bookkeeper’s theft, is charged with taking almost $2M

Appointed by a New York cemetery to take over its top job after the president’s wife, who served as its bookkeeper, stole $850,000, the organization’s outside counsel is now accused of embezzling nearly $2 million. The indictment and arrest of attorney Timothy Griffin was announced Monday by state Attorney General…

Feb 12, 2014 5:25 PM CST

Former district attorney gets 13 years in federal corruption case over his work as a prosecutor

Convicted last year on seven counts in a corruption case in which he was accused of running his Texas office as a racketeering enterprise, former Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in federal prison. Villalobos was one of a number of lawyers involved…

Feb 11, 2014 10:50 PM CST

Former Rothstein firm lawyer convicted of aiding his fraud by impersonating state bar official

Updated: A federal jury deliberated for only about two hours on Tuesday before convicting a South Florida attorney on three counts of wire fraud. Christina Kitterman, 39, was accused of helping her former boss, the now-convicted disbarred former managing partner of the shuttered Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm, hold off…

Feb 11, 2014 7:40 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

Ex-lawyer disbarred for $1B scheme testifies in shackles for former colleague facing wire fraud case

A once-prominent Florida lawyer—now disbarred and serving a 50-year prison term while under the federal witness protection program—Scott Rothstein testified Wednesday in handcuffs and leg irons at the wire fraud conspiracy trial of an attorney who worked at his Fort Lauderdale law firm before it imploded over his $1 billion-plus…

Feb 5, 2014 8:20 PM CST