White Collar Crime

Harvard law grad faces at least 10 years after conviction in $100M veterans charity fraud

Since his lawyer didn’t put him on the stand, present any other witnesses or make a closing argument in a monthlong Ohio criminal trial concerning a $100 million veterans charity, it was perhaps not surprising that the defendant, a long-ago graduate of Harvard Law School, was found guilty on Thursday.…

Nov 14, 2013 5:25 PM CST

Claimed mastermind of $100M veterans charity fraud, a long-ago Harvard law grad, awaits jury verdict

An Ohio jury won’t have much of a defense perspective to rely on as members decide whether a 66-year-old Harvard Law School graduate committed crimes as the alleged mastermind of a claimed $100 million fraud operated under the guise of a military veterans charity. The defendant—who identifies himself as Bobby…

Nov 13, 2013 9:20 PM CST

Kim Rothstein, wife of ex-lawyer jailed in $1.2B swindle, gets 18 months for hiding $1M in jewelry

The wife of a disgraced Florida attorney has been sentenced to 18 months for her own role in scheme related to the $1.2 billion swindle for which the now-disbarred lawyer is serving a 50-year federal prison term. Kim Rothstein, 39, got 18 months Tuesday from a federal judge in Miami…

Nov 12, 2013 8:04 PM CST

Closing attorney indicted in claimed mortgage-fraud and identity-theft scheme

A New Jersey lawyer has been indicted along with two other defendants in a claimed scheme to defraud residential mortgage lenders of $873,000 by submitting mortgage applications in the name of individuals whose identities authorities say had been stolen. Attorney Stephanie Hand, 49, practices in Newark and was the lawyer…

Nov 7, 2013 10:10 PM CST

Defense lawyer and client convicted in perjury conspiracy case, now face maximum life prison terms

A Michigan criminal defense lawyer and his former client were both found guilty by a Detroit jury on Monday in a perjury case that arose out of a murder trial last year. Attorney David Benjamin Dunn, 44, and Andre Demetrius Collins, 24, were accused by the government of conspiring to…

Nov 4, 2013 10:55 PM CST

Former estate-planning lawyer faces federal charges in claimed $3M client theft case

A former Pennsylvania estate-planning lawyer is facing a federal wire fraud and money-laundering case, accused of bilking eight clients of over $3 million between 2007 and 2013. Prosecutors say Wendy Weikal-Beauchat, 46, used fake certificates of deposit and IRS 1099 interest-reporting forms to cover up the claimed thefts, the Gettysburg…

Nov 4, 2013 6:30 PM CST

Victims in $6M client-theft case to get $3.25M; accused lawyer may not be competent for trial

A 78-year-old lawyer may not be competent to stand trial in a federal mail-fraud case over some $6 million in claimed client thefts. However, 47 claimants who say they were targets of the alleged scheme by attorney Anthony J. Lupas of Wilkes-Barre will get $3.25 million from a victim compensation…

Oct 31, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Texas lawyer guilty in conspiracy to launder up to $600M for Mexican drug cartel

A once-prominent Texas lawyer has been convicted of conspiring to launder up to $600 million for a Mexican drug cartel and faces a federal prison sentence of as much as 20 years. Marco Antonio Delgado testified Thursday that federal agents lied and took the facts of the El Paso case…

Oct 28, 2013 10:55 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer gets 25 years in client-theft case

A disbarred Texas personal injury lawyer was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison in what a state bar representative called the worst case of client theft she has ever seen. Thomas Corea pleaded guilty to three of nine charges prior to the three-day sentencing hearing this week. He had…

Oct 25, 2013 8:43 PM CDT

Goldman Sachs must pay legal bills for programmer it accused in code-theft case, federal judge rules

Goldman Sachs Group accused its former computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov of stealing its confidential source code. Now the company must pay his legal bills, a federal judge in Newark, N.J., has ruled. “Immediate advancement of fees is required, subject only to an unsecured undertaking to repay them if the applicant…

Oct 24, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Trial begins for lawyer accused of conspiring to launder up to $600M for Mexican drug cartel

A prominent Texas lawyer met with the ex-wife of a former president of Mexico and discussed a scheme in which he would launder as much as $600 million for a drug cartel, a federal prosecutor said Monday as the case went to trial in El Paso. But a lawyer for…

Oct 23, 2013 3:55 PM CDT

Must clients pay ex-lawyer attorney fees? Judge’s decision could affect sentence in theft case

A disbarred Texas personal injury lawyer pleaded guilty to stealing from three former clients. But Thomas Corea is effectively on trial this week concerning claimed thefts from other clients, too, as State District Judge Mike Snipes decides what his sentence should be, the Dallas Morning News reports. More than 40…

Oct 22, 2013 7:54 PM CDT

Swiss bank exec faces US extradition in $20B tax case, due to vacation in Italy

After he was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 in a $20 billion U.S. tax fraud conspiracy case, Swiss banking executive Raoul Weil declined to be extradited and his legal counsel said he had done nothing wrong. That put the criminal case against him on hold, since Switzerland…

Oct 22, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Ex-lawyer indicted, accused of using attorney status to dupe ‘investors’ in $4M scheme

A former New York real estate lawyer faces a felony case there after allegedly bilking would-be investors of $4 million, using her status as an attorney to help persuade them that the scheme was legitimate. Alice Belmonte, 47, is also accused of writing some $6 million in bad checks, reports…

Oct 18, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

Attorney who said he was tax law specialist understates own income on return, gets 20 months

A Hawaii personal injury attorney who advertised his tax law expertise has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for understating his income on his own 2006 return. Andrew Agard was sentenced Tuesday in Honolulu, after pleading guilty in a tax fraud case. He earned about $630,000 in 2006,…

Oct 17, 2013 5:00 PM CDT