White Collar Crime

Ex-Attorney Working as Paralegal Charged With Stealing Boss Lawyer’s ID to Practice in Calif. Court

A former California lawyer who gave up his law license more than a decade ago is facing 13 felony charges, accused of assuming a licensed attorney’s identity and practicing under the other lawyer’s name, including making multiple court appearances for clients in San Mateo County Superior Court. John Hedderman, 52,…

Dec 6, 2012 5:06 PM CST

Jury Convicts Attorney in Mortgage-Fraud Case, But Acquits on 20 Charges Despite Staff Testimony

A New York real estate lawyer charged in a mortgage-fraud case has been convicted on four counts by a federal jury in Syracuse. However, Michael G. Bouchard, 49, was acquitted on 20 additional charges Friday, despite the testimony of two cooperating paralegals who formerly worked for his law firm, reports…

Dec 4, 2012 7:54 PM CST

2nd Circuit Reverses Tax-Shelter Convictions of 2 Former Ernst & Young Lawyers

Saying that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support a conviction, a divided federal appeals court panel Thursday reversed the convictions of two former Ernst & Young tax attorneys for developing abusive tax shelters sold by the accounting and financial firm between 1999 and 2001. However, the New York City-based 2nd…

Nov 29, 2012 10:51 PM CST

Lawyer Takes Plea in Witness-Bribery Case, Will Give Up Law License and US Residency

A New York lawyer has taken a plea in a case in which he was accused of participating in a corrupt enterprise. Ezequiel Neuman, 52, pleaded guilty in Onondaga County Court on Wednesday to a felony charge of bribing a witness to keep him from testifying in a murder trial,…

Nov 28, 2012 10:36 PM CST

Ex-Associate of Law Firm Charged With Wire Fraud, Accused of Obtaining $453K from Trust Account

An ex-associate of a Baton Rouge, La., law firm has been federally charged with wire fraud for allegedly using fraudulent misrepresentations to persuade his former firm to send $93,750 to a bank account under his control. The charging document, a bill of information, also contends, however, that James M. “Tres”…

Nov 28, 2012 6:08 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Gets 8 Years for Stealing $1M from Clients

A former Florida personal injury lawyer disbarred in May after a 34-year legal career pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding clients of $1 million over a 20-year period. Scott Rovenger, 59, was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison in the Broward County case, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He forged…

Nov 27, 2012 5:50 PM CST

Lawyer, 3 Others Convicted on Personal Tax Charges re Case Billed As Biggest Health Fraud in US

A corporate attorney, an accountant and two administrators were convicted by a California jury on personal tax evasion charges Monday. However, lawyer Roy Dickson and the other three defendants were acquitted on counts related to their handling of corporate taxes for Unity Surgical Outpatient Center in Buena Park and the…

Nov 26, 2012 11:40 PM CST

Disbarment Recommended for Longtime DC Defense Lawyer Convicted in Evidence Scheme

Found guilty by a federal judge after a bench trial earlier this year of participating in a conspiracy to present faked evidence in a client’s drug trial, a longtime criminal defense lawyer in Washington, D.C., is now facing a disbarment recommendation. Charles Daum was convicted of obstruction of justice, conspiracy…

Nov 21, 2012 6:59 PM CST

Lawyer Accused of Embezzling $500K From Her Own Grandmother Gets Probation

A Texas lawyer who took a plea earlier this year after being accused of embezzling $500,000 from her own grandmother has avoided a prison sentence. However, Judge George Godwin told Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54, that he doubts she will comply with the terms of her deferred adjudication probation, the San…

Nov 21, 2012 4:35 PM CST

Lawyer Accused of Misusing IDs of Terminally Ill in $30M Investment Scheme Takes Plea

As testimony was about to resume Monday in a federal trial that had been expected to continue for months, a Rhode Island estate planning lawyer and a former employee accused of misusing the identities of dying individuals in a $30 million investment scheme both took a plea. Attorney Joseph Caramadre,…

Nov 19, 2012 6:30 PM CST

Ex-Mayer Brown Partner Joseph Collins Guilty on 7 Counts in Case re Fraud By Former Refco Execs

An ex-partner of Mayer Brown was found guilty Friday by a federal jury in Manhattan of seven of the 10 counts he faced for allegedly helping then-executives of the Refco Inc. commodities brokerage perpetrate a $2.4 billion fraud on investors. Joseph Collins was convicted of conspiracy, securities and wire fraud…

Nov 16, 2012 9:33 PM CST

Trial Begins for Estate Planning Lawyer Who Bought Annuities for the Dying; Was His Idea Legal?

Updated: Trial has begun–and, much sooner than expected, ended–for a Rhode Island estate planning attorney who was federally indicted (PDF) last year after being accused of making $15 million or more, with the help of others, by defrauding dying individuals into allowing insurance investments to be made in their names…

Nov 14, 2012 9:34 PM CST

Lawyer Charged with Laundering Drug Cartel Money Is Denied Bail; Feds Call Him a Flight Risk

A jailed Texas lawyer who has been federally indicted concerning his role in a claimed conspiracy to launder some $600 million for a Mexican drug cartel has been denied bail at a Wednesday hearing. Prosecutors contended, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert Garney apparently agreed, that Marco Antonio Delgado is a…

Nov 14, 2012 8:37 PM CST

Lawyer Takes Plea, Gives Up Law Practice; Records Showed He Charged Extra for DWI Backdating

A North Carolina lawyer had initially intended to fight a criminal obstruction of justice case over the work he did for clients charged with driving while intoxicated. But after counsel for James Crouch, 46, found out last week that he had altered law office paperwork, after he was criminally charged,…

Nov 14, 2012 5:59 PM CST

2nd Circuit Reverses Disbarred Lawyer’s Fed’l Immigration Fraud Conviction Over Voir Dire Issue

A federal appeals court panel has reversed the immigration fraud conviction of a disbarred New York lawyer, finding that his constitutional right to a public trial was violated because the presiding judge excluded the attorney’s brother and the brother’s girlfriend from the courtroom during voir dire. The judge reportedly did…

Nov 13, 2012 11:10 PM CST