by Brian Mahany
Aloha and greetings from Maui. We are here for a short family vacation – a few days to unwind, regroup and plan the new year. As I ate breakfast this morning I was struck by the headline in the local daily newspaper, The Maui News, “Heavy Surf Continues.” Life is a bit more relaxed here, but even in paradise, fraud and criminal behavior is with us.
Just a few pages later was a story about a 34 year old Hawaiian man accused of embezzling $284,000 from a family trust. According to the news story, the man used his position as a bookkeeper to alter checks and make them payable to himself; deposit monies into his own account instead of the trust; and forge endorsements.
Like many of these insider frauds, prosecutors say it took years before he was caught. According to the FBI, the bookkeeper got away with his crimes for over 5 years before his crimes were finally discovered. By then the family had lost over a quarter of a million dollars.
Luckily for the victims, the FBI arrested Scott Kamiya. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison. After he is released from prison, he must pay restitution. The story, of course, doesn’t say how Kamiya will ever get a job and be able to pay back the money.
Crime and fraud is everywhere and never stops. Unfortunately, there is plenty of job security in asset recovery and fraud law.
We hope you never need our services but if you do, rest assured that we never sleep either. Every day, we help people get back their hard earned money. No matter where you are or where the fraudster may reside, we don’t quit until we win or overturn every rock looking for your money.
There are many lawyers that can sue and recover a judgment. A judgment is simply a piece of paper saying you won. By itself it can’t even buy you a cup of coffee. Unlike other types of lawsuits, there often is not any insurance available in fraud cases. That means you must not only win the suit, you must also find the money. Our fraud lawyers at Mahany & Ertl are unique in their ability to find where the money went and recover it.
If you are a victim of an investment fraud, embezzlement, insider theft, Ponzi scheme or elder fraud, call us. The sooner you do, the quicker we can start work on finding and getting back your money.
Our offices are located in Milwaukee, Detroit, Portland (ME) and now, Minneapolis. Our services are nationwide.
Mahalo
For more information, contact attorney Brian Mahany at (414) 704-6731 (direct) or by email at . The call is completely confidential.
Mahany & Ertl – America’s Fraud Lawyers.