[Post updated January 2020] Jonathan Bristol, a former partner at two of the largest and best U.S. law firms, was arraigned in a Manhattan federal court and charged with laundering over $20 million in connection with Kenneth Starr, the now convicted financial advisor to Hollywood celebrities. In 2008, Bristol became a partner at Winston & […]
New Felony Charges Against UBS Banker – Business as Usual?
Just when all the UBS litigation began to die down, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami Florida filed charges against Renzo Gadola, a former UBS banker. Gadola is charged with the felony crime of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Treasury. The criminal complaint provides startling evidence as to the conduct of UBS and their efforts […]
Congress Seeks More Jail for FCPA Violations
More arrests and tough prison sentences for were the topic at the Senate Subcommittee on Drugs and Crime last week in Washington D.C. Committee chair Sen. Arlen Specter grilled Justice Department officials on November 30th asking why so few individuals are prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). His questions arose after the government […]
Deed Theft – Texan Convicted of Stealing Real Estate from Dead and Disabled
[Post updated with sentencing and aftermath information] Fraudsters have few boundaries. Their crimes hurt millions of Americans each year. Texas resident Norris Fisher now enters the Hall of Shame after forging deeds from the recently departed and the mentally challenged. His story is pulled from the court records of the U.S. District Court for the […]
$34 Million Dollar Shopping Spree Lands Koss VP in Prison
[Post updated] Milwaukee is a blue-collar industrial city. It is not known as a center of financial fraud. That changed with the arrest and conviction of Sujata Sachdeva, former vice president of finance for Koss Corp.Koss is a manufacturer of stereo headphones headquartered in Milwaukee. While stories of insider fraud are nothing new, the magnitude […]
Offering Frauds – Don’t Be In a Rush to Be First
Everyone wants to be in on the ground floor of a hot new technology. “If only I had purchased Apple stock or Google when they were first offered” has been muttered around office water coolers and local athletic clubs millions of times. We think that by being in at the ground floor of something big […]
When Lawyers Become Criminals (Legal Malpractice Post)
As a lawyer concentrating in asset recovery and professional negligence (malpractice), I have encountered many stories of Ponzi schemes, frauds, theft and hundreds of tales of Wall Street greed. Sometimes the perpetrators of these frauds and scams are judges and lawyers. Thankfully those stories are rare but they do happen. Unless we are the victim, […]
Out of the Box – Lawyers Turn to Innovative Practice Areas to Make Their Mark
Wisconsin Law Journal Three innovative Wisconsin attorneys have three things in common. They all practice within their own small firms, and they all serve clients nationwide. But what makes them stand out as leaders for the most part is a third commonality: They’re all practicing in areas that didn’t exist when they were in law […]
Oh Thank Heaven… for the SEC? 7-11, Fraudsters and the SEC
[Updated April 2020] Press releases from the Securities and Exchange Commission are a treasure trove of stories. Stories involving fraud and deceit. This story begins in 2004 with an ambitious Florida company called Prime Time Group (now known as Hunt Gold Corporation) and ends this month in Miami federal courtroom. Unfortunately, for investors, the end […]
Societe´ Generale Customer Says Bank Stole Millions
[Updated Nov. 2018] Two Societe Generale Singapore bankers have been accused of losing almost $10,000,000 in a client’s account and then attempting the hide the losses with phony statements. An Australian resident, Chan Leong Cheng, sued the bank and two of its private bankers for fraud. According to the suit, “the defendants’ management of the […]