Blog posts with "white collar crime"

  In a story that broke a few days ago, Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner of New York City, was sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion and lying to federal officials. Kerik was a close associate of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and was even nominated in 2004 by George W. Bush for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security. The background checks for the position were the start of Kerik's troubles. Kerik eventually admitted to tax evasion and receiving renovations f...

In the continuing story of the hi-jinks of Raj Rajaratnam, a new indictment was filed this past Tuesday by a New York Federal grand jury. Yet another player has been fingered in this fiasco, a consultant by the name of Danielle Chiesi. Though earlier allegations estimated Raj's ill-gotten gains at around $25 million, the new indictment puts the amount at closer to $50 million.   Just like in the TV shows, the truth comes out when people start squealing. In this case, a tipper (as in provided...

In the eclectic political and economic system of China, a significant crackdown on organized and white collar crime has been in the works for the past few years. China's rich history from dynastic monarchies, a repressive communist revolution, to a capitalism-infused modern economy has long had a connection to the powerful semi-criminal organization commonly referred to as the Triad. In fact, underground groups were a powerful force in the overthrow of the dynastic system in China at the begi...

It is now final, Rep. William Jefferson (D), of Louisiana, the notorious Congressman who froze a $90,000 bribe, was sentenced last Friday to 13 years in Federal prison. The prosecutors on the case had asked for 27-33 years, but still managed to get a sentence longer than any other Congressman has ever received.   When imposing the sentence, Judge T.S. Ellis III characterized Jefferson's acts as “a cancer on the body politic.” Jefferson's attorneys have ten days to appeal the sentence.  

  Stewart Nozette (pictured left, from nasa.gov), a former NASA, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and U.S. Naval Research scientist, was arrested Monday for allegedly trying to sell national secrets to FBI agents posing as Israeli government agents for $11,000. This is not the first time Nozette has been under investigation. He was investigated in 2006 for allegedly submitting false expense forms to NASA.     Nozette was arrested on Monday, and indicted Wednesday afternoo...

  Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of the Galleon Group that I wrote about in my last post has also been charged by the SEC in Federal court. The SEC claims Rajaratnam's scheme was massive (as illustrated in the diagram above), and generated more than $25 million. Other companies allegedly involved are IBM, Intel, and Mckinsey & Company.     What makes this development interesting is that the SEC is suing in civil court, unlike what Federal Prosecutors have done in the Federal c...

Listed by Forbes as number 559 of the worlds richest people, Raj Rajaratnam was worth $1.3 billion. Sadly, some of those funds may have been ill-begotten. Yesterday the US Attorneys of the Southern District of New York charged Rajaratnam with securities fraud pursuant to the insider trading portions statutes 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78ff; 17 C.F.R. §§ 240.10b-5, and 240.10b5-2. AllegedlyRajaratnam obtained inside information from another hedge fund operator, and traded upon it, making several...

Won Sok Lee, 39, an attorney, formerly of Riviera Beach (Singer Island), Florida, and Irvine, California, plead guilty yesterday afternoon to one count of wire fraud in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1343 and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §371. Lee is set to be sentenced on December 11, 2009 and faces a statutory maximum of 25 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and restitution.   According to the FBI, Lee, along with John Kim and Yung ...

The Department of Justice has reached a $2.3 billion settlement with Pfizer for illegally marketing its anti-inflammatory drug Bextra. A common practice in the pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer representatives would advocate Bextra to doctors for untested or non-approved off-label uses. The settlement will return nearly a billion dollars to Medicare, Medicaid, and other government insurance programs.   Source: Department of Health and Human Services

Reinaldo Guerra, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud and Medicare fraud. The scheme involved in home medical equipment. Guerra operated 11 corporations that purported to supply this equipment. Through these companies, Guerra submitted about $123 million in fraudulent claims where no equipment had been prescribed or ordered by a physician. Medicare paid a total of $35 million to the companies before Guerra was caught.   Guerra is set to be sentenced November...