Blog posts with "fraud"

  Arthur Nadel, the man described as "Mini-Madoff," will likely plead guilty to at least some of the charges leveled against him, securities, wire, and mail fraud, sometime later today in a Manhattan Federal court. Operating out of Sarasota, FL, Nadel conned investors out of $360 million in a ponzi scheme similar to Madoff's. Nadel potentially faces decades in prison.    

  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...

At the recent conference Combating Cybercrime in Betting and Gaming 2010, a number of interesting topics were covered. Of particular interest to the author of this blog was the coverage of terrorist utilization of the internet for fundraising and money laundering. In an example of cyberterrorism, online gambling sites were used by three men, who were also accused of inciting terror, to launder millions of dollars that had been stolen through online check fraud and identity theft schemes. Appa...

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.  

  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...

  Michael Palermo, 50, a 16 year veteran of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) and an 11 year FBI task force officer investigating violent crimes was arrested on charges of mail fraud. According to the FBI, Palermo had received a number of personal services from a cooperating witness that he worked with as part of his task force career. Allegedly, Palermo received from the cooperating witness favorable prices on high end automobiles, free automobile work, and...

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 ...