New York Paralegal Blog

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the guilty pleas of AMERICAN STANDARD TESTING AND CONSULTING LABORATORIES (ASTC), its owner, ALAN FORTICH, 44, and five other defendants for falsifying concrete testing and inspection reports. ALAN and ALVARO FORTICH also pleaded guilty to manipulating government programs to obtain jobs for which they were otherwise ineligible.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a consent order of forfeiture today ordering the civil forfeiture of $6,976,924 traced to international money laundering of the proceeds from an offshore Internet gambling operation that illegally targeted U.S. residents, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Richard Weber, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

ATLANTA - Hamilton Growers, Inc., doing business as Southern Valley Fruit and Vegetable, Inc., an agricultural farm in Norman Park, Ga., has agreed to pay $500,000 to a class of American seasonal workers - many of them African-American - who, the EEOC alleged, were subjected to discrimination based on their national origin and/or race, the agency announced today. The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed by the EEOC in September 2011.

NEW YORK—Abdul Walji, chief executive officer, and Reniero Francisco, president, of Arista LLC, a California-based investment fund, were charged in connection with a six-count criminal complaint, defrauding their investors, and misappropriating millions of dollars, announced U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and the FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office George Venizelos.

The New York City Paralegal association is holding its annual membership appreciation dinner on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

By JACK BOUBOUSHIAN CHICAGO (CN) - A Cook County highway boss asked a woman who worked for him "to come into his office every day at around 4 o'clock while he watched porn and masturbated," the woman claims in court.

This free webinar is for paralegal students or newly-graduated paralegals who are ready to begin their interviewing process. Attendees will gain insight into the skills needed for successful job interviews. Discussions on current career trends will assist attendees in determining tools needed to get THE job.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - WirelessComm, a distributor for the Metro PCS cell phone service provider, will pay $97,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

Inquiry into an applicant's current or past assets, liabilities, or credit rating, including bankruptcy or garnishment, refusal or cancellation of bonding, car ownership, rental or ownership of a house, length of residence at an address, charge accounts, furniture ownership, or bank accounts generally should be avoided because they tend to impact more adversely on minorities and females. Exceptions exist if the employer can show that such information is essential to the particular job in question.

NICHOLAS ALVAREZ, of Queens, New York, was found guilty today in White Plains federal court of sex trafficking by force and transporting women between New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and Virginia for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. ALVAREZ was convicted after a two-week jury trial before United States District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti.

By RYAN ABBOTT WASHINGTON (CN) - The CIA killed one of its own scientists during the Cold War by secretly dosing him with LSD, then claiming his 13-story fall from a hotel window was suicide, the man's sons claim in Federal Court.