New York Paralegal Blog

LOS ANGELES—Ezri Namvar, a prominent Los Angeles businessman and real estate developer, was found guilty today of four wire fraud charges for stealing approximately $21 million from four clients who allowed his "qualified intermediary" company to hold their money in safekeeping before it was reinvested in real estate. Namvar, 59, of Brentwood, was convicted of the felony counts by a federal jury that deliberated for about three hours after hearing eight days of testimony. The jury convicted a second defendant on the four wire fraud charges. Hamid Tabatabai, 63 of Agoura Hills, was Namvar's right-hand man at the qualified intermediary company. As a result of today's convictions, Namvar and Tabatabai face statutory maximum sentences of 80 years in federal prison. Following today's verdicts, United States District Judge Percy Anderson ordered that Namvar, who is free on bond, be subject to home incarceration with electronic monitoring. Judge Anderson has sche...

RICHMOND, VA—Justin Glynn French, 40, of Richmond, Va., was sentenced today to 196 months, followed by three years of supervised release, for stealing millions from federal and state tax credit programs intended to rehabilitate historic buildings. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia; Michael F.A. Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Field Office; Rebecca Sparkman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation's Washington, D.C., Field Office; and Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Superintendent of Virginia State Police, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. "Justin French lined his pockets with millions in stolen tax dollars and defrauded more than 100 investors," said U.S. Attorney MacBride. "Mr. French exploited the rich history of the commonwealth to cheat taxpayers and in...

PHILADELPHIA—Christopher Vassalluzzo, D.O., 47, of New Hope, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to operate an office that was, in fact, a “pill mill” that distributed millions of prescription controlled substance diet drugs outside a professional practice. Vassalluzzo’s office, where he had others operate the pill mill while he worked at local hospitals, was located at 3000 Holme Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. In addition to the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances charge, Vassalluzzo pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, structuring, aggravated structuring, conspiracy to commit tax evasion, and tax evasion. Vassalluzzo was distributing prescription controlled substance diet drugs outside a professional practice. This illegal enterprise generated more than five million dollars in cash. In addition to admitting his guilt, Vassalluzzo has agreed to forfeit a beach home in New Jersey, a timeshare in Florida, and a...

NEW YORK, N.Y. (December 3, 2008) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the arrest of the owners of the popular Saigon Grill restaurants in New York City for allegedly failing to pay its workers legal wages, taking illegal kickbacks from workers, cheating the state unemployment insurance fund, and for creating fraudulent business records to cover up their illegal actions. Simon Nget a.k.a. Chang S. Nget, and his wife, Michelle Lu Nget a.k.a. Pei Ying Nget, are accused of numerous criminal charges based on their business practices at the Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan, located at 620 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side and 91 University Place in Greenwich Village, and formerly located at 1700 Second Avenue on the Upper East Side. The Ngets have owned and operated the popular restaurants since 1996. More...