New York Paralegal Blog

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ALEXANDER KAPLAN, formerly a Brooklyn-based real estate lawyer and the owner of a title insurance company, was sentenced on Friday, June 17, 2011, in Manhattan federal court to 46 months in prison by United States District Judge RICHARD J. HOLWELL for his role in a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme. KAPLAN was convicted, on February 6, 2009, of eighteen counts of mortgage fraud after a two-week jury trial. According to the evidence presented at trial and statements made in court: From late 2004 through January 2007, KAPLAN and his coconspirators obtained hundreds of mortgage and home equity loans by submitting loan applications and supporting documents to various lenders that contained false information about, among other things, the prospective borrower’s employment, income, and intent to reside in the property in question, as well as the fair market value of the property. The...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today issued a statement on the sentencing of MARC BERNSTEIN, a lawyer who stole more than $3.1 million from 28 of his clients and failed to pay income taxes, to 2 ½ – 7 ½ years in state prison. In April 2010, BERNSTEIN pled guilty to all of the charges against him: 16 counts of Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees, two counts of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, and two counts Repeated Failure to File Income Tax Returns. As of this sentencing, the defendant has failed to repay any of the more than $3.5 million that the Court ordered as restitution to the victims. District Attorney Vance said: “The defendant is a predator with a law degree. He deliberately failed to pay his federal and state taxes, and then showed his contCoempt for his victims and the Court by failing to pay any of the more than $3.5 million in restitution ordered by the Court. Rath...

PROVIDENCE, RI—A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a North Providence, Rhode Island real estate attorney on charges he falsified bank and federal tax documents, and lied about his income and assets, in obtaining more than $1.5 million in mortgages. U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha announced the seven-count indictment on bank fraud charges against Christopher B. Maselli. Maselli, 38, whose law practice is located in North Providence, resides in Johnston, R.I. According to the indictment, between December 2007 and March 2009, Maselli, a self-employed attorney, inflated his annual income dating back to 2005; lied about personal assets; and submitted phony and altered bank statements and IRS tax returns when applying for mortgages, a home improvement loan, and an auto loan. Maselli was approved for five mortgages on residential properties in Johnston and North Providence, and an auto loan, totaling approximately $1,525,027.50.

Chicago attorney and Certified Public Accountant John B. Ohle III and Louisiana attorney William Bradley were found guilty Wednesday in Manhattan federal court of wire and tax fraud conspiracy charges stemming from a scheme to fraudulently obtain referral fees relating to a tax shelter sold by Ohle’s employer, Bank One, and thereafter failing to accurately report those fees to the IRS and pay the appropriate taxes due, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division; and Charles R. Pine, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS). In addition, Ohle was found guilty of two counts of tax evasion which also encompassed failure to report millions of dollars he embezzled from a trust, and fraudulent tax shelter deductions used to offset reported income. According to the evidence at the th...

A securities attorney was convicted today by a federal jury in Alexandria, Va., for participating in multi-million dollar pump-and-dump stock manipulation schemes, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia announced. Phillip Windom Offill Jr., 51, of Dallas, was indicted on March 12, 2009, and today was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit registration violations, securities fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

By: Joel Irving Tonight we will be talking about dishonest layers and the need for "real" regulation to govern the unscrupulous acts of some attorneys. Additionally, we will talk about the missing sex tapes in Hollywood. Join me tonight at 10:00 p.m. on The Joel Irving Show as we talk about bad lawyers and everything else! You can get to my show by clicking on this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Joel-Irving

NEW YORK - MARTIN WEISBERG, a former corporate partner in the New York office of an international law firm, has been indicted on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. The charges are based on WEISBERG’s alleged theft of money from an escrow account established on behalf of one of his clients for which WEISBERG served as escrow agent. WEISBERG will be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Mark J. Mershon, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Division. The indictment alleges that WEISBERG assisted a corporate client establish a $30 million escrow account and advised the client that the account could not earn interest for the client’s benefit. In fact, WEISBERG caused the $30 million to be placed into an interest-...