New York Paralegal Blog

WASHINGTON—William J. Ferry, a former stock broker and investment adviser, and Dennis J. Clinton, a former real estate investment manager, were found guilty by a federal jury in Santa Ana, California today for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud a wealthy investor of $1 billion in a high-yield investment fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The investor was, in reality, part of an undercover FBI team that posed as wealthy investors and investment managers in an effort to stop fraudsters before they actually harmed victims.

UPDATE! CLICK HERE Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. announced the indictment of AMERICAN STANDARD TESTING AND CONSULTING LABORATORIES (“ASTC”), its owner, ALAN FORTICH, 44, and five other defendants for falsifying concrete testing and inspection reports, as well as manipulating government programs to obtain jobs for which they were otherwise ineligible.

McALLEN, TX—A total of 20 South Texas residents indicted for their roles in a scheme to defraud the American Family Life Assurance Company (Aflac) of millions of dollars by filing thousands of false injury claims under Aflac’s accident-only insurance plan have been convicted this week, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the takedown of an elaborate criminal network that set up bogus nursing schools throughout New York City and Long Island. Hundreds of students collectively paid more than $6 million to enroll in the programs that claimed would qualify them for careers in nursing. However, the certifications and transcripts the schools provided were fraudulent.

WASHINGTON – Markus Walder, former head of North America Offshore Banking at an international bank headquartered in Zurich; Susanne D. Rüegg Meier, a former manager with the international bank; Andreas Bachmann, a former banker at a subsidiary of the international bank; and Josef Dörig, the founder of a Swiss trust company, have been charged with conspiring with other Swiss bankers to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The four are charged in a superseding indictment together with four other defendants (Marco Parenti Adami, Emanuel Agustino, Michele Bergantino and Roger Schaerer) who were charged in an indictment returned on Feb. 23, 2011.

WASHINGTON – An El Paso, Texas, resident was sentenced on 5/26/2011, to 70 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $17 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; Osvaldo L. Gratacos, Inspector General of the Ex-Im Bank; and Manuel Oyola-Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso.    Jose Velasco, 40, was also sentenced by Judge Reginald Walton in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $17.9 million in restitution and $17.9 million in forfeiture.  Velasco pleaded guilty on Sept. 24, 2010, to a criminal information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.       According to court documents, ...

WASHINGTON – Iheanyi Frank Chinasa, 39, of Gaithersburg, Md., was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to defraud Cisco Systems Inc., announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and Michael Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Richmond, Va., Field Office. Chinasa also was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer to pay restitution of $18,761,825, jointly and severally with co-defendant Robert Kendrick Chambliss, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. Chinasa was convicted on Feb. 7, 2011, by a federal jury in Richmond of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. Chinasa and Chambliss, 31, of Henrico, Va., were indicted on Aug. 18, 2010. Chambliss pleaded guilty on Ja...

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...

WASHINGTON— A Los Angeles-area man pleaded guilty today to establishing fraudulent medical clinics and using stolen identities of physicians to defraud Medicare of up to $13.6 million, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced. Eduard Aslanyan, 37, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall in the Central District of California. Aslanyan admitted that between March 2007 and September 2008, he established a series of fraudulent medical clinics in and around Los Angeles to defraud Medicare. Carolyn Vasquez, who pleaded guilty previously to conspiring with Aslanyan to defraud Medicare, recruited physicians to serve as the medical directors of Aslanyan’s fraudulent medical clinics, and helped them negotiate management agreements with Multiple Trading Inc., a shell company Aslanyan owned, which permitted Multiple Trading to manage the day-to-day operations of the clinics. In return for Multiple Trading’s man...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the conviction of LEIGH MORSE, 55, the director of the Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, for her participation in a large-scale art fraud scheme that victimized the estates of four artists. Following a month-long trial, a jury in New York State Supreme Court today found the defendant guilty of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. As proven at trial, MORSE fraudulently sold more than 80 artworks from four estates without notifying them. "The defendant, together with her accomplice, convicted art gallery owner LAWRENCE SALANDER, systematically looted the estates of her clients over a period of many years," said District Attorney Vance. "Because the art industry is largely unregulated, it is particularly important to hold accountable those who fraudulently handle works of art entrusted to them. I'd like to thank the prosecutors and investigators who pursued justice for these victims, and also the member...

BIRMINGHAM—A federal fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy indictment was unsealed today against the former state director of a college consortium of business development centers, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Pat Maley, and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent In Charge Reginael D. McDaniel. The 96-count indictment, returned March 30, charges MAURICE WILLIAM CAMPBELL JR., 59, of Rainbow City, with using his position as state director of the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium to obtain more than $7 million from the State of Alabama.

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today filed a lawsuit against an Albany-based company that issued thousands of notices designed to look like they were from the New York government, and bilked thousands of New York businesses out of more than $1 million. By issuing solicitations designed to look like official government notices, Compliance Filings, LLC, which operates as Corporate Records Compliance Office, duped business owners across New York State into paying more than one hundred dollars for paperwork they were led to believe was required by state law, but was ultimately worthless. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and we cannot afford any scams that defraud them of their hard-earned money,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “This office has zero tolerance for scam artists – especially those imitating government offices to prey on working men and women. Our message is clear: those who cheat New York’s small businesses will be brought to justice....

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE FEDARCYK, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and CHARLES PINE, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), announced the filing of charges against CHRISTOPHER CAVOUNIS and JAGDESH COOMA for orchestrating a scheme to defraud several banks of at least $10 million by obtaining commercial loans and lines of credit using false and fraudulent documents. As part of the scheme, CAVOUNIS and COOMA allegedly submitted applications for loans in the names of shell companies with no assets, and with straw owners, using fraudulent documents created to trick the banks into believing those entities were real. The defendants also paid bribes totaling over $135,000 to an employee of Citibank to obtain $2.45 million worth of loans. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “The defendants enga...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of a property manager for stealing more than $879,000 from three corporations that own five rental apartment buildings near Columbia University. LUIS NUNEZ, 42, has been indicted for Scheme to Defraud, Grand Larceny, and Falsifying Business Records[1]. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between June 2005 and April 2009. “Tenants suffer greatly when property managers steal money that is intended for maintenance, repairs, and other improvements. This type of crime can affect high end condominiums as well as low income rental buildings,” said District Attorney Vance. “We will aggressively investigate and prosecute these offenses, no matter how large or small.”

WASHINGTON – Suresh Chand pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in multiple conspiracies to defraud the Medicare program and to launder the proceeds of the fraud, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Terrence Berg and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced. Chand, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder money. At his sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2010, Chand faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.