New York Paralegal Blog

A group of individuals is facing serious federal charges for their alleged roles in a sophisticated fraud and theft ring. The indictment outlines a series of crimes, including conspiracies to commit bank fraud, steal postal keys, and pilfer mail, culminating in aggravated identity theft. The defendants, identified as Michael Edwards, Shakeemo Hill, William Hill, Alixandria Lauture, Shuron Malone, and Carlos Mercado, are accused of working together in various capacities to execute their illegal activities. The Charges Breakdown: The core of the allegations is a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a charge carrying a hefty maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. This count involves five of the six defendants. Several defendants are also charged with crimes related to the U.S. Mail. These include: Conspiracy to steal a postal key, with a maximum penalty of five years. Conspiracy to steal and receive stolen mail, also carrying a potential five-year sentence. The actual theft of a ...

WASHINGTON – The principal and co-owner of Integra Capital Management LLC, a North Carolina company, was arrested in Denton, N.C., today for defrauding commodities trading investors of more than $3.2 million, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina. Nicholas Cox, 34, a North Carolina resident, is charged in an indictment returned on May 17, 2011, by a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina, with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, seven counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Following his arrest, Cox made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer in Charlotte, N.C. The indictment alleges that between September 2006 and January 2009, Cox and his co-conspirator, Rodney Whitney, who was also a principal and co-owner of Integra, engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in com...

WASHINGTON – Don W. Watson, former chief financial officer (CFO) of CSK Auto Corp. (CSK), pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to conspiracy to commit securities and mail fraud in connection with a scheme to misstate the company’s reported earnings from 2001 through 2006, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; Kevin Perkins, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Inspector in Charge Pete Zegarac of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Phoenix Division; and Victor S.O. Song, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Watson, 55, of Gilbert, Ariz., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton. Watson admitted that, from 2001 to 2006, he and others conspired to misstate CSK’s income by concealing that the company had tens of millions of dollars in vendor rebates that CSK had claimed as income but were never collected. The rebates were in...

WASHINGTON – Three stock promoters have been indicted for their roles in a stock manipulation scheme that defrauded investors, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Chief Postal Inspector Guy Cottrell of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Timothy Barham Jr., 43, of Henderson, Tenn.; Nathan Montgomery, 30, of Henderson, Nev.; and Ryan Reynolds, 39, of Dallas, were each charged in a superseding indictment filed on April 28, 2011, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. On April 29, 2011, Barham was arrested in Henderson, Tenn., and Montgomery was arrested in Las Vegas. Reynolds, who was in custody on previously filed civil charges, made his initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Dallas. The superseding indictment charges Barham, Montgomery and...

SIOUX FALLS, SD—U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Florida man charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud was sentenced on Monday, April 18, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol. Vij Misir, age 46, was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $1.5 million to Midland National Life Insurance Company of Sioux Falls and $495,000 to West Coast Life. Just before Misir’s sentencing, his ex-wife and co-defendant, Rajmatee Kapadia, also appeared before Judge Piersol and pled guilty to the same charge. Rajmatee Kapadia entered her guilty plea to the same count, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years along with a potential maximum fine of $250,000. In her plea agreement, Kapadia accepted joint and several liability for the insurance restitution amounts imposed upon Misir. Misir and Kapadia were indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud by a fe...