New York Paralegal Blog

WASHINGTON—A Hungarian woman pleaded guilty today in Nashville, Tennessee, for her role in moving approximately $550,000 in illicit proceeds derived from an international online marketplace fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jerry E. Martin for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The investment manager of Century Maxim Fund Inc. and AJR Capital Inc. pleaded guilty today to wire fraud arising from his fraudulent investment scheme involving over $5 million of investors’ funds. Aleksander Efrosman entered his plea before the Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis, United States District Judge, at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mary Galligan, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), today announced the arrests of Marek Leszczynski and Benjamin Chouchane, who previously worked as sales brokers in the same brokerage firm, on charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.

CAMDEN, NJ—A second New Jersey man today admitted to his role in a $40.8 million mortgage fraud conspiracy, serving as a “straw buyer” to cause a lender to release almost $980,000 based on a fraudulent mortgage loan application, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a criminal information earlier today, charging four defendants –   Louis Gendason, 42, of Delray Beach, Fla.; Kimberly Mackey, 46, of Pittsburgh; John Incandela, 24, and Marcos Echevarria, 29, both of Palm Beach, Fla. – with conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving a nation-wide reverse mortgage scam that defrauded elderly borrowers, financial institutions and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).   A reverse mortgage allows borrowers, who are at least 62 years of age, to convert the equity in their homes into a monthly stream of income, or a line of credit.   Three of the defendants made their initial appearances at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earlier today.   If convicted, the defendants each face a statutory maximum term of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. These charges coincide with the one-year anniversary of “Operat...

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...

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...

BOSTON—A Leominster man was sentenced today in federal court for conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with a multi-million-dollar scheme run from a former plastics company in Lunenburg, the Gitto/Global Corporation. GARY C. GITTO, 49, of Lunenburg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 59 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $23 million. GITTO previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering on October 4, 2010. At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that during the period 1998 through September 2004, the principals of Gitto/Global Corporation, a plastics manufacturer in Lunenburg, were engaged in a complex scheme to defraud the company’s secured lenders by systematically overstating the company’s sales and inventory, thereby inducing the...

NEWARK, N.J. - A New Jersey-based defense contracting company and its president pleaded guilty Monday to contracting fraud following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Eric Helf, 38, president of Staff Manufacturing Corporation (Staff Gasket), admitted April 18 to military contract procurement fraud for selling replacement parts for use in military operations, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Staff Gasket also pleaded guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act. Staff Gasket, located in Alpine, N.J., pleaded guilty to two charges of wire fraud and an export control violation. Helf, of New York, N.Y., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the scheme. Both Helf and the company entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, from August ...

PHILADELPHIA—An indictment was unsealed today charging Hugh C. Clark and Ina M. Walker with conspiracy, wire fraud, and theft from a federally funded program based on their roles in defrauding the Philadelphia based New Media Technology Charter School ("New Media"), announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The 27-count indictment charges that Clark, the former president of the board, and Walker, the former CEO, improperly used approximately $522,000 in New Media funds to enrich themselves and advance their personal interests. According to the charges, Clark and Walker stole from New Media, a charter school funded with federal tax dollars, to (a) pay expenses at a small private school they controlled, Lotus Academy (b) advance their personal business ventures, including the Black Olive health food store and the Black Olive restaurant, and (c) pay personal expenses. In addition, defendant Clark allegedly diverted substantial funds from New Media and Lotus Academy ...

WASHINGTON—A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chemist and his son were arrested in Maryland today in connection with an alleged $2.27 million insider trading scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Elton Malone, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations, Specials Investigations Branch. A criminal complaint unsealed today in the District of Maryland charges Cheng Yi Liang, 57, and his son, Andrew Liang, 25, both residents of Gaithersburg, Md., with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud relating to their trading in the securities of five companies: Clinical Data Inc., Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals I...

WASHINGTON – Joseph Hirko, former co-chief executive officer of Enron Broadband Services (EBS), Enron’s failed telecommunications business, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Vanessa Gilmore ordered Hirko, 53, of Portland, Ore., to forfeit approximately $7 million in restitution to victims through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enron Fair Fund, in accordance with the terms of the plea agreement. Hirko pleaded guilty on Oct. 14, 2008, in U.S. District Court in Houston to one count of wire fraud charged in a superseding indictment.