Law Blog
Stay informed of the latest announcements relating to financial fraud law.
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 3:18pm
Life may imitate art more than art imitates life, as Oscar Wilde said, but now art is indeed imitating life: a new movie, “Inside Job,” exploring 2008’s financial meltdown, is opening next week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 1:25pm
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Attorneys for hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam have moved to suppress wiretaps involving Rajaratnam. The challenged recordings, the filing argues, were both in violation of the Constitution and were obtained through material misrepresentations and omissions in the government’s wiretap application to the Court.
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 12:09pm
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Two former Atlanta-based Integrity Bank executives, Douglas Ballard and Joseph Todd, and hotel developer Guy Mitchell of Coral Gables, Florida, have been charged with various acts of conspiracy, bribery, bank fraud and/or securities fraud relating to over $80 million in loans that Mitchell obtained from Integrity Bank.
$624 Million In Countrywide Financial Litigation Is One Of Largest Securities Fraud Settlements Ever
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 8:05am
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The New York State Common Retirement Fund and the five New York City public pension funds have settled the Countrywide Financial Corporation Securities Class Action for $624 million.
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 7:02am
One state that is having a particularly significant increase in online fraud is Tennessee. And it’s not just a college student hacking into Sarah Palin’s personal Yahoo! account. Actually, it turns out that wire fraud in Tennessee has jumped by 19 percent from 2008 to 2009 – and by 30 percent since 2007 – as reported in the just-released “Crime in Tennessee 2009” report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 5:57am
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Good morning, readers! You know that we’ve been highlighting, quite regularly, the incredibly rapid – and significant – growth in prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Hearing government prosecutors talk about it makes one think it’s all good for everyone – except for the crooks.
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 11:44am
To hear proponents of Arizona’s new anti-immigration law tell it, the federal government is doing nothing to stop undocumented individuals from entering the U.S. in violation of the law. The FBI is telling us today that it is taking a role in the immigration battle – one that involves its efforts to combat border corruption.
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 9:43am
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“Shadow banking” refers to bank‐like financial activities that are conducted outside the traditional commercial banking system, many of which are unregulated or lightly regulated. Within this broad definition are investment banks, finance companies, money market funds, hedge funds, special purpose entities, and other vehicles that aggregate and hold financial assets.
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 9:28am
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In a new twist on an old scam, con artists are now targeting recipients of payday loans using debt collection tactics. At least that’s what we hear from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who is warning that people should verify callers and money owed before paying out to debt collectors.
California Files Fraud Suit Against Former CalPERS Officials And Freezes Assets Of Alfred Villalobos
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 5:28pm
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The State of California has filed a civil suit against former California Public Employees Retirement System (“CalPERS”) Board Member Alfred Villalobos, his company ARVCO Capital, and former CalPERS CEO Federico "Fred" Buenrostro, charging them with fraud.
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 11:32am
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It must be “False Claims Act Thursday.” We just learned that Ciena Capital LLC, a private, non-depository lender located in New York City, has reached an agreement with the federal government to settle fraud claims related to its small business lending for $26.3 million. Ciena and a subsidiary, Business Loan Center (“BLC”), a small business lending company licensed to originate and service loans under Section 7(a) of the Small Business
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 9:51am
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Federal law permits whistleblowers to bring suit under the False Claims Act on their own. The law also allows the U.S. government to intervene in such cases – and when it does so, it typically suggests that the government believes there is some merit in the suit.
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 8:00am
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Lawyers have a duty to their clients and the system to ensure that the tax advice they are giving to their clients complies with the law and is complete and accurate. What happens if it is not? Well, consider the case of bond attorney Michael W. McCall.
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 6:06am
With the Senate inching toward a vote on financial reform legislation, industry observers wonder whether any bill could prevent the mistakes and risk-taking that led to the recent near-collapse of the country’s banking infrastructure.
Wed, 05/05/2010 - 11:54am
The SEC today charged New York City-based Spongetech Delivery Systems Inc., an affiliate, and five individuals with being involved in a “massive pump-and-dump scheme” that deceived investors into believing they were buying stock in a highly successful company. 
