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The Researching Paralegal

Tag Archives: Fraud

Identifying, Then Immobilizing, Stolen Assets.

31 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bankruptcy Law, Child Support, Criminal Law, Divorce, Family Law, Finance and Banking Law, Hidden Assets, Marital Asset

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Asset Search, Asset Search Blog, Child Support, Divorce, Finance, Fraud, Fred Abrams, Money Laundering

Recovering Assets By Identifying & Immobilizing Them, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pmmjgke

Identifying and immobilizing assets in a timely fashion can be paramount to asset recovery cases ranging from an ultra-high net worth divorce to a forced collection proceeding against a debtor.

The abstract about ‘Suspending Suspicious Transactions’¹ similarly mentions the ‘timely identification and immobilization’ of  assets.  The abstract discusses this with regard to money laundering and terrorist financing:

‘Seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime, and funds intended to finance terrorism, are key objectives of the global initiative to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The timely identification and immobilization of such funds are critical to permit the action necessary to prevent the flight of illicit assets beyond the reach of national law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities.’

Suspending Suspicious Transactions was published during July 2013 by the World Bank.  It examines the role Financial Intelligence Units, (‘FIUs’), can have in freezing assets and/or postponing financial transactions at banks.

Suspending Suspicious Transactions also supplies fact patterns showing how FIUs work under anti-money laundering/countering financing of  terrorism, (‘AML/CFT”), laws. . . .

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Five-Month Suspension Appropriate for Serious and Deliberate Ethical Misconduct?

05 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Attorney Discipline, Legal Ethics, Probate and Trusts

≈ Comments Off on Five-Month Suspension Appropriate for Serious and Deliberate Ethical Misconduct?

Tags

Bar Discipline, Ethical Misconduct, Fraud, Legal Ethics, Legal Profession Blog, Mike Frisch, Probate, Suspension

Suspension Proposed For Failure To Correct False Client Affidavit, by Mike Frisch, Legal Profession Blog

http://tinyurl.com/k7tevnu

An attorney who failed to correct his client’s  false affidavit claiming sole heirship in an estate matter should be suspended for five months, according to a report and recommendation of the Illinois Review Board.

Following the death of James Volgar (‘James’) in 2008, Respondent agreed to represent James’ brother, Paul Volgar (‘Paul’), regarding the administration of his brother’s estate. Paul was angry that Margaret Madonis (‘Margaret’), a great-niece who had cared for James during his life, was named as a joint tenant on one of James’ bank accounts. After James’ death, Margaret received about $400,000. Paul wanted this money. Paul told Respondent that he was James’ only heir. Based upon the information he received from Paul, Respondent drafted and filed in Will County an affidavit of heirship and letters of administration stating that Paul was the only surviving heir. The probate court then appointed Paul as administrator of the estate.

In early 2009, Respondent learned that Paul had lied to him and that James had additional heirs. However, Respondent took no steps over the following seventeen months to correct the false affidavit he had filed with the court or to file an amended affidavit of heirship. At hearing, Respondent asserted he failed to amend the affidavit of heirship because he simply forgot about it and forgot about the existence of other heirs. He testified he was more focused on the issue as to whether Paul could obtain the money received by Margaret. The Hearing Board rejected Respondent’s testimony, finding it incredible, and noting that 1) Respondent discussed the existence of additional heirs with various individuals; 2) he conducted research regarding distribution law; and 3) he formulated a potential argument to limit the share of the other heirs. Accordingly, the Hearing Board found that Respondent knowingly failed to correct the false statement in the affidavit. Respondent does not challenge this finding.

Following Paul’s appointment as administrator of the estate, Respondent used the false information regarding heirship to obtain information from financial institutions in an attempt to support Paul’s claims against Margaret. Respondent also sold James’ home in 2009 without notification to the other heirs. Respondent’s mother-in-law was the listing real estate agent and Respondent was the title agent. Respondent took over $9,000 in attorney’s fees from the sale proceeds, most of which was for fees Paul owed him to pursue the claim against Margaret.

In addition, Respondent repeated the false statement that Paul was an only heir in subsequent statements to the court, including in a motion for waiver of a surety bond filed in December 2009. . . .

 

 

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Big Banks, Big Business, And The DOJ.

02 Friday May 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Consumer Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Intentional Misrepresentation, SEC, White Collar Crime

≈ Comments Off on Big Banks, Big Business, And The DOJ.

Tags

Banks, Bernard Arnault, Blair Hickman, Corporate Impunity, Department of Justice, Financial Crisis, Fraud, Jesse Eisinger, Judge Jed Rakoff, Lehman Brothers, ProPublica, Reddit, SEC

Big Banks, Business and Butter: Highlights From Our Q&A on Corporate Impunity, by Blair Hickman, ProPublica

http://bit.ly/1fCRh1R

Reporter Jesse Eisinger offers his thoughts on the lack of white-collar prosecutions, journalism and the Green Bay Packers.

*     *     *

I don’t think enough attention has been paid to the fact that the white collar laws are inadequate, so there haven’t been many proposed remedies. One thing the DoJ should use is the ‘willful blindness’ or ‘conscious disregard’ charge. As Judge Jed Rakoff wrote recently in the New York Review of Books: Such a charge ‘is a well-established basis on which federal prosecutors have asked juries to infer intent, including in cases involving complexities, such as accounting rules, at least as esoteric as those involved in the events leading up to the financial crisis. And while some federal courts have occasionally expressed qualifications about the use of the willful blindness approach to prove intent, the Supreme Court has consistently approved it.’ . . .

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Federal Government Is On Board The Eight Pending Lawsuits Against Health Management Associates Inc.

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in False Claims Act, Fraud, Health Law

≈ Comments Off on Federal Government Is On Board The Eight Pending Lawsuits Against Health Management Associates Inc.

Tags

Alabama, Arkansas, Emergency Room, ER, False Claims Act, Federal Health Care, Florida, Fraud, Gary Newsome, Georgia, Health Management Associates Inc., HMA, Hospitals, Inpatient Admissions, Kentucky, Kickbacks, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina Supreme Court, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas Supreme Court, Washington, West Virginia

Government Intervenes in Lawsuits Against Health Management Associates Inc. Hospital Chain Alleging Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions and Payment of Kickbacks, by Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/January/14-civ-037.html

The government has intervened in eight False Claims Act lawsuits against Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) alleging that HMA billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary inpatient admissions from the emergency departments at HMA hospitals and paid remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals, the Justice Department announced today.  The government also has joined in the allegations in one of these lawsuits that Gary Newsome, HMA’s former CEO, directed HMA’s corporate practice of pressuring emergency department physicians and hospital administrators to raise inpatient admission rates, regardless of medical necessity.  HMA operates 71 hospitals in 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.

*     *     *

The lawsuits allege that HMA’s corporate officers, at the direction of Newsome, exerted significant pressure on doctors in the emergency department to admit patients who could have been placed in observation, treated as outpatients or discharged, and that this resulted in the submission of inflated or false claims to federal health care programs.  One lawsuit also alleges that patients were improperly admitted for scheduled surgical procedures that should have been done on an outpatient basis.  The complaints further allege that HMA paid kickbacks, either in the form of bonuses or awarded contracts, to physician groups staffing HMA emergency rooms to induce the physicians to admit patients unnecessarily. . . .  [Emphasis added.]

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Senior Citizens – The Scammer’s Favorite Mark.

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Elder Law, Recent Links and Articles

≈ Comments Off on Senior Citizens – The Scammer’s Favorite Mark.

Tags

Financial Exploitation, Fraud, Identity Theft, Investment Fraud, Scammers, Senior Citizens, Theft, USA.gov

Scammers Target Senior Citizens, USA.gov Blog

http://blog.usa.gov/post/72686179442/scammers-target-senior-citizens

Not necessarily for seniors. Tips on avoiding scams, including financial exploitation, investment fraud, identity theft. -CCE

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Resources from the Offices of the United States Attorney . . . and more.

02 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Criminal Law, Discovery, Federal Law, Fraud, References, Research, Trial Tips and Techniques

≈ Comments Off on Resources from the Offices of the United States Attorney . . . and more.

Tags

Bullying, DOJ, FOIA, Fraud, Freedom of Information Act, National Security, Prescription Drug Abuse, United States Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Victim's Rights

Resources, Offices of the United States Attorney
http://perma.cc/0pU5ocUruhw

FOIA/Privacy Act Requests – “How to” submit FOIA requests
http://perma.cc/0xyPEK7KcCN

FOIA Library – Available to public about office’s operations
http://perma.cc/07JeT6GjPPp

Annual Statistical Reports – Accomplishments for each fiscal year
http://perma.cc/09vkJheop6X

Victim’s Rights Ombudsman – Complaints filed against DOJ employees
http://perma.cc/07fbNaXZcka

United States Attorney’s Bulletin – Legal or technical topics
http://perma.cc/0QdV5c8XtUK

United States Attorney’s Manual – The official handbook
http://perma.cc/0djGLTsgpwy

This is a sample of the great information at this website. See more at Priority Areas (http://perma.cc/0ssbcTres9kl) and Justice 101 (http://perma.cc/0B27rPGVtMV). CCE

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Divorce and Hidden Assets

17 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Divorce, Family Law, Finding Assets, Fraud, White Collar Crime

≈ Comments Off on Divorce and Hidden Assets

Tags

Assets, Divorce, Financial Institutions, Fraud, Fred Abrams, Money Laundering, White Collar Crime

Divorce & Hidden Assets: Alaskan Plastic Surgeon Accused Of Concealing Millions In Central America, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog
(The first post in the Abram’s “Divorce & Hidden Assets” Series)
http://bit.ly/1gLpR72

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