BlogNetNews.com » Fraud

ABA Journal Top Stories: Playboy Sues Lawyer Who Posed for Mag, Claims She Can’t Be ‘Lawyer of Love’

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:07:22 -0500

Playboy magazine has sued a Chicago divorce lawyer who posed nude for the magazine and once wrote its “Lawyer of Love” advice column, claiming she has no right to the column’s name. Playboy claims lawyer Corri Fetman waived any rights to the "Lawyer of Love" phrase in her freelance agreement [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: After Two Unfortunate Misquotes, Justice Kennedy’s Office Takes Action

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:35:19 -0500

Supreme Court justices have been the victim of some unfortunate misquotes in recent news accounts of their speeches. Now the office of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is doing something about it. Justice Antonin Scalia didn’t really say he would have dissented in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark desegregation [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Holdout Covington & Burling Freezes Salaries Outside New York

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:06:29 -0500

Covington & Burling had been something of a holdout, refusing to freeze associate salaries even as other large law firms froze or cut pay. Now Covington has announced it will be freezing salaries after all, but only in offices outside of New York City. Above the Law broke the news. [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Warning: Eric Holder Doesn’t Really Want You to Pay $370

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:51:18 -0500

The FBI has issued a warning about a new e-mail scam that uses the name of Attorney General Eric Holder in an effort to collect $370. The e-mail tells the recipients that they are being investigated for terrorism and money laundering crimes, but they can pay $370 to buy a special [...]

Wall $treet Folly: Uncle Sam, take your job and shove it, who needs the aggravation?: New AIG CEO may quit only 3 months in; Price slashed by $1M on Madoff’s NYC Pad; Picower’s widow wants a deal; Ambac, MBIA the latest to need taxpayers’ helping hand?; Blankfein de

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:44:06 -0500

AIG’s Benmosche Threatens to Jump Ship Madoff Former NYC Penthouse Gets $1 Million Price Cut Picower’s Widow Seeks Madoff Trustee Deal After Filing of Will Goldman chief defends employees’ pay Ambac, MBIA Tumble as Losses May Overwhelm Bond Insurers Fed’s Fisher Says Growth May Be Suboptimal Into 2011 Dodd’s reform plan takes aim at the Fed Dollar [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Raids of Faculty Coffee Spur Harvard Law to End Cutbacks of Free Brew

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:41:40 -0500

Earlier this year, Harvard Law School cut back on one its cherished perks: free coffee for students. The school had announced that free coffee would end at 10:15 a.m., rather than noon, and it would be served at fewer locations. Never mind. The school has reversed course, and is now serving more [...]

10Q Detective: MannKind Inhales -- Exhales, Awaits FDA Meeting

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:00 -0500

Number of comments: 0
MannKind (MNKD-$6.58) is seeking FDA approval of Afresa for the treatment of adults with type 1 or type 2-diabetes. Afresa is a drug-device combination product, consisting of an ultra, rapid-acting insulin [an inhalation powder formulation] pre-metered into single unit dose cartridges and an inhaler. In a one-on-one interview, chief financial [...]

Securities Litigation Watch: Can We Call the Complaint a Hong Kong Phooey?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:59:15 -0500

While the Bloomberg story describing it may have been painfully short, the actual report released by Hong Kong’s Law Reform Commission to propose allowing multiparty litigation, is shall we say, thorough.

If adopted, the 300+ page consultation paper released last week, would add Hong Kong [...]

SEC ACTIONS: NOT GUILTY VERDICTS FOR THE BEAR STEANRS MANAGERS

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:51:56 -0500

The government suffered a significant loss yesterday when a jury in the Eastern District of New York returned not guilty verdicts on all counts in the trial of former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin. U.S. v. Cioffi, Case No. 1:08-cr-00415 (E.D.N.Y. Filed June 18, 2008). [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Ex-Prosecutor Tied to More Crimes Targeting Witnesses, Indictment Says

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:12:51 -0500

Already in solitary confinement awaiting trial on federal charges that he conspired to murder a witness in a drug case and about to make a renewed argument for bail, a high-profile New Jersey defense lawyer for rap stars and gang members who formerly worked as a state and federal prosecutor [...]

BloggingStocks: Holiday shopping Madoff-style

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

Filed under: Scandals, Headline news

What do you get for the person who has everything? Well, maybe you buy him a piece of history. The U.S. Marshals Service has done all the hard work, and now you can take advantage of it... maybe even at [...]

White Collar Crime Prof Blog: Not Guilty for Former Bear Stearns Managers

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:44:21 -0500

Zachery Kouwe, NYTimes, Bear Stearns Managers Acquitted of Fraud Charges reports on the acquittal of two former Bear Stearns Managers who faced government indictment. Unlike many, these two individuals risked going to trial and were acquitted by a jury that... [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Roeder Reportedly Admits Killing Abortion Doc, May Plan ‘Necessity’ Defense

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:40:53 -0500

Defendant Scott Roeder has reportedly admitted to several news organizations that he killed Dr. George Tiller as the physician was serving as an usher in his Wichita, Kan., church in May, slaying the slaying was justified because Tiller performed abortions. The Associated Press initially broke the story, which was based [...]

Stock Broker Fraud Blog: Securities America & Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sued For Selling Allegedly Faulty Private Settlements

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:41:32 -0500

A securities fraud lawsuit filed in federal court is suing Securities America and parent company Ameriprise Financial Inc. for selling allegedly faulty private placement offerings even after W. Thomas Cross, a Securities America executive, expressed concerns that the sales could result in a “panicked run on the [...]

Daily Mortgage Fraud News: Flushing (NY) man charged with attempted larceny and forgery

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:40:26 -0500

In the following press release Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Flushing man has been charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and other charges for allegedly forging the signature of a man whose home had been foreclosed on [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Ex-Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Execs Acquitted Today on All Charges

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:35:10 -0500

When concerns are expressed that authorities are targeting the small fry rather than the big fish in mortgage-related fraud cases, a criminal prosecution of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers has repeatedly been cited as a rare exception. But today the case ended with the acquittal of both defendants, [...]

Jeff Matthews Is Not Making This Up: Why Buffett Finished Off Burlington: It’s the Inventories, Stupid

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:22:00 -0500

Number of comments: 6

Well, what the heck: why not use a great line, slightly altered, to make a point?

The point being that what Pink Floyd once called “what the fighting’s all about” (at least as far as capital markets go) is not, strictly speaking, the economy.

Sure, everybody has an opinion [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Law Firm & Ex-Associate Litigate Badmouth Blog Battle in State & Federal Court

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:54:21 -0500

A war of words between Levinson Axelrod and ex-associate Edward Harrington Heyburn is now in litigation. The New Jersey-based personal injury law firm filed an order to show cause in state court in Middlesex County Superior Court last week, seeking a shutdown order concerning the website in which Heyburn criticizes [...]

RiskMetrics Group: Senator Dodd Introduces Financial Reform BillSubmitted by: Ted Allen, Publications

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:32:26 -0500

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd today introduced a long-awaited financial regulatory reform bill that includes a variety of significant corporate governance provisions, including proxy access, “say on pay,” and majority voting.

Dodd, Senator Charles Schumer, and seven other Senate Democrats introduced the 1,136-page bill, which also would create a [...]

Daily Mortgage Fraud News: Florida AG files suit against loan modification company alleging charging of upfront fees

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:25:18 -0500

In the following press release Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against two Central Florida companies and their owner over allegations they charged up-front fees for foreclosure rescue-related services. National Payment Modification Company and The Bostonian Group, LLC, which conducts business [...]

Daily Mortgage Fraud News: Texas AG obtains injunction against foreclosure rescue company

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:20:29 -0500

In the following press release Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today took legal action to obtain restitution for a fraudulent “mortgage rescue” firm’s victims.

Dallas County 134th District Judge James M. Stanton granted an agreed temporary injunction barring Markus and Tyrone Bailey from deceptively operating [...]

Wall $treet Folly: The verdict is in and the prosecution has egg on their faces: Ex Bear Stearns hedge fund managers NOT GUILTY on all counts

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:15:57 -0500

Prosecutorial smackdown: CNBC reported that former Bear Stearns hedge managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin have been found not guilty on all charges. More: Ex-Bear Stearns hedge fund managers acquitted – Reuters Bear Stearns Managers Acquitted of Fraud Charges - NY Times Ex-Bear Fund Managers Not Guilty of Subprime Fraud – Bloomberg

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ABA Journal Top Stories: Prosecution: Innocence Project Student Paid Witness for Exonerating Statement

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:44:48 -0500

A hard-fought court battle over evidence allegedly exonerating convicted murderer Anthony McKinney just got more contentious, as Illinois prosecutors who have been seeking video footage, notes and even grades of students involved in the Northwestern University Innocence Project case contended in a filing today that a witness was paid for [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: How Low Will New Lawyer Pay Go? As Low as $110K to $130K at Reed Smith

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:19:38 -0500

Reed Smith is cutting billing rates and pay by 20 percent for 51 new associates joining the firm’s U.S. offices in January. The new starting pay will range from $130,000 in major markets to $110,000 in Pittsburgh, according to a press release (PDF). At the same time, billable hours expectations [...]

ABA Journal Top Stories: Five-Star Law Firms? ACC Publishes Ratings, to Mixed Reviews

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:40:34 -0500

Clients’ one- to five-star ratings of law firms are being published online for all 25,000 members of the Association of Corporate Counsel, but the report cards will be off-limits to law firms, at least for now. So far, 1,500 in-house lawyers have submitted reviews of legal acumen and costs for [...]

footnoted.org: Vonage CEO racks up Gulfstream miles…

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:05:25 -0500

Number of comments: 1

It’s been awhile since we’ve checked in on Vonage (VG), the once high-flying alternative phone company whose ads are still all over the place. But last time we checked in, they had just hired former Cingular marketing executive Mark Lefar to serve as CEO. Last August, Vonage [...]