Category: White Collar Crime
A latmes.com report on June 9, 2009 stated that U.S. District Judge S. James Otero has dismissed the most severe charges against well known attorney Pierce O’Donnell in an illegal campaign finance case. This is a definite hit to the prosecution’s case against O’Donnell. Otero ruled that prosecutors had wrongly charged O’Donnell with two violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Originally, U.S. attorney’s office had claimed that O’Donnell had violated the law by asking employees to make donations to the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards and then paid them back for their donations. Judge Otero said that the… Read More
A latimes.com report from May 13, 2009 stated that an investigation into the offices of former assessor Bill Postmus has prompted the San Bernardino County Supervisors to file suit against Postmus and five of his co-workers in an attempt to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars. The report was done by former federal prosecutor John Hueston who gained fame for prosecuting Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron. The investigation revealed that crime, fraud, and drug use were a common occurrence in Postmus’s office. In addition, the 30 page document states that people not qualified for the job were hired… Read More
The website hbindependent.com reported in an account on April 9, 2009 that former fugitive Gene Anthony Franklin Jr., 34 of Tustin, who had bought a home in Southern California valued at $685,000 using someone else’s information has been found guilty of perpetrating $2.8 million in fraud and stealing the identities of more than 12 victims. Police went to Franklin’s house to arrest him on another warrant but he refused to come out taking a small child hostage. Police had Franklin’s ex-wife come to the house in an unsuccessful attempt to free the child. After many hours passed, the stand-off ended… Read More
The latimes.com website reported in a story on March 11, 2009 that the LAPD announced that Cindi Dee Powell, 54 had used an 84 year old woman’s name, robbing her of $200,000, and in doing so the woman now faces possible foreclosure. Police have arrested Powell and have charged her with grand theft, financial elder abuse, identity theft, vehicle theft, fraud, and forgery. Police reports state that Powell moved in with Constance Wakefield after Wakefield found her classified advertisement. Wakefield requires a wheelchair to move around the house and someone to drive her to appointments. Wakefield had no idea that… Read More
An doctor is facing Orange County fraud charges for allegedly bribing patients to come to his Westminster clinic for massages that were then billed to Medicare as $2.3 million in physical therapy, The Orange County Register reports. Mark Thomas Paskewitz was reportedly indicted by a Santa Ana grand jury on 18 counts of health care fraud at QS Medical Group Inc. known earlier as Good Healthcare Inc. Federal prosecutors say Paskewitz billed Medicare for massages that were performed by unlicensed, unsupervised employees. The Medicare patients were also paid illegal kickbacks so they would visit the clinics, the article said. If… Read More
Does a death in a staged accident equal murder? In the first of its kind prosecution, a personal injury attorney, tried for the accidental death occurring during a staged accident ended in a mistrial. Bold new theories of second degree murder under a new theory of “vicarious liability” are being tested. See People v. Antick, 15 Cal.3d 79 @ p.86 (1975), Taylor v. Superior Court, 3 Cal.3d 578, 584 (1970), People v. Gilbert, 63 Cal.2d 690, 704 (1965). Call me for updates.
The entertainment industry is a fertile field for fraud. Between the psychological attraction of fame and fortune and the undeniable opportunities for talented people to make large sums of money, which they may have difficulty keeping track of, Hollywood abounds withcrimes of fraud. Unfortunately, much of it goes unreported. Since avoiding these situations is often preferable to reporting them, here are some of the rackets, cheats and scams to warn your clients about and hopefully some ways to prevent them: Embezzlement. Unfortunately, “creative types” tend to disengage themselves from the details of their financial affairs, placing equal amounts of trust… Read More
