Our mission is to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois. We assist, educate and enlighten families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Probate Court of Cook County. ProbateSharks.com is dedicated to networking the human element of people to people. We join together in reforming the corrupt Cook County Probate Court system.
Editor's note: Needless to say, our own more sophisticated crooks in the Probate Court of Cook County get away with this fraud on helpless wards and their families every day. I wonder to what extent the "Nursing Home Cartel" is involved with "drug trafficking" since legitimate prescriptions would easily be used for illegitimate purposes. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Feds: Attorney from Englewood Cliffs, husband stole millions from two NYC law firms
A prominent antitrust attorney and her husband, who is accused of being the head of a New Jersey drug trafficking ring in a separate federal case, were arrested early Monday at their Englewood Cliffs home for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from two New York City law firms where she had been a partner, federal authorities said.
Keila D. Ravelo, 49, and Melvin Feliz, 50, appeared in federal court in Newark in the afternoon on charges that they conspired to commit wire fraud. The couple allegedly arranged to have two law firms where Ravelo was a partner pay more than $5.75 million in legal consulting fees to two dummy companies they established and controlled from 2008 through this past summer, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a news release.
Fishman said the work was never performed and that the couple used the money — including $250,000 paid to a jewelry store — to finance personal investments and purchase items for their own use.
Ravelo had been with the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher until last month, a woman answering the phone at the company said on Monday. She had been a partner with Hunton & Williams from 2008 to 2010, according to that firm. Both firms, which were not identified by authorities, issued statements on Monday saying they are cooperating with the investigation.
Feliz had been charged in March with conspiring to distribute cocaine in a plot that authorities said included paying $550,000 to buy 20 kilograms of the drug in California and transport it to Bergen County, according to court papers. Authorities referred to Feliz as the “leader” of a drug trafficking organization in the filings and said he and two other men had been charged in the case after an investigation that included statements by a confidential informer.
The wire fraud charges announced Monday against Ravelo and Feliz carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of up to twice the defendants’ gross profit from the alleged scheme, Fishman said.
The defendants were arrested at 6 a.m., according to their attorneys, both of whom questioned the strength of the criminal complaint.
Ravelo's attorney, Aidan O'Connor, called it “weak” and “suspicious” considering the drug case against Feliz is scheduled to go to trial in about two weeks. Feliz’s attorney, Patrick Joyce, said it was “vague what Mr. Feliz did that was illegal” in the latest complaint, adding that he was unaware that either of the two law firms had complained about losing money.
The Internal Revenue Service special agent who signed the complaint, Daniel Garrido, wrote that he did “not set forth each and every fact that I know concerning this investigation” because the complaint is “being submitted for a limited purpose.” The complaint alleged that the couple “conspired with each other and others” to defraud two law firms and a client.
Fishman said the Drug Enforcement Administration was part of the investigation along with the IRS, but did not provide details about their participation or link the case to the drug charges against Feliz.
Ravelo had authority to approve payments from the law firms to the dummy companies because she was a partner, Fishman said. Garrido wrote that attorneys who worked with Ravelo told authorities that they never reviewed the legal consulting work that purportedly had been produced by those companies.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hammer asked prosecutors to present more evidence today when a bail hearing for Feliz, who remained in custody Monday evening, is scheduled to continue.
Ravelo, whose bail was set at $500,000, was released Monday after posting security in the form of a painting she said was worth $125,000, a $200,000 retirement fund and $325,000 of equity in a Miami condo. According to tax records, she owns two homes in Englewood Cliffs, one assessed at $2.4 million and the other at $1.4 million.
Two months ago, Ravelo was highlighted in a magazine segment called “Women Worth Watching” published by the Profiles in Diversity Journal. She wrote about herself for the article, which included a picture of her with first lady Michelle Obama, saying she specializes in antitrust litigation and has been working with the same “core team” of “smart, ambitious lawyers” for 10 years.
Two years ago, she was named to the board of directors of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, an organization that helps impoverished families receive help from government agencies. She is no longer listed as a board member.
Federal authorities said that one company set up by Ravelo and her husband obtained more than $5 million from the two law firms, and another company the couple controlled received $750,000 from the second firm. The bank account for the first consulting company was in Nevada while the second company had bank accounts in New Jersey, authorities said.
According to the complaint, Hunton & Williams paid $2 million for legal consulting related to one case from 2008 through 2010, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher paid another $2 million from 2010 through this past summer related to the same case. The client in that case, who has not been identified by authorities, has been cooperating with the investigation, Fishman said.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s chief marketing officer, Antoinette McGovern, issued a written statement on Monday saying Ravelo no longer is with the firm. “We have been cooperating fully with the authorities and have no further comment to make at this time,” she wrote.
Hunton & Williams issued a statement saying the firm is cooperating with authorities and is “committed to meeting and exceeding the highest ethical and legal standards, and any behavior to the contrary is not tolerated by the Firm.”
Email: koloff@northjersey.com
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