Petoskey lawyer took trips, fixed his cottage with pilfered funds

Editor's note: This Shark observed Alice R. Gore's GAL feathering his Malibu beach house with Alice's estate. No cottages for Cook County probate lawyers.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

Petoskey lawyer took trips, fixed his cottage with pilfered funds

John Hogan, WZZM 12:54 p.m. EDT October 9, 2015

Ex-Petoskey lawyer faces new charges for bilking client(Photo: State of Michigan)

81 CONNECT 6 TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) -- A disbarred attorney from Petoskey accused of financing lavish vacations and home repairs with an elderly client's money is facing new charges of mail fraud and tax evasion.
Michael Aho Kennedy, 67, was indicted Thursday on federal charges linked to the disappearance of an estimated $1.2 million from a long-time family friend and client, who died in August from Alzheimer's disease.
Kennedy used the money to buy a horse, fix his cottage, pay college tuition bills and to finance family vacations to Madrid, Turkey and Tahiti, the federal indictment alleges. He's also accused of using the woman's money to pay his taxes.
Kennedy already faces up to 20 years in prison on state charges of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult. He was arraigned in a Petoskey courtroom on Monday.
The federal indictment sheds more light on the scope of the alleged financial crimes against Virginia R. Weber, a longtime friend of the Kennedy family who appointed him trustee of her trust account in July, 2006.
At the time, Weber's savings and investments had a value of nearly $1 million, federal court records show.
Kennedy regularly withdrew money from the widowed woman's bank accounts and paid her monthly bills, but also channeled money to a separate business account for his law practice, the government says.
Kennedy mailed Weber five account statements between Nov. 2010 and March, 2012 showing a trust balance that averaged slightly more than $1 million, even though Bank of Northern Michigan statements showed the account was empty, federal documents show.
In addition to mail fraud, Kennedy is charged with understating his adjusted gross income by an average of $292,600 over a three-year period, court records show.
His made an average of about $47,600 over the three-year period, but the undeclared balance "was actually money that he embezzled from the trust,'' the indictment alleges.
The government has launched forfeiture proceedings against Kennedy's home on Hill Crest Drive in Petoskey and is seeking $1.2 million, less whatever proceeds it gets for the house.
The Internal Revenue Service contacted the woman's family in 2012 regarding investments Kennedy had selected for her living trust. Investigators believe the embezzlement dated to 2006 but state charges were limited by the statute of limitations.
Kennedy was disbarred last March. He was arraigned Monday in Emmet County District Court on charges including one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of over $100,000 and one count of embezzlement by a trustee of over $100,000, both 20-year felonies. Kennedy's bond was set at $100,000 cash.

UPDATE: Ex-Probate clerk Kim Birge to plead guilty in theft case on Friday

Posted: July 28, 2015 - 10:22am  |  Updated: July 29, 2015 - 6:58am

• Photos

Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News - Kim Birge, indicted former probate court clerk/administrator.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEW READERS

99 cent digital subscription to savannahnow.com
Subscriber-members get access to ALL our digital products AND become eligible for free event tickets, discount coupons and other benefits.

SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

As a Savannah Morning News / savannahnow.com subscriber, you're eligible for members-only discounts. Download your coupons now.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEW READERS

99 cent digital subscription to savannahnow.com
Subscriber-members get access to ALL our digital products AND become eligible for free event tickets, discount coupons and other benefits.

SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

As a Savannah Morning News / savannahnow.com subscriber, you're eligible for members-only discounts. Download your coupons now.

Related Stories

• Kim Birge pleads not guilty to Probate Court fraud charges
• Former Probate Court clerk Kim Birge indicted in theft of more than $700,000 from the court
• Kim Birge, Chatham County sued in disputed missing Probate Court funds
• Judge Lewis: First learned of problems in November
• Judge denies Harris Lewis' bid to protect bond in missing Probate Court funds case
• Money for children of Imperial Sugar victims stolen by fired court clerk, attorney says

By Jan Skutch

Former longtime Chatham County Probate Court Chief Clerk Kim Birge is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to charges of stealing or embezzling more than $700,000 from the court over a three-year period.
According to court documents, Birge has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and will change her not guilty plea to some or all of the five-count indictment during a session before U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr.
The government’s notice of a plea agreement, which was entered on Monday, simply states “that a plea agreement has been reached by the parties which would dispose of the charges pending in the … case against the defendant.”
A copy of that agreement has been provided to Moore for his consideration, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scarlett Nokes said in the filing.
Typically a defense attorney, in Birge’s case attorney Tom Withers, will negotiate a deal where the defendant will plead guilty to some of the charges, with the government dismissing others in return for a plea agreement.
Final determinations on sentencing are the judge’s alone. Details of Birge’s accord will not be made public until the actual court hearing.
Birge, 61, remains free on a $40,000 unsecured bond pending disposition of the case.
Birge was named May 18 in a five-count indictment that included four counts of mail fraud by using the mail to defraud Chatham County out of $700,000 between January 2011 and November 2014 and then using the cash for her own benefit.
A fifth count charged federal program fraud. It alleged she stole about $767,218 between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2014, from Chatham County, money that involved a federal grant.
The count included the same funds and time frame as the mail fraud counts.
Included in the indictment is a forfeiture allegation in which the government says, if she’s convicted, it will try to recover “any property, real or personal” derived from the offense.
The indictment charged that Birge in her capacity as chief clerk of Probate Court was authorized to conduct transactions in at least two court bank accounts but “was not authorized to conduct transactions in the Probate Court bank accounts for the benefit of herself or her family.”
It charges she would sign court orders to direct insurance companies, private businesses, public employers, banks and other entities to send funds to the court “for the benefit of minors and other individuals who had conservatorships” established in Chatham County.
A conservatorship establishes someone to watch out for money or property for minors or incompetents in the court.
Birge would then deposit fees paid to the court into one of two bank accounts maintained by the court and make representations that the money would be used for court matters, the indictment charged.
She would then forge the signatures of conservators and/or their attorneys to create false documents to disburse the money, would use the cash from negotiated checks for her personal use and would fail to disclose her activities to others in the court, the indictment charged.
Probate Judge Harris Lewis fired Birge on Dec. 2 in what was described as “in the best interests” of the court.
He had placed Birge on investigative suspension without pay Nov. 20 during a probe of “discrepancies with the services that you are responsible for handling,” Lewis said in a Nov. 20 letter.
As part of Lewis’ initial action, Birge has been barred from entering the Montgomery Street courthouse or discussing any matters related to the investigation “with anyone other than investigatory staff, unless otherwise directed to do so.”
The action came in wake of a reported federal/Savannah-Chatham police probe of undisclosed activity.

Kim Birge pleads not guilty to Probate Court fraud charges

Posted: June 2, 2015 - 9:39am  |  Updated: June 3, 2015 - 12:45am

• Photos

Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News - Kim Birge, indicted former probate court clerk/administrator.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEW READERS

99 cent digital subscription to savannahnow.com
Subscriber-members get access to ALL our digital products AND become eligible for free event tickets, discount coupons and other benefits.

SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

As a Savannah Morning News / savannahnow.com subscriber, you're eligible for members-only discounts. Download your coupons now.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEW READERS

99 cent digital subscription to savannahnow.com
Subscriber-members get access to ALL our digital products AND become eligible for free event tickets, discount coupons and other benefits.

SIGN UP FOR SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

As a Savannah Morning News / savannahnow.com subscriber, you're eligible for members-only discounts. Download your coupons now.

Related Stories

• Former Probate Court clerk Kim Birge indicted in theft of more than $700,000 from the court
• Kim Birge, Chatham County sued in disputed missing Probate Court funds
• Judge Lewis: First learned of problems in November
• Judge denies Harris Lewis' bid to protect bond in missing Probate Court funds case
• Money for children of Imperial Sugar victims stolen by fired court clerk, attorney says

By Jan Skutch

Former longtime Chatham County Probate Court Chief Clerk Kim Birge on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in federal court to stealing or embezzling more than $700,000 from the court over a three-year period.
“How does she plead to the charges in the indictment?” U.S. Magistrate Judge G.R. Smith asked Birge’s lawyer, Tom Withers, during her initial appearance.
“Not guilty,” Withers replied.
Smith allowed Birge, 61, to remain free on a $40,000 unsecured bond pending trial. That means she’s required to put up no money as part of the bond. Birge, who started with the court on July 19, 1982, had long been a stalwart in Probate Court, dating back to the administration of former Judge Robert Cook.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scarlett Nokes told Smith the government did not object to a probation recommendation that Birge be released pending trial.
The judge noted “a confession to a gambling addiction problem” in Birge’s probation workup and later directed her to refrain from any gambling activity as a condition of her pre-trial release.

He also prohibited her from any alcohol use during the pre-trial period and ordered mental health and substance abuse evaluations.
Smith also told Birge to have no contact with any potential witnesses or victims in the case.
Birge was named May 18 in a five-count indictment including four counts of mail fraud by using the mail to defraud Chatham County out of $700,000 between January 2011 and November 2014 and then using the cash for her own benefit.
A fifth count charged federal program fraud. It alleged she stole about $767,218 between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2014, from Chatham County involving a federal grant.
The count included the same funds and time frame as the mail fraud counts.
Included in the indictment is a forfeiture allegation in which the government says, if she’s convicted, it will try to recover “any property, real or personal” derived from the offense. That would include but not be limited to at least $767,218.
The indictment charged that Birge in her capacity as chief clerk of Probate Court was authorized to conduct transactions in at least two court bank accounts, but “was not authorized to conduct transactions in the Probate Court bank accounts for the benefit of herself or her family.”
It charges she would sign court orders to direct insurance companies, private businesses, public employers, banks and other entities to send funds to the court “for the benefit of minors and other individuals who had conservatorships” established in Chatham County.
A conservatorship establishes someone to watch out for money or property for minors or incompetents in the court.
Birge would then deposit fees paid to the court into one of two bank accounts maintained by the court and make representations that the money would be used for court matters, the indictment charged.
She would then forge the signatures of conservators and/or their attorneys to create false documents to disburse the money, would use the cash from negotiated checks for her personal use and would fail to disclose her activities to others in the court, the indictment charged.
Probate Judge Harris Lewis fired Birge on Dec. 2 in what was described as “in the best interests” of the court.
He had placed Birge on investigative suspension without pay Nov. 20 during a probe of “discrepancies with the services that you are responsible for handling,” Lewis said in a Nov. 20 letter.
As part of Lewis’ initial action, Birge has been barred from entering the Montgomery Street courthouse or discussing any matters related to the investigation “with anyone other than investigatory staff, unless otherwise directed to do so.”
Birge has not returned to the courthouse since she left Nov. 20.
The action came in wake of a reported federal/Savannah-Chatham police probe of undisclosed activity.

A former Illinois Department of Public Health aide has been sentenced to eight years in prison

Editor's note: This Shark patiently awaits the arrest of many of the Probate Court of Cook County criminals who do exactly as Quinshaunta R. Golden, Roxanne B. Jackson and Leon Dingle, Jr. have done, kickbacks, mail fraud and money laundering.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

A former Illinois Department of Public Health aide has been sentenced to eight years in prison for her part in a kickback scheme that defrauded the state of millions of dollars.

Quinshaunta R. Golden, of Homewood, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Springfield.

Golden, 46, is the niece of U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis and served as chief of staff at the Illinois Department of Public Health from 2003 to early 2008.

Prosecutors claim Golden conspired with a former IDPH aide, Roxanne B. Jackson, and Chicago social services provider Leon Dingle Jr. to steer millions of dollars in state health department grants and contracts their way and, in return, get kickbacks.

At Golden’s direction, $772,500 went to Jackson — who worked for Dingle as a consultant after leaving the department — and kicked back half of that sum to Golden.

Golden also got additional kickbacks from Jackson through a health department contract Golden gave to a security company owned by Jackson’s brother, according to prosecutors and her plea deal.

Prosecutors also claimed Golden tried to persuade a witness in the case in order to obstruct a grand jury investigation.

Golden pleaded guilty in April 2014 to bribery and theft, and obstruction of justice. In her plea agreement, she also agreed to cooperate in possible future government investigations.

The State Journal-Register reports that in a plea for leniency, Golden said she has already suffered for her actions. She said she “will wear the face of guilt, shame and embarrassment forever.”

Golden must serve three years of supervised released after prison, and will begin serving her sentence in September, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. She and Jackson have been ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to IDPH.

Jackson was sentenced to 25 months in prison for the kickback scheme and filing false income tax returns, federal authorities said.

Last December, a jury convicted Dingle and his wife, Karin, in a separate case of conspiracy to defraud, mail fraud and money laundering for their use of grant money. They are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10.

Contributing: The Associated

 

Chicago couple found guilty of stealing millions in state grants

Leon Dingle outside federal court in Springfield earlier this month. | AP

Editor's note:  U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis contact your ProbateShark for evidence of the crooks in the Probate Court of Cook County.  This Shark has a smorgasbord of criminal Federal violations on the lawyers, judges and nursing home owners attached to the Probate Court of Cook County. Kudos to James Lewis! Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

Chicago couple found guilty of stealing millions in state grants

WED, 12/17/2014 - 4:14PM

SUN-TIMES WIRES

@SUNTIMES | EMAIL

SPRINGFIELD — A Chicago businessman and his wife were convicted Wednesday of stealing $3.4 million in state taxpayer money as part of a rampant fraud scheme involving Illinois Department of Public Health grants.

A federal jury deliberated for more than five hours before finding Leon Dingle Jr., 77, and Karin Dingle, 75, guilty on counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering. The Dingles could face dozens of years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and forfeitures when they are sentenced April 9.

Prosecutors said the Dingles stole nearly a third of an $11 million pot of mostly no-bid, upfront-funded grants ostensibly doled out for campaigns to raise awareness about HIV-AIDS and prostate, cervical, and breast cancer in minority and under-served communities.

The government said the $3.4 million, 40 percent of which the Dingles failed to pay taxes, financed a lavish lifestyle: two Mercedes Benz cars, a yacht club membership, maintenance and renovation of vacation homes and copious family gifts, such as a $96,000 payment on their son's mortgage.

The verdict marks a victory for U.S. Attorney James Lewis, whose public corruption task force has nailed 13 convictions since 2011 involving state grant fraud, including former state Rep. Connie Howard, a Chicago Democrat, for mail fraud, and Jeri Wright, the daughter of President Barack Obama's one-time pastor.

The Dingle case was part of a probe that had drawn four previous guilty pleas. Quinshaunta Golden, the former IDPH chief of staff who controlled the grants and admitted stealing money, pleaded guilty to bribery, mail fraud and making false statements. She also conspired with former agency human resources director Roxanne Jackson to split ill-gotten gains; Jackson pleaded guilty to bribery and tax fraud.

The Dingles' two co-defendants, their longtime bookkeeper Jacquelyn Kilpatrick and companion Edmond Clemons, pleaded guilty to mail and tax fraud. All four await sentencing.

Leon Dingle's attorney, Ed Genson, argued that the Dingles' only failure was in blindly trusting Kilpatrick. He claimed Kilpatrick— who worked for the Dingles for more than three decades and has a previous conviction for forgery — faked records and hid the fact that she was stealing $1 million from the grant funds.

Attorney Ronald Clark contended that Karin Dingle was not guilty of tax fraud because Kilpatrick was to blame for preparing tax returns, and Dingle she didn't commit money laundering by buying a $59,000 Mercedes Benz because, while the account from which she took the money included grant funds, it was mingled with money she legitimately received for renting office space.

In the closing days of the trial, the government considered calling the former IDPH director Dr. Eric Whitaker, a golfing buddy of Obama. Although never summoned, Whitaker figured prominently. Prosecutors invoked his name in closing arguments to establish a landscape of access and influence Dingle allegedly cultivated to breed criminal activity.

JOHN O'CONNOR, Associated Press

SEC bars for 5 years two R.I. brokers for roles in scheme that exploited the terminally ill

Editor's note:  This Shark does not see the SEC pounding on the doors of the Probate Court of Cook County.  These probate criminals pillaged the securities of Alice R. Gore and nobody seems to care; not the FEDs; not the SEC; not the IARDC; just nobody!  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster,  ProbateSharks.com


SEC bars for 5 years two R.I. brokers for roles in scheme that exploited the terminally ill

Published: October 18, 2014 11:15 PM

Comments 1

 7  11 +10  0  1  4

By Katie Mulvaney

Katie Mulvaney The Providence Journal

Journal Staff Writer

kmulvane@providencejournal.com

Published: October 18 2014 11:15

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week barred Edward L. Maggiacomo Jr. and Edward J. Hanrahan from working in the securities industry for five years for their roles as brokers in an investment scheme that exploited terminally ill Rhode Islanders.
The SEC issued orders temporarily barring Maggiacomo, 50, of Warwick, and Hanrahan, 44, of West Warwick, from the industry for their complicity in convicted Cranston estate planner Joseph A. Caramadre’s scheme to steal and use the identities of terminally ill and elderly people to obtain $25 million in illicit gains.
“The SEC’s core mission is to protect the investing public and that includes keeping bad actors out of the industry,” Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston regional office, said Friday.
Maggiacomo and Hanrahan agreed to the terms to settle SEC charges that they offered and sold variable annuities on Caramadre’s behalf as part of the scheme, according to the SEC.
“Caramadre was not registered as a broker, so he needed Hanrahan and Maggiacomo to help complete these crooked deals,” Levenson said. “In barring Hanrahan and Maggiacomo from the industry, we are looking to protect investors from two brokers who have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted in the industry.”
A federal grand jury indicted Caramadre, owner of Estate Planning Resources, and his employee, Raymour Radhakrishnan, in 2011 on 60-plus counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, aggravated identity theft and money laundering related to a complex investment strategy that targeted dozens of people, many with only months to live.
Maggiacomo and Hanranhan were later identified as unindicted coconspirators for assisting Caramadre in securing the investments. They were expected to testify at trial.

In November 2012, Caramadre and Radhakrishnan pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy, four days into trial.
U.S. District Chief Judge William E. Smith sentenced Caramadre to serve six years in prison. In addition, Smith ordered Caramadre to perform 1,000 hours of community service in hospice or palliative care.
Smith sentenced Radhakrishnan to a year and a day in prison. He, too, is to perform 1,000 hours of community service in hospice or palliative care.
Smith ordered Caramadre and Radhakrishnan to pay a total of $46.3 million in restitution.
Prosecutors portrayed Radhakrishnan as the person who misled the ill people, some on their death beds, into unwittingly signing documents. Those documents were then used to purchase investments on behalf of Caramadre’s clients. Caramadre’s investors profited upon the individual’s death or received a full return on their investment under the scheme.

Witnesses at trial, some testifying by video from hospital beds shortly before their death, told of receiving a few thousand dollars from Caramadre’s firm after signing papers that they didn’t understand.
According to the SEC order, Maggiacomo, too, spoke directly with terminally ill people and their families, and, in certain circumstances, paid them $2,000 to $5,000 in violation of SEC rules. He then required that they sign forms certifying that they had not received any compensation and that they understood the nature of the arrangement.
He and Maggiacomo also violated rules by brokering investment sales for Caramadre and then forwarding him a portion of their commissions, knowing that he was not a registered broker, the SEC order said.
According to the order, Maggiacomo earned $619,292 in ill-gotten commissions from the investments, $402,539 of which he gave to Caramadre. He was ordered to pay $216,752 plus $46,445 in interest, most of which he has already satisfied through payments to investors in a related civil lawsuit, according to the SEC.
Hanrahan’s order specifies that he received $483,187 in ill-gotten commissions, $399,837 that he gave to Caramadre. He was ordered to pay $83,349 plus $16,603 in interest, a sum he, too, previously paid through related civil lawsuits.
Anthony M. Traini, Maggiacomo’s lawyer, did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday. Hanrahan’s lawyer, John A. MacFadyen, III, could not be reached immediately.
On Twitter:  @kmulvane

Hardin County woman indicted on mail, wire fraud charges

Editor's note: This Shark wonders with all the wire and mail fraud involved by the Probate Court of Cook County in the Estate of Alice R. Gore why there are no indictments?  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

Hardin County woman indicted on mail, wire fraud charges

The Jackson Sun 2:30 p.m. CDT October 31, 2014

Buy Photo

Crime(Photo: The Jackson Sun)Buy Photo

33 CONNECT 1 TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE

Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced today that Martha Marie Bizzell, 42, of Crump, was indicted earlier this week by a federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Tennessee on charges of mail and wire fraud.
According to the 17-count indictment, Bizzell was appointed as guardian of a husband and wife who were disabled adults in Peoria County, Illinois. The couple needed the services of a guardian to ensure their physical and financial security and well-being.
The indictment alleges that after being appointed as guardian, Bizzell relocated the couple to the Western District of Tennessee and took over management of their finances. The couple's estate was then worth approximately $1.5 million. Assets were in the form of stock, real estate and cash, and included Certificates of Deposit valued at approximately $118,120; an investment account valued at approximately $638,098; Caterpillar stock valued at approximately $585,000 and 52 rental properties located in Illinois.
Bizzell allegedly ordered the sale of the Caterpillar stock, disposed of the couple's real estate holdings, and withdrew money from investment and savings accounts, according to the news release from the U.S. attorney. The proceeds were then deposited into Bizzell's bank accounts, the release said.
From between Nov. 10, 2011 through July 30, 2012, Bizzell took into her personal possession approximately $1,082,342 in funds belonging to the disabled couple, authorities said.
Bizzell has been charged with three counts of mail fraud and 14 counts of wire fraud. If convicted she faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Jackson Resident Agency. This case is being prosecuted for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Debra Ireland.

Three peanut company officials guilty in deadly salmonella outbreak

Editor's note: Peanut company officials may receive life sentences...and yet the crooked lawyers, judges, and nursing home officials in the Probate Court of Cook County go free to prey upon the elderly and disabled.  This Shark asks when will the Kawamotos, Solos and their clones be removed from society?  Lucius Verenus,  Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

Three peanut company officials guilty in deadly salmonella outbreak

By David Beasley, Reuters

Trials and ArbitrationStewart Parnell

 

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Three former peanut company officials were found guilty on Friday in connection with a 2009 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds, federal prosecutors said.
The contamination at the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia, led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history and forced the company into liquidation.

"The defendants made a decision that they were more interested in hefty profits than in healthy peanut products," Georgia-based U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said to reporters after the verdict was announced.
Former company owner Stewart Parnell and his brother, Michael Parnell, a food broker who worked on behalf of the company, were found guilty of conspiracy, while Stewart Parnell and the plant's quality control manager, Mary Wilkerson, were found guilty of obstruction.

 

 

In a trial that lasted seven weeks, federal prosecutors asserted that the Parnell brothers covered up the presence of salmonella in the company's peanut products for years, going so far as to create fake certificates showing the products were uncontaminated even when laboratory results showed otherwise.
Sentencing will be in two to three months, Moore said, with the Parnell brothers facing the possibility of the rest of their lives in prison and Wilkerson facing up to five years behind bars.
Scott Austin, attorney for Stewart Parnell, expressed disappointment in the verdict and said his client would appeal.

 

The Parnells were also both convicted of several counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and introducing misbranded food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead.


(Writing by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Former Gwinnett County Lawyer Indicted for Stealing Client Funds

Former Gwinnett County Lawyer Indicted for Stealing Client Funds

U.S. Attorney’s Office September 12, 2014

Northern District of Georgia (404) 581-6000

ATLANTA—Former attorney Michael Rene Berlon has been arraigned on federal charges of mail and wire fraud.
“This defendant is charged with defrauding his own clients out of over $1.8 million,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “They came to him for legal help, and instead he drained their bank accounts.”
J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Individuals relying on the professionalism and trust of individuals like Mr. Berlon should be able to turn to someone when that trust is violated. The FBI, in being well positioned to investigate such allegations involving the diversion of funds through mail and wire fraud, is that someone.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: Berlon, who practiced in Grayson, Ga., through his law firm, the Law Office of Michael R. Berlon, is charged with obtaining funds from clients of his law firm and other individuals through false pretenses. The indictment alleges that some clients provided money to him believing that he would create a trust for them, and would hold the funds in trust. Instead, Berlon used the funds for personal expenses, including to pay his American Express bill and to repay other clients.
The indictment also alleges that in one instance, Berlon obtained money from two individuals who were looking for his assistance with starting a new business. He told the victims that he would help them get a loan, but they were required to provide a percentage of the requested loan amount as a down payment. Instead of assisting them with obtaining a loan, Berlon used the funds for his personal expenses and debts. In total, it is alleged that Berlon received at least $1.8 million in client funds from 2008-2013.
Berlon, 55, of Grayson, Ga., was arraigned before Linda T. Walker, United States Magistrate Judge. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 9, 2014.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Jamie L. Mickelson is prosecuting the case.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.Presse-mails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

This content has been reproduced from its original source.

Editor’s note: FEDs, just a reminder, don’t forget about the crooks in the Probate Court of Cook County. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Philpot sentenced to 18 months for public corruption

16 hours ago • Bill Dolan bill.dolan@nwi.com, (219) 662-5328

HAMMOND | Former Lake County Clerk Thomas Philpot was sentenced to 18 months in prison Thursday for stealing thousands of dollars in public child support incentive funds over which he had control.
Philpot, who also served as Lake County coroner, was ordered to surrender April 3 to a federal correctional camp in Pekin, Ill. Federal defendants usually serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, which means Philpot likely will spend at least 15 months in prison.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Moody asked himself out loud, why did Philpot, an intelligent, well-trained man familiar with the proper workings of local government commit his crime, and concluded that the evidence pointed to "arrogance, greed and a warped sense of entitlement."
Philpot, 55, a podiatrist and attorney, served 10 years as Lake County coroner and six years as county clerk between 1992 and 2012.
"I apologize to the court and all the citizens of Lake County. I should have been more careful and done more to ensure I deserved these bonuses," an emotional Philpot said during his two-hour sentencing hearing, attended by a number of family and friends.
He also apologized to his family. "The thought of being separated from my son just kills me," Philpot said.
Philpot will be analyzed for mental health and alcohol abuse issues at the request of defense lawyer Kerry Connor. After he serves his term, he will spend two years on supervised release, similar to parole.
Federal prosecutors said Philpot began making plans to pocket bonuses from federal IV-D child support incentive money within months of taking office and taking control of the money.
State Rep. Shelli Vandenburgh, D-Crown Point, who as a deputy under Philpot, testified she warned Philpot that IV-D money was meant only to compensate deputy clerks who performed daily work of recording and accepting child support payments to needy children.
However, Philpot drew up a list of bonus recipients and ordered the money be paid, including $24,000 to himself between 2004 and 2009.
Earlier this week, Moody threw out two felony counts related to bonuses Philpot pocketed prior to 2008 on grounds there wasn't enough evidence to prove he knew taking the bonuses was illegal.
However, he remains convicted of three other theft and mail fraud accounts for bonuses after that date because Philpot admitted to his lawyer at the time he thought his supplemental pay might be problematic.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said Philpot violated state law by declining to get the approval of the seven-member County Council to boost his pay with the IV-D money.
Philpot only attempted to get council approval in 2008 and even withdrew that request immediately after Councilwoman Christine Cid questioned the legality of Philpot's maneuvers.
Philpot and his lawyers argue he was misled by an opinion from his longtime attorney David Saks that the IV-D bonuses were legal, but Benson said Saks later admitted the opinion was in error because Philpot withheld important information from him.
Benson adds Philpot also gave large, unnecessary bonuses to a group of favored employees "who did the least for the IV-D program" bonuses to camouflage his own enrichment.
Connors said Philpot already had suffered enough in terms of public humiliation and loss of his public and professional careers.
Philpot's wife, Anne-Marie, said Philpot became so depressed she had to encourage him to even get out of bed and shower, she found him walking in circles in his driveway and that he began drinking alcohol heavily.
She wrote in a letter to the court he has undergone therapy and hasn't had a drink in months.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-sentenced-to-months-for-public-corruption/article_aba6c9bb-30fc-566b-8677-add5be564b89.html#.USbIYNuF6ao.email

Two sentenced in gas station tax case

 

 

John Ori, of Chicago, fills up at a BP gas station at the intersection of S. Dearborn St. and N. Congress Pkwy. in Chicago on Monday, February 20, 2012. (José M. Osorio / January 25, 2013)

By Melissa HarrisChicago Tribune reporter

5:51 p.m. CST, January 25, 2013

Two Chicago-area accountants were sentenced Friday to two years of probation each after pleading guilty to helping eight gas station owners underreport their sales to avoid paying more than $5 million in sales taxes.

Naveed Ahmed and his brother, Asif Waheed, pleaded guilty in Cook County Circuit Court to wire fraud, mail fraud and to preparing fraudulent Illinois tax returns on behalf of station owners in Chicago, Cicero, Homewood and Joliet from December 2007 through February 2009.

The probation sentence was given on the condition that Ahmed and Waheed continue to cooperate with authorities in ongoing Department of Revenue and Attorney General's office investigations into sales tax fraud among gas station owners and other clients.

Officials said their ongoing investigation into gas station owners has recouped nearly $75 million in back sales taxes, interest and penalties, up from $54 million in September 2011.

Ahmed, 42, of Arlington Heights is a certified public accountant and owner of Midwest Financial Services, which has offices in Chicago and Arlington Heights, according to a press release from Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office, which prosecuted the cases. Waheed, 38, of Chicago, is an accountant who works for Midwest, which has been in business since the 1990s.

The firm "was known" among gas station owners for aiding gas station owners in their efforts to their lower their tax bills, serving as the accountant for several of the "most egregious" tax evaders, according to the Attorney General's office. The gas station owners Ahmed and Waheed worked for have pleaded guilty previously and repaid the state more than $5 million, according to the Attorney General's office.

Attorneys representing the accountants could not immediately be reached for comment. mmharris@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-two-sentenced-in-gas-station-case-20130125,0,3019176.story