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Defendant in $670M scam enters guilty plea in Va.
Court Feed News |
2011/11/22 17:46
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A man who cooked the books for a $670 million insurance industry scam pleaded guilty Monday to charges he helped mislead thousands of investors worldwide.
Jorge Luis Castillo, 56, Hackettstown, N.J., entered pleas in U.S. District Court to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud in U.S. District Court. He is scheduled for sentencing May 22 and could receive up to 20 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
Castillo, who originally was scheduled for trial in 2012, will assist the government's prosecution of Minor Vargas Calvo, 60, the president and majority owner of Provident Capital Indemnity Ltd., a Costa Rican company. He is scheduled for trial in February. He has pleaded not guilty to similar charges.
The government called Castillo a "gatekeeper" for Provident. As a certified public accountant, he cast himself as an "outside auditor" and falsely reported a rosy financial picture for the company, which had a global client base.
"This is truly an international fraud in scope," U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a conference call after Castillo entered his plea. "As a result of Mr. Castillo's crimes, a lot of people lost life savings to life settlement companies because of the worthless guarantees that Mr. Castillo helped create. |
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NY top court clears probe of inflated appraisals
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/11/22 17:46
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New York's top court has cleared the state attorney general to pursue allegations that First American Corp. and subsidiary eAppraiseIT inflated property appraisals under pressure from client Washington Mutual.
The Court of Appeals says federal regulations do not pre-empt state claims alleging fraud and violations of real estate appraisal rules.
Then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo brought the 2007 civil suit alleging the practice contributed to the national subprime mortgage crisis.
Washington Mutual collapsed in 2008 and became the nation's largest bank failure ever.
Six top court judges ruled that Congress envisioned "a robust partnership with the states" in aiming to prevent real estate appraisal abuse.
In a dissent, Judge Susan Read says the suit challenges a bank's federally regulated mortgage practices. |
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Guilty plea planned in Palin lawyer harassment
Legal Career News |
2011/11/22 11:46
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A 20-year-old Pennsylvania man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of making harassing phone calls in a case involving Sarah Palin's lawyers.
Shawn Christy filed notice Monday in U.S. District Court that he intends to plead guilty in an expected plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Christy plans to plead guilty and be sentenced Dec. 1, according to the document filed by Mary Geddes, assistant federal defender.
Federal prosecutors were not immediately reachable by phone late Monday. Earlier, Assistant U.S. Attorney Retta-Rae Randall said the harassing telephone calls charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Christy and his father, Craig Christy, both of McAdoo, Pa., face accusations of placing harassing interstate phone calls to the former Alaska governor's lawyers in early August. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, had been granted state restraining orders against them.
Both men pleaded not guilty in the case in September. |
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Martineau Davis & Associates
Law Firm Press |
2011/11/21 18:20
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East Greenwich, Rhode Island Attorneys
At Martineau Davis & Associates, we believe first and foremost that a law firm should respect its clients. It’s that same respect that helps us establish trusting relationships with each and every client. We earn a client’s trust by providing knowledge and experience that’s above reproach. Add to that a level of professionalism and responsiveness which make us strong advocates with a superlative record of successful outcomes for our clients. Our experienced team of professionals provides big law firm expertise in a small law firm environment where our clients come first.
At Martineau Davis, “Respect. Relationships. Results.” is not only our corporate tagline - it’s our corporate way of life.
Please click the links below to learn more about our firm's practice areas:
Address:
2639 South County Trail
East Greenwich, Rhode Island | Contact:
Tel: 401-398-8333
Fax: 401-398-8334 |
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Accused White House shooter to appear in DC court
Court Feed News |
2011/11/21 16:18
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A man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House is expected to appear in court in Washington. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday at 1:45 p.m.
Ortega was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. The Idaho Falls, Idaho, resident is accused of driving by the White House on the evening of Nov. 11 and firing at the White House from his vehicle. Authorities say one of the rounds he fired cracked a window of the first family's living quarters.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were away, and no one was injured. |
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Texas AG blasts court's redistricting maps
Court Feed News |
2011/11/21 13:16
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Texas' attorney general sharply criticized a federal court Friday over its proposed maps for state House and Senate districts in the 2012 election, saying the judges overstepped their bounds.
The San Antonio-based federal court released the proposed redistricting maps late Thursday and gave those involved in the case until noon Friday to comment. Minority groups have filed a legal challenge to the Republican-drawn maps, saying they are discriminatory. The court's maps are intended to be an interim solution until the case is resolved after the 2012 elections.
Maps for the House and Senate released Thursday restore many of the minority districts — where Democrats hold the seats — to their previous shapes. Republican lawmakers have denied their maps were intended to minimize minority representation, and say they merely reflect the GOP majority in Texas. |
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