Results tagged “marcdreier”

When once prominent lawyer Marc Dreier was arrested for a $700 million scam, the lawyers at his firm fled and the company collapsed . One of the employees, copy machine operator and trainer Carlton Palmer, is featured in a NY Times "Neediest Cases" profile: "He learned of his unemployment by e-mail, and is still owed $2,000 in back wages." Palmer has been looking for work via job listings websites ("I don’t like to get up in the morning and not work. I like a paycheck.") and embarked on training to be a dialysis technician. The Neediest Cases helped him out with some tuition money, but he need a job to complete 2,000 hours before he can get a certification, "Sometimes you feel the pressure, but you hope for the best. You hope for the phone to ring with a 212 number."

The 3,000 square-foot East Side apartment belonging to Marc Dreier, the once prominent attorney who pleaded guilty to a $700 million fraud involving fake promissory notes, was auctioned off yesterday—and the winning bid was Berkshire Hathaway executive Ajit Jain's $8.2 million offer. Bloomberg News notes that's "21 percent less than what [Dreier] paid two years ago" and that "The last recorded sale at Beacon Court was a 3,058 square-foot unit on the 49th floor," which sold at $12 million in May. Dreier's apartment is on the 34th floor and boasts a huge terrace. The proceeds of the sale are being split by personal bankruptcy creditors and the U.S. Attorney’s office—Dreier did have a $5 million mortgage after all. The $8.2 million sale includes items inside the apartment, such as nine pints of Haagen Dazs, "a half-eaten raspberry peach pie, a collection of Christian Liaigre furnishings and seven pairs of black Ermenegildo Zegna shoes, mostly size eight." While signing the paperwork, Jain reportedly said, "Right now, I'm having buyer's remorse." These days, Dreier is sort of familiar with remorse.

Marc Dreier, the once high-flying lawyer with hundreds of employees and celebrity friends, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his $700 million scam to "issue and sell fictitious promissory notes purportedly issued by companies in the United States and Canada." He pleaded guilty to duping investors out of $400 million in May and said in a letter to the judge, prior to his sentencing, "I have lost all my friends. I have lost my law firm, my law license and all that I ever owned. I have seen my family suffer the unimaginable. I have lost my past and my future. I have lost everything a man can lose. And now I will lose my freedom as well, and rightly so."

Federal prosecutors are still looking to make examples out of swindlers. After successfully nailing Bernard Madoff for 150 years, now they are seeking 145 years for Marc Dreier, a once prominent lawyer who pleaded guilty to a $700 million scam involving fake promissory notes. The feds pointed out, "This defendant, an officer of the court, engaged in a more than $740 million series of frauds over a seven-year period largely to finance a personal life of extraordinary lavishness," and that his investors lost $400 million. Dreier's defense lawyer, however, is hoping to get his 59-year-old client 12 1/2 years, "In seeking some measure of leniency we appeal not to sympathy but to reason. As colossal frauds capture national headlines, sentences for white-collar offenders must not become disproportionately long." CityRoom has Dreier's letter to the judge, which includes, "I have lost all my friends. I have lost my law firm, my law license and all that I ever owned. I have seen my family suffer the unimaginable. I have lost my past and my future. I have lost everything a man can lose. And now I will lose my freedom as well, and rightly so."

From running a law firm that employed two hundred lawyers to facing life behind bars: Marc Dreier appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to "money laundering, conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud." His admission read in part, "I engineered a scheme to issue and sell fictitious promissory notes purportedly issued by companies in the United States and Canada," and he noted that the scheme took place between 2004 and 2008.

Marc Dreier, the once high-flying lawyer whose firm had over 200 lawyers, will plead guilty a $700 million scam involving fake promissory notes. According to his lawyer, Dreier—who does not have a deal—will "enter a guilty plea to...conspiracy, securities fraud, money laundering and five counts of wire fraud," the Wall Street Journal reports. Dreier was arrested in December, after returning from Canada where he was arrested for impersonating another lawyer in an attempt to get business from a Canadian pension fund, and has been under house arrest. Dreier faces over seven counts, the New York Law Journal says, "Each count carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison except for the conspiracy count, which carries a five-year term."

Marc Dreier is currently under house arrest for his alleged $380 million fraud. Except now the feds had amended their indictment and say the fraud—selling fake promissory notes to hedge funds—is actually $700 million. The Law Blog reports, "Prosecutors are demanding that Dreier forfeit approximately $700 million, including all of his interest in a yacht, luxury cars, and more than 200 works of art by such masters as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Henri Matisse." Dreier, a once prominent lawyer whose firm employee 200 people and who pleaded guilty to previous charges, was also hit with a money laundering charge; his lawyer said, "We are looking for a fair resolution and will continue with that effort."

Marc Dreier, the attorney who once had a firm of hundreds and now stands accused of a $380 million fraud, was allowed to go home on $10 million bail. He will be "forced" to stay in his, Bloomberg News notes, "luxury East-Side Manhattan apartment, watched by armed guards around the clock and subject to electronic monitoring and other precautions to ensure he doesn’t flee." One interesting detail reported by the Daily News: "Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff clarified the conditions for Dreier by emphasizing that his Feb. 8 order doesn't prohibit 'lethal force' to subdue a fleeing Dreier." Which means the guards, that Dreier must pay for, can use their guns to shoot at him if he tries to escape!

Marc Dreier, the once prominent attorney accused of swindling hundreds of millions from hedge funds and investors alike, was given bail by a federal judge yesterday. However, the NY Times reports, "The conditions set by the judge are so restrictive that even if Mr. Dreier posts the $10 million bond that the judge required — which could happen by early next week — Mr. Dreier would be holed up in what might be considered a fancy prison." Well, Dreier's lawyer did want a Madoff-like bail! Among the restrictions proposed: An electronic monitoring device, a security guard, approval of visitors and "no call forwarding, no modem, no caller ID, no call waiting and no wireless phone."

Marc Dreier, the once prominent attorney now accused of duping investors of $400 million in a grifting scheme, was given $20 million bond, which he says he cannot pay. Dreier's lawyer Gerald Shargel pointed out that Bernard Madoff (pictured)—who swindled people out of an estimated $50 billion—was given $10 million bail and thinks Dreier's conditions shouldn't be stricter than Madoff's. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton, who had set Madoff's bail, said, "I think the risk of flight is greater in Mr. Dreier’s case than in Mr. Madoff’s case." Hmm, Dreier impersonate a lawyer while trying to scam a Canadian pension fund. And one of Dreier's bond co-signers was to be his 19-year-old son, who the feds say is not responsible; Spencer Dreier, per Bloomberg News, allegedly tried to transfer his dad's Hamptons properties "after a freeze order was in effect, and...directed the staff aboard his father’s yacht not to bring the vessel to the U.S."

Marc Dreier, the once prominent attorney with over 200 employees, is hoping for bail once again. A lawyer for Dreier, who is charged with stealing $380 million through "high stakes grifting", says his client has been cooperating with authorities, noting that no money appeared to be put into off-shore accounts and therefore poses no flight risk. And FYI: Dreier used the money to, according to the NY Law Journal, cover "operating expenses, capital expenditures, construction costs and security deposits; invested in losing stocks; or used to buy property and artwork." Property like boats and cars (a 2007 Aston Martin DB9 Volante) and artwork like the Tom Otterness sculpture, Big Thief (pictured), and Henri Matisse's "Grand Masque."

While once-prominent lawyer Marc Dreier's "high-stakes" grifting of $100 million seems like small potatoes next to Bernard Madoff, it's still big. According to CityRoom, former stockbroker Kosta S. Kovachev was "arrested...and charged with conspiring with...Dreier to commit wire fraud by selling fake promissory notes." The complaint says that Kovachev posed as the controller of Solow Realty when meeting with a hedge fund, in Dreier's attempt to sell $115 million of promissory notes allegedly issued by Solow. Previosuly, Kovachev was named in a complaint about a $28 million Ponzi scheme in Florida. Oh, and for the record, Michael Strahan's spokesman tells us the ex-Giant is not a client of Dreier's: "Out of circumstance because he is a public figure, Mr. Strahan has many causal acquaintances -- Mr. Dreier is one of those. However, Mr. Strahan has never been a client." Strahan and Dreier did, however, have charity events together.

Unsurprisingly, Marc Dreier, who has been accused of over $100 million in fraud, was denied bail yesterday. According to the NY Times, prosecutors say the once-prominent lawyer "used guile, a box of cellphones and a series of phony Web sites and e-mail addresses to steal more than $380 million." A judge agreed that Dreier is a flight risk (the feds think he has assets hidden overseas), ignoring his defense lawyer Gerald Shargel's suggestion of house arrest under two guards—and making his elderly mother and teenaged stepson responsible for $10 million bond. Shargel was also unhappy because the Yale- and Harvard Law-educated Dreier is under "24-hour lockdown until [prison officials] determine whether he's a gang member." Which means he's "being held alone in cell 24 hours a day with no telephone calls, no visitors and no reading material."

More details about prominent Manhattan lawyer-slash-apparent grifter Marc Dreier (pictured with Michael Strahan and Alicia Keys at a charity event). After his arrest, it was discover that tens of millions went missing from clients' escrow accounts. According to Forbes, Dreier "even managed to transfer $10 million by telephone from escrow accounts to his personal account while sitting in a Canadian jail awaiting a bail hearing." And Dreier, the Post reports, "figur[ed] he could replace the money by selling off his firm's art collection," worth $40 million. Following his Canadian arrest and release, Dreier was arrested in NYC for an alleged $100 million fraud scheme (selling fake debt to hedge funds). His law firm is in disarray; a partner said, "The news of Mr. Dreier’s arrest has had a devastating effect. The December health insurance premium has not been paid, the firm’s December rent payment is now overdue, and AT&T will terminate BlackBerry service." More details at the Law Blog.

The arrest of prominent Manhattan lawyer Marc Dreier in Canada last week appears to be just the tip of the iceberg: On Sunday night, Dreier was arrested by U.S. authorities at LaGuardia airport, accused of "a $100 million fraud scheme". The NY Times says the feds "portray[ed] his recent undertakings as more high-stakes grifting than high-end lawyering."

A "high-living" and "prominent" Manhattan lawyer whose clients include Jon Bon Jovi was arrested by Canadian authorities. Marc Dreier, of Dreier LLP, was charged with impersonating "another lawyer on Tuesday at the offices of a large Canadian pension fund," according to the NY Times (which calls the arrest "bizarre"). See, Dreier went to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, claiming to be a different lawyer (even had his business card), but an OTPP employee knew the lawyer Dreier was impersonating, so the cops were called. Dreier, who has been under investigation for possible fraudulent activity, is out on bail; his lawyer said, "No money passed, no money is missing and no money was ever missing." But Dreier's 250-employee law firm is crumbling: The WSJ's Law Blog reports that the head of the bankruptcy department told client he and other bankruptcy lawyers were leaving and would start their own firm.