Across the country, in communities large and small, the legal landscape is changing. Businesses and professionals in every walk of life are under scrutiny as never before. Early involvement is the key when attorneys and their clients begin to suspect a civil matter or administrative inquiry may lead to a criminal investigation–or worse, indictment.
With a reputation for strategic analysis, strong representation and smart solutions to complex issues, Yale T. Freeman, P.A. represents individuals and companies faced with allegations of criminal impropriety, and facilitates internal investigations on behalf of victims of fraud.
Business-related criminal matters and corporate internal investigations are among his areas of concentration. Often partnering with civil and transactional lawyers in the representation of their clients who are facing issues with potential criminal implications, Mr. Freeman has handled many significant cases involving complex civil litigation with parallel criminal proceedings. He frequently acts as an intermediary with law enforcement and administrative regulatory agencies in the resolution of those matters.
Early involvement is the key. If you have a question or concern about a legal matter, don’t delay. Please give us a call.
Mr. Freeman’s areas of concentration are:
- Criminal Law
- Economic Crime
- Real Estate/Mortgage Fraud
- Defalcation Investigations and Defense
- Federal Grand Jury Investigations
- Corporate Fraud Investigations
- Political Corruption
- Aviation Investigations
- Commerce and Export Violations
- First Amendment Litigation
- Money Laundering
- Securities Fraud
- Healthcare Investigations
- Environmental Violations
Check here periodically for an up-close look at a current legal issue.
These excerpts from recent news reports and court decisions spotlight the priority currently placed on fraud investigations of every type.
REFERRING CUSTOMERS TO A PONZI SCHEME PERPETRATOR DOES NOT, IN ITSELF, CONSTITUTE SECURITIES FRAUD
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cohmad Securities Corporation, et al - Opinion and Order, New York, NY, February 1, 2010
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued defendants for participating in the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff...It alleges that Madoff used defendant Cohmad Securities Corporation, a registered broker-dealer, to market his investment advisory business.
There is nothing inherently fraudulent about referring customers to an investment adviser for fees, and the complaint does not allege statements or omissions by defendants that are fraudulent absent awareness or notice that Madoff’s investment advisory business was a sham. Thus, to state its securities fraud claims, the SEC must show that defendants knew of, or recklessly disregarded, Madoff’s fraud. In other words, one who conducts normal business activities while ignorant that those activities are furthering a fraud is not liable for securities fraud.
MARCO ISLAND BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO 2½ YEARS IN PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD
From the Naples Daily News, By Aisling Swift, July 12, 2010
FORT MYERS – A Marco Island businessman involved in $30 million worth of shady land deals since the 1980s was sentenced Monday to 2½ years in a federal prison for a 2006 mortgage fraud case.
U.S. District Judge John Steele also ordered Douglas Lee Carter Sr., 64, to serve three years of supervised release for filing a flase mortgage application, prohibited him from financial dealings worth more than $500 without permission, ordered him to undergo mental health treatment and debt management counseling.
Carter, who moved to East Naples, faced 33 months under federal sentencing guidelines.
At his sentencing in Fort Myers, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Molloy argued for 2½ years, while Assistant U.S. Public Defender Russell Rosenthal sought leniency, citing Carter’s many medical problems and declining health. As a result, the judge said he could serve time at a prison close to home. Authorities don’t expect him to leave prison.
NAPLES SEASONAL RESIDENT PLEADS TO PONZI SCHEME IN ILLINOIS
From the Naples Daily News, By Elysa Batista, August 10, 2010
NAPLES – A seasonal Naples resident has pleaded guilty to operating a multi-million dollar “Ponzi” fraud scheme for more than a decade in Illinois.
William Huber, 61, appeared before U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade in federal court Tuesday in Peoria, Ill., and entered guilty pleas to the charges as filed in the information, that from1998 through 2009, he defrauded approximately 300 investors of an estimated $15 million.
“William Huber lured investors into his scheme by touting his trading prowess,” said Merri Jo Gillette, director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office. “He fabricated his investment returns to collect performance fees he never earned in order to support his lavish lifestyle.”
LAWSUIT: HMA PAID DOCTORS TO REFER PATIENTS TO SPECIFIC HOSPITALS
From the Naples Daily News, By Liz Freeman, August 10, 2010
The former executive of Physicians Regional Medical Center at Collier Boulevard has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Health Management Associates that says the hospital chain illegally induced physicians with money and favors in exchange for patients referrals, according to the complaint unsealed last week in federal court in Tampa.
The lawsuit was filed under seal in January by Michael Mastej, the former CEO of the 100-bed hospital when it opened in February 2007. He was terminated eight months later in October 2007.
Mastej had worked at the Naples-based HMA starting in 2001, serving as vice president of acquisitions before taking the helm of the new East Naples hospital and overseeing its construction and launch.
In his lawsuit, Mastej said HMA officials induced physicians to refer patients to its hospitals in Naples by making payments to them, disguised as payments for on-call services, by providing reduced or free rentals for offices, and by flying physicians by private jet to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga.
THREE S. FLA. LAW FIRMS TARGET OF PROBE
From South Florida Business Journal, By Susan R. Miller, August 10, 2010
Three South Florida law firms are the target of an investigation by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office.
During a news conference Tuesday morning, McCollum said his office is looking at whether the firms engaged in unfair and deceptive actions in their handling of foreclosure cases.
The firms are identified as The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale; Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa; and the Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A. in Plantation.
It is alleged that the firms, which were hired by loan servicers to begin foreclosure proceedings when homeowners were behind on their mortgages, may have fabricated mortgage assignments in order to speed up the foreclosure process.
“Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of the allegedly improper actions of the law firms under investigation,” said McCollum, who is running for governor.
McCollum said his office also is looking into whether the firms created affiliated companies outside of the U.S., where the allegedly false documents are prepared.
“We are seeing a paperwork trail where law firms, through a mill, prepared paperwork with signatures from lenders who had assigned the mortgage,” he said.
MIAMI ACCOUNTANT GETS 8½ YEARS IN PRISON FOR ‘PONZI-LIKE’ SCHEME
From The Miami Herald, By Jay Weaver, July 24, 2010
In the end, the federal judge who sentenced Lewis Freeman to about 8½ years in prison Friday concluded that the once-prominent Miami accountant who stole millions from clients but also gave back to the community conjured up comparisons to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
FOUR, INCLUDING FORMER LAWYER, CHARGED IN MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME
From the South Florida Business Journal, August 10, 2010
A former attorney and three mortgage brokers are among a group of South Floridians charged in a $6 million scam that could land them behind bars for up to 20 years.
Jerry Voelazquez, 38, of Miramar; Guillermo Moran, 38, of Miami Beach; Carolina Visbal, 32, of Miami Beach; and Rodolfo Landires, 37, of Miami, allegedly submitted fraudulent loan applications and closing documents to purchase several properties, mostly condos, in Miami-Dade County, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Moran, Landires and Visbal, all mortgage brokers, allegedly recruited straw buyers to purchase the properties at an inflated price.
FEDS INDICT BROWARD COPS AND LAWYERS IN MORTGAGE-FRAUD SCHEME
From the Miami Herald, By Jay Weaver, James H. Burnett III and Amy Sherman, June 30, 2010
A network of Broward County attorneys, law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers are accused of falsifying a slew of documents to obtain $16.5 million in loans that they used to buy and flip properties during the real estate boom, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said the Broward-based group was organized by ex-Plantation police officer Joseph Guaracino, who recruited five other current and former cops in that city as well as a Lauderhill officer and an FBI agent. They allegedly posed as “straw” buyers who pledged to buy and live in 38 condos and homes in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The defendants, arrested Wednesday, are accused of conspiring to submit false income records, job descriptions, bank statements and loan applications to dupe lenders in South Florida and elsewhere from 2004 to 2007.
But their real goal – disguised by the false paperwork – was to rent the properties and then sell them, thereby “realizing substantial profit,” according to the indictment.
FLORIDA TITLE ATTORNEY PLEADS GUILTY IN $5 MILLION FRAUD
From Source of Title, from press releases, May 11, 2010
A Florida title attorney has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in a mortgage fraud involving several high value homes in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Title attorney Joseph Miller, 53 of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, was among several defendants recently charged in a scheme that defrauded Washington Mutual and other lenders of over $5 million. He is scheduled to be sentenced August 9, 2010, at 10:30am.
Miller, licensed as an attorney in both Florida and New York, was a title agent for Old Republic Title Company. For his part of the conspiracy, Miller acted as closing agent and title agent on a number of fraudulent loan transactions on properties using vastly inflated property values and straw buyers with falsified financial credentials.
DOZENS ARRESTED IN MEDICARE FRAUD BUSTS ACROSS U.S.
From Comcast.net News, By Kelli Kennedy, AP, July 29, 2010
MIAMI – Federal authorities arrested more than 30 suspects, including doctors, and were seeking others in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston, targeting scams such as “arthritis kits” – expensive braces that many patients never used.
More than 200 agents worked on the $16 million bust that included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area, where the bulk of the arrests were made.
U.S. ATTORNEY ALBRITTON ANNOUNCES LATEST RESULTS IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA’S MORTGAGE FRAUD INITIATIVE AS PART OF A NATIONWIDE TAKEDOWN, OPERATION STOLEN DREAMS
Department of Justice Press Release, www.usdoj.gov/usao/flm/pr, June 17, 2010
Tampa – U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces the most recent charges in the Middle District of Florida’s Mortgage Fraud Initiative, a push to investigate, prosecute, and bring to justice swiftly those whose fraudulent activity contributed to the real estate market collapse in Florida and the subsequent economic crisis. These charges are announced in tandem with the announcement by Attorney General Holder earlier today of a nationwide mortgage fraud takedown that targeted similar cases across the country: Operation Stolen Dreams.
The Middle District of Florida’s Mortgage Fraud Initiative began early last year with the Mortgage Fraud Surge, an intensive investigative and prosecutorial effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and numerous other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The Surge culminated in charges against more than 100 defendants late last fall. Following the Surge, the United States Attorney’s Office, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies have continued aggressively to pursue larger and more complicated frauds along with additional lower-level frauds uncovered during the Surge.
PINELLAS REAL ESTATE INVESTOR CONVICTED OF MORTGAGE FRAUD
Department of Justice Press Release, www.usdoj.gov/usao/flm/pr, August 17, 2010
Tampa, Florida – U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that a federal jury today found Christopher Alan Stapleton (age 41, of Clearwater Beach) guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and three counts of making false statements to a federally insured financial institution. Stapleton faces a maximum penalty of 95 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 29, 2010.
According to the testimony and evidence presented at trial, Stapleton submitted loan applications and other documents containing false and fraudulent information to various mortgage lenders. Specifically, Stapleton falsely inflated both the contract purchase prices of the real properties that he was buying and his own gross monthly income in an effort to get the lenders to approve the loans. Relying on Stapleton’s fraudulent representations, the lenders approved the loans and disbursed loan proceeds in excess of the true contract purchase prices. Stapleton paid the sellers the contract amounts and, unbeknownst to the lenders, pocketed millions of dollars in excess loan proceeds.
Two other individuals were charged in connection with this case. William Straub, Jr., a former mortgage broker in Pinellas County, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution on December 1, 2009. Warren Jay Knaust, an attorney in Pinellas County, who acted as title agent in the charged transactions, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution on August 6, 2010. Knaust is scheduled to be sentenced on October 20, 2010, and Straub’s sentencing date has not yet been set.
ARCHITECT SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD
Department of Justice Press Release, www.usdoj.gov/usao/flm/pr, September 1, 2010
Tampa, Florida – U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that Robert Policastro (age 57, most recently of Vienna, Austria) was sentenced today to five years and three months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud (mortgage fraud). The court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $9,082,394.20, the proceeds of the mortgage fraud conspiracy. Policastro had pleaded guilty on May 17, 2010.
According to court documents, Policastro, who was an architect, conspired with a Florida licensed title agent to commit mortgage fraud. Policastro took out primary loans to buy several million-dollar properties, in Miami, and then, without the knowledge of the primary lender, obtained a “silent second” loan on each property. The “silent seconds” financed Policastro’s down payments for the properties and allowed him secretly to take money out of the deals. To hide the “silent seconds,” the title agent prepared false, “dueling” HUD-1s to send to both the primary and the “silent second” lenders so that each was unaware that Policastro had obtained two loans on each property. The loans were closed in Pinellas County.
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