Recent Posts in Fraud Category

On March 6, 2009, Santa Monica Firefighters were called to put out a vehicle engulfed in flames on 9 ^th Street.  Once the flames had been extinguished, officers found a gas can in the car and a lighter just a few yards away and concluded the incident to be an act of arson. 

In May of 2009, detectives arrested the vehicle’s owner, Sidney Porter of Santa Monica, due to fingerprints found at the scene and cell phone records revealing he was just leaving Santa Monica at the time the fire.  The cell phone records proved that Porter’s statements regarding his location at the time of the fire were false.  Sidney Porter had set his2006 Dodge Magnum on fire in an attempt to commit insurance fraud.  In January of 2010, Porter was convicted on one count of  arson and sentenced to three years in state prison.

If you, or someone you know has been charged with  Arson or Insurance Fraud,  contact Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Robert M. Bernstein for a free consultation today.

United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney dismissed all charges against Broadcom Corp.'s former Chief Financial Officer William J. Ruehle, who was charged with 14 counts of Fraud, Conspiracy, falsifying Broadcom's books and lying to securities regulators, based on the Judge's finding that that there had been prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

Federal prosecutors allege that Ruehle conspired with the Irvine chip company's co-founders, Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III, to backdate employee stock options -- making them more valuable -- without disclosing the compensation in regulatory filings.

The judge acquitted Ruehle after determining that prosecutors tried to influence the testimony of three key witnesses, improperly contacted witnesses' attorneys and leaked information about grand jury proceedings to the media.

Judge Carney also dismissed the government's narcotics case against Broadcom's co-founder and CEO, Henry T. Nicholas. It was alleged that Nicholas hired prostitutes for himself and customers, drugged business associates, kept a warehouse to store illicit drugs and distributed cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy to his clients, co-workers and friends. The indictment stated that in 2001, Nicholas smoked so much marijuana on his private jet that his pilot was forced to don an oxygen mask.

Tatiana Khan, the 69-year-old owner of Chateau Allegre gallery on La Cienega Boulevard, has been accused of allegedly hiring an artist to draw a copy of a 1902 pastel drawing by Picasso called "The Woman in the Blue Hat."

Kahn then advertised that the copy was the original Picasso from the estate of Malcom Forbes and sold the painting to an art prospector for $2 million. The FBI began investigating last year after the buyer learned that the painting was a fake. Khan told the artist of the copy not to disclose any information about the fake Picasso.

Kahn was charged this week in the United States District Court with several Federal crimes including; wire fraud, making false statements to the FBI and witness tampering. While serving the summons, the FBI also seized a painting by Willem de Kooining, which they believe was purchased by Kahn with $720,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the fake Picasso. If she is convicted of all charges, she faces up to 45 years in Federal prison.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a Federal Crime such as wire fraud, false statements to authorities or witness tampering, contact Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert M. Bernstein as soon as possible. As a former prosecutor, Attorney Bernstein knows both sides of the courtroom and uses this knowledge to create winning defense strategies. Call for a free consultation today.