Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

It would appear that Boston-Based Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office is on the trail of what it believes to be an upcoming white collar criminal prosecution. The target is Representative Brian P. Wallace of South Boston (hereinafter, the “Target”). It has been alleged that he violated fund-raising laws.

A spokesman for Attorney General Coakley confirmed that her office is investigating the Target , a Democrat, based on a recent finding from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance

A May 14 letter from the campaign finance office cites evidence of several misdemeanor campaign violations by the Target, his wife and others involved with his campaign.

One would expect that any prosecution will use the Target’s retirement as evidence of “Consciousness of guilt”. You see, he acknowledged knowledge that campaign finance officials were investigating him when he announced his retirement in March. However, he explained at the time that, “…[t]here is nothing nefarious there. This certainly played no part in my decision.’’

He said he was retiring because he wanted to spend more time with his family and on his writing.

Well, let’s hope for the Target’s sake that he has unquestionably become “Captain Familyman” and, by the time of trial, is the picture of the prolific writer.

Continue reading "Boston-Based Attorney General Investigates Reported Political White Collar Crime" »

Leave it to the good folks of Salem, MA, to find an original, if macabre, way out of a legal problem! Unfortunately, such bright ideas , when tried in the criminal justice system in lieu of just getting a good attorney, do not tend to meet with ultimate success.

Let’s take the case of Michael R., 42, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He was originally simply wanted on charges for the white collar crimes of forgery and counterfeiting . Now, he stands also accused of faking his own death to get out of his pending criminal woes.

According to law enforcement, his approach to Lady Justice included going to Salem District Court with what he represented to be a death certificate in his own name. Representing himself to be his brother ( hereinafter, "Brother"), the Defendant said that he ( the Defendant) had actually died the week before. A clerk put the certificate in the Defendant's file, and the pending case against him was dismissed.

Unfortunately for the Defendant, he had also been on probation for other offenses, including drunk driving. When the probation officer learned of the dismissal and untimely death, he became somewhat intrigued given that he had just spoken with the Defendant alittle earlier and he seemed fine, not to mention alive.

Continue reading "Salem MA Genius Adds Probation Violation And Fraud To Previous OUI And White Collar Criminal Woes" »

Last week, the Boston legal community had alittle excitement which spread from Capitol Hill to the United States District Court. That’s right, the federal one.

Many people are still debating it and question whether it should have happened. As for me, although I had not had a chance to blog on it yet, I was interviewed on WBZ radio (1030 on your a.m. dial). That interview, incidently, can be found here.

In case you had not heard, former state Senator. Dianne Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion and now faces up to four years in jail when she’s sentenced this fall.

Ms. Wilkerson had been arrested in October 2008, prior to leaving the State House office she held for six terms, on indictments alleging she pocketed $23,500 in bribes between 2002 and 2008, including $1,000 she was photographed stuffing in her bra at an upscale Beacon Hill restaurant.

The Roxbury Democrat was to go on trial June 21. Thinking better of it as time grew shorter, she came to an agreement with the federal prosecutors and, last week, she pleaded guilty.

Continue reading " PLEA DEAL REACHED IN FEDERAL SENATORIAL EXTORTION CASE - A BOSTON ATTORNEY'S VIEW" »

The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has been discussing school campus related crimes of late. Most of these have had to do with the subject of bullying, a topic I just know we will be returning to. Yesterday, we briefly discussed a different kind of criminal behavior by a student. This one is a bit less sympathetic.

The story hails from the home of Altman & Altman LLP’s main office...Cambridge. It involves the legendary Harvard University and an ex-student who allegedly took the subjects of creative writing and social science and twisted them into a pretzel of deceit and larceny. It features the allegations against the former student with contradictory credentials, Adam B. Wheeler...perhaps a young Bernard Madoff in the making.

As you probably have heard, young Mr. Wheeler is facing a plethora of criminal charges and there may be more to come. The 20 indictments against him reflect a successful scheme to bilk Harvard University out of approximately $45,000 through a series of white collar crimes. He is alleged to have falsified documents, plagiarized and lied in order to gain acceptance into Harvard, gain scholarships, win prizes and get a grant.

In fact, should the allegations contain a cyber-fraud element crossing state boundries, which is likely, Young Wheeler could be looking at federal charges as well as those he faces by the Commonwealth.

Of course, now that the news has broken and he has pleaded “Not Guilty”, the ignited debate rages on. Everyone is trying to explain who the young gentleman is and how he did what he (allegedly) did.

For example, a former high school classmate claims that the lad was a class clown who delighted in pranks such as tossing ketchup packets around the halls like little red landmines. Further, she doubts anyone expected him capable of the complex scam that prosecutors say he pulled on some of America’s best brains in Harvard University’s hallowed halls.

Continue reading "Academic Voices From Ex-Harvard Student's Past Display Surprise At The Fraud and Theft Charges Against Him" »

Adam B. Wheeler, a former Harvard student who has been indicted for falsifying information that allowed him to get into the university and receive thousands of dollars in financial aid and grants, has pleaded not guilty to 20 criminal counts of identify fraud, larceny, pretending to hold a degree, and falsifying an endorsement or approval. At the 23-year-old’s arraignment today, his cash bail was set at $5,000. If convicted, Wheeler could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison for each felony count and a year for each misdemeanor.

Wheeler is accused of submitting bogus transcripts that showed him attending Phillips Academy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also allegedly falsified his perfect SAT test score of 1600 and included fake letters of recommendation with his college application.

Assistant Middlesex District Attorney John Verner says that in fact, Wheeler had actually attended a Delaware high school, earned 1100 on his SAT, and was studying a Bowdoin College before he was suspended for plagiarizing an essay. He then applied to transfer to Harvard after the Spring 2007 semester.

Prosecutors claim that Wheeler plagiarized letters of recommendation and essays and made other allegedly “untruthful” statements when applying for Fulbright and Rhodes Scholarships. They claim that he defrauded Harvard of more than $45,000, including $31,806 in financial aid, $6,000 in English prizes, and $8,000 for a research grant.

It was when he applied for the Rhodes and Fulbright Scholarships in September 2009 that a Harvard professor began to suspect that Wheeler had committed plagiarism. Wheeler then decided to leave Harvard. He is also accused of submitting fraudulent documents, including fake letters of recommendation, to Brown and Yale when he submitted transfer applications to both schools.

Wheeler's Cambridge criminal defense lawyer says that it is important to remember that the charges against his client are “just allegations” and that Wheeler should be “presumed innocent” until proven guilty. This is the 23-year-old’s first brush with the law.

Parents stepped in after alleged Harvard scammer applied to Yale, Boston.com, May 18, 2010

Ex-Harvard Student, Adam Wheeler, Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Fabricating Academic History, The Harvard Crmson, May 18, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Harvard University

Continue reading "Ex-Harvard Student Pleads Not Guilty to Identity Fraud, Larceny, and Other Massachusetts Criminal Charges in Alleged Fraud that Earned Him Admission, Grants, and Financial Aid " »

After writing yesterday’s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I went back to my daily business of practicing law. Then, I took a look at some of the latest news and commentaries regarding the indictments about which we “spoke” yesterday as well as the pending legislation regarding bullying.

I started with Boston.com, were I found the positive spin that, “So, finally, an adult in authority in South Hadley stepped up for Phoebe Prince.” This was, of course, applauding District Attorney Betsy Scheibel who has indicted nine youths who apparently bullied the late Phoebe Prince, 15. Ms. Prince tragically took her own life, presumably because of said bullying.

Part of the prosecutor’s stated rationale was that the bullying went far beyond typical bullying that we have seen amongst school peers since the invention of schools. Of course, yesterday, when we looked at the examples she listed…they did not seem to be very new at all.

Unspoken, of course, was any political ambitions the da might have, given that her office is a political one.

I remind you that this had already become a hot issue and one that is being kicked around by the legislature in the way of anti-bullying legislation.

Continue reading "The Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law Movement – A Path To A Criminal Justice Solution? " »

Here’s a twist on the old saying, “it’s like pulling teeth!” A former Massachusetts dentist will now need a criminal defense attorney to defend against charges of “clipping” teeth..

I am referring to Michael C., 51, a dentist formerly of Fall River, but now of Maryland (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). Boston’s Attorney General has indicted the Defendant for a number of fraudulent…and related…criminal acts.

In short, the Defendant is charged with allegedly using paper clips in dental work and then billing Medicaid for the stainless steel posts he should have used. The Defendant also stands indicted on a charge of submitting additional false claims to the Medicaid program using other dentists’ provider numbers and illegally prescribing prescription drugs.

The complainants of the charges are two-fold. One, of course, is the program that was billed. The other are the actual patients who allegedly received the “treatment”.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Dentist Indicted After 8 Year Investigation For Assualt And Fraud" »

Yesterday, I had to go to a local Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Now, I am a lawyer. I have some idea of how some of these things should work. I am also somewhat knowledgeable about the system, bureaucracy and red tape, including how simple things can be made very unsimple. The result? I walked out about 2 hours later (the ticket I was handed said I would be seen in 8 minutes) and with my goal still not reached. Not only that, but this inconvenience resulted in the first time I saw the clerk perform what I took to beng the closest she ever came to a smile.

What can one do? Well, today I can take the small step of delivering a blog about the RMV!

Well, sort of.

I direct your attention to Framingham, where sits a Middlesex grand jury which has returned indictments recently against Mr. Ahmed S., 30, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He had been arrested a month earlier due to an investigation which apparently revealed that he was falsifying drivers' licenses, the AG's office said.

Continue reading "Boston Attorney General Indicts RMV Clerk For White Collar Crimes" »

More bad choices in the Boston area. Another defendant who needed a lawyer.

And now…another statistic. one more white collar conviction.

Richard W., 42 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) apparently worked as a practice assistant in the ear, nose and throat department of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. From January 2006 through April 2009, he is said to have stolen more than $1 million by stealing checks written to the department and by seeking fraudulent refunds for hearing aids and other items.

This is called the white collar crime of embezzlement.

On the 3rd, the Defendant pleaded guilty before the Honorable United States District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro to one count of health care theft and embezzlement, the US attorney's office said in a statement.

Continue reading "Attorney Sam’s Take: Boston Federal Prosecution For Embezzlement Exemplifies Need For Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys" »

Message from a Boston criminal defense attorney to Ms. Kimberly J., 38 (hereinafter, the :Defendant”) – it is not as bad as you think.

It is actually worse.

The Defendant had been wanted by Massachusetts law enforcement in the alleged kidnapping Thursday of her half-sister’s one-year-old daughter. She has been apprehended in Altona, Pennsilvania and immediately arrested by investigating officers. The Defendant had been staying at a women’s shelter where she is said to have been using an alias and a stolen I.D.

Lest you think she is inconsistent, though, she was also allegedly driving a stolen vehicle .

The one that was apparently used in the abduction.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Kidnapper Faces Charges In Federal And Two State Courts" »

George P., a 48-year-old man from Medford, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), has been indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury in Boston. This means that if he has a court-appointed lawyer, he or she had best be “superior court certified”. Somehow, though, given the charges...the Department of Probation may not find him indigent.

He is charged with stealing millions of dollars from former employers and covering those thefts by overbilling his clients. Specifically, the charge is four counts of larceny over $250 and procurement fraud. When he was arraigned in district court in December, he was released on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned in superior court later this month.

Unbeknownst to the Defendant, the attorney general’s office had been investigating him for months. They were looking into his actions while under the employment of two construction management companies. The Commonwealth claims that, while serving as vice president of a company in the Greater Boston area, he “routinely submitted reimbursement requests that contained fake receipts, invoices, and correspondence.”

The company allegedly relied on the Defendant’s documentation and paid him several million dollars in reimbursements from 2007 until his departure in January 2009.

Continue reading "Larceny Suspect From Boston Municipal Court Is Indicted On Fraud Charges" »

Police have arrested three men over their alleged involvement in a Massachusetts ATM theft scam. Ivaylo Hristov, Anton Venkov, and Vladislav Vladev are accused of being part of a fraud ring that allegedly has stolen, according to Quincy police, hundreds of thousands of dollars from numerous victims in the Greater Boston Area.

The three men allegedly engaged in “skimming,” which involves people using bank-card readers and tiny cameras to retrieve people’s bank and pin information. The data can then be downloaded onto a card that has a magnetic strip. The card can then work as an ATM card to the victim’s bank account.

Police arrested Hristov, 28, at Citizens Bank in Quincy where he allegedly stole $500 from someone’s ATM bank account. They say he had eight re-coded Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards with him. He also has been charged over his alleged involvement in an ATM theft that took place in Milton.

Venkov, 40, is charged with aiding and abetting the identity fraud scam and also of using counterfeit bank account access codes. Police says that when they arrested Venkov he had $99,100 in cash in his car. Vladev, 36, was detained at Logan International Airport as he was attempting to leave for Germany. He pleaded not guilty to identify fraud and larceny charges.

Police found gadgets and computer equipment in a Weymouth storage unit that they believe belong to Hristov and his alleged cohorts. Authorities say there are other skimming operations in Weymouth, Roslindale, Braintree, Dorchester, and Milton.

Do not give up hope if you have been arrested for allegedly committing a Massachusetts crime. You may have been wrongly charged. There may be evidence that can prove you are not guilty. There may be criminal charges filed against you that can be reduced or dropped. Police may have gone about obtaining the evidence they have in the wrong way and that evidence may now be inadmissible. Your civil rights may have been violated during your arrest or detention.

Police break ATM skimming ring in Greater Boston, Wicked Local, January 29, 2010

Two more arrested in ATM theft case, Boston.com, January 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
ATM fraud, a.k.a. skimming, is on the rise, ConsumerReports, January 14, 2010

Identity theft, FTC

Continue reading "Three People Arrested in Massachusetts ATM Theft Scam" »

You know, sometimes a criminal defense attorney cannot help but get mad. For example, when a client whom the attorney is absolutely sure is innocent of charges is found guilty of them anyway, I get angry. Or cases wherein one of the many unfairness’s that are built into the criminal justice system raise their ugly heads, my passion is inflamed. Or, more recently, in a Massachusetts superior court, where an absolutely heart-wrenching drama is being played out and suddenly the prosecution and other untrained-yet-self-ordained “experts" announce with “authority” their expectations of human behavior to the detriment of fairness...it drives me nuts.

A four-year-old girl is dead. Her mother, Carolyn R. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is on trial for her homicide. Dad, also charged with murder, awaits his turn next.

The purpose of an opening statement in a trial is to give the jury a roadmap of the evidence the lawyer contends it will see during the trial. In this case, the prosecuting attorney gave his opening statement, listing the evidence he expects he will show, thus proving the Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Thereafter, the school nurse testified to begin the onslaught of critical evidence.

One of the first things described by both the prosecutor and the nurse? Well, apparently, hours after her daughter died, the Defendant and her husband appeared at the child’s preschool with a “flat” demeanor, asking to pick up her daughter’s things as well as a copy of her class photograph.

Continue reading "Attorney Sam’s Take: A Massachusetts Murder Trial. A Little Girl Is Dead. Attorneys Take Note!" »

In Boston on Thursday, Massachusetts Dr. Scott Reuben was charged with one count of health care fraud. Reuben used to serve as the chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center. Reuben has agreed to plead guilty and pay $420,000 in restitution.

According to federal court records, the Longmeadow physician falsified medical research. He is accused of falsifying findings he presented in at least 21 published studies. For example, the charge against him claims that Reuben actually never tested anyone (he told them he had tested 200 people) when he presented findings to Pfizer about the use of Celebrex in multimodal therapy. The pharmaceutical company had given him a $74,000 research grant.

Reuben faces up to 10-years in prison. However, because of the plea agreement he will likely receive a significantly lighter penalty.

Health Care Fraud
Healthcare fraud is a white collar crime. A person charged with Massachusetts health care fraud is usually a medical professional accused of profiting illegally by submitting allegedly dishonest medical claims. These are serious allegations and our Boston white collar crime law firm has seen cases where someone is wrongly charged with health care fraud because investigators misinterpreted the information and falsely accused someone of a crime.

Allegations against a medical professional charged with health care fraud can include:

• Obtaining unnecessary prescriptions and selling them for profit
• Billing for medical services never provided
• Filing more than one claim for the same service
• Changing service descriptions, provider names, member names, and dates on claims
• Billing for a service that isn’t covered as if it were covered
• Changing medical records
• Incorrectly reporting a medical procedure or a diagnosis to obtain a larger payment
• Using staff members that aren’t licensed
• Waiving co-payments
• Prescribing treatments that are not necessary

Dr. Scott Reuben, former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, pleads guilty to health-care fraud, Masslive.com, January 14, 2010

Doc accused of healthcare fraud, TopNews, January 16, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Health Care Fraud, Cornell.edu

White Collar Crimes, Justia

Continue reading "Massachusetts Doctor Charged with Health Care Fraud" »

For those of you who still hold fast to the fantasy that law enforcement never lies, prepare for a shock. Of course, this case does not feature law enforcement lying to convict a defendant. Instead, it is a Massachusetts law enforcement official lying to federal law enforcement who needs a criminal defense attorney.

Arlindo R., a 37-year-old former Stoughton police detective, (hereinafter, the “Defendant), admitted in federal court yesterday that he lied to FBI agents during an ongoing investigation into corruption in the police department and had promised to help authorities in their probe.

The Defendant pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston to one count of making false statements last July 13. Agents had asked whether he knew of Stoughton police officers receiving stolen gift cards and other items from an informant secretly cooperating with the FBI. According to the government, the Defendant had been among the recipients.

Continue reading "Massachusetts law enforcement official pleads guilty in federal white collar investigation" »

Some folks in Boston will go to great lengths to avoid contacting a criminal defense attorney!

Take the case of 36-year-old Francis V. (hereinafter the “Defendant”) for example. He wanted to avoid court so much he chose self-mutilation over consulting an experienced defense attorney.

The Defendant had a pending drug trafficking case for trafficking in which he had already defaulted. No, the Defendant did not simply have one warrant pending for his arrest...he had 13 such warrants pending.

In an attempt to keep those warrants pending, in other words not falling down upon him like a law enforcement net, he mutilated his fingers in order to conceal his prints.

Continue reading "Boston Drug-Trafficker Is Arrested On Outstanding Warrants And New Weapons + Forgery Charges" »

...And once again we are reminded of this year’s movie The Watchmen, where the catchphrase was “Who watches the Watchmen?” The setting is Boston’s northern neighbor, Salem, Massachusetts. The person is Marie M., 38, a former accounting clerk of Lawrence's Probation Department (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). That’s right, the same probation department entrusted to oversee criminal defendants as they try to follow advice and role models to work their way back onto the “straight and narrow”. The Defendant’s current position is beside her defense attorney, facing charges of embezzlement in the amount of more than two million dollars.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant had crafted an elaborate white collar scheme that managed to elude detection for nearly three years. During her 19 years with the department, she allegedly managed to employ a host of complex accounting maneuvers to pocket approximately $12,000 a week from 2006 through this summer, when she left work amid troubling questions posed by suspicious auditors.

Last Thursday, the Defendant was in court in Salem Superior Court, facing felony charges. During the hearing, prosecutors marveled what they called an intricate and sophisticated scheme. The Defendant was apparently the only person in the department authorized to change entries in the court's accounting system and she is said to have used this position to manipulate records and bank deposits to cover her tracks. Further, prosecutors allege that auditors who uncovered the alleged fraud had only encountered one of the Defendant’s methods (known as a "negative, non-money error reversal") once or twice over the past 20 years.

Continue reading "Probation Official, Charged with Felony Larceny, Makes Incriminating Statements To Investigators" »

Recovery from a long weekend, such as the Thanksgiving weekend we have just enjoyed, can mean different things to different people. For me, for example, it meant waking up yesterday not being able to get online and so not posting my blog (sorry about that, by the way). For Sonny T., 21, of Wareham (hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”), it meant being in contact with his new criminal defense attorney and dealing with fallout from some alleged indiscretions over the holiday.

These indiscretions include criminal charges such as counterfeiting, armed robbery and assault.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant was not in the most thankful of moods last Thursday night when he met up with two people he knew at an oil change business.

Violently unthankful.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Assault And Robbery Lead To Arrest For White Collar Crime And Possible Federal Prosecution" »

Sometimes the memories of Thanksgivings past are ones you might prefer to forget. Take a particular North Adams police officer who was testifying at a criminal trial-his own, side by side with his criminal defense attorney.

The events at issue took place last Thanksgiving.

Officer Joshua M. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is on trial for two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, one count of assault and battery, one count of witness intimidation, and one count of filing a false police report about the incident, which involved treatment of a Pittsfield prisoner. The defense is that because said prisoner was covered with his own excrement from the middle of his back down to the back of his knees, the Defendant felt he had fewer options in trying to restrain the drunk and combative man.

The Defendant testified that he didn't pat down the Matthew T. (hereinafter, the “Prisoner”) at the North Church Street scene where the Prisoner had caused a disturbance by kicking doors and defecating on a welcome mat. He further explained that his training indicated that he should avoid touching bodily fluids to prevent exposure to potentially infectious diseases.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Police Officer Is On Trial For Assault and Battery With A Deadly Weapon" »

Joseph L., 43, of Derry, New Hampshire, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was once a happy and successful man. A father of five, he built himself up from obscurity in Brockton to the purchasing director for North Andover, Massachusetts. Now, divorced and placed on leave, he is in need of a criminal defense attorney. A court-appointed defense attorney, in fact.

The week began with his turning himself in to North Andover police upon learning that there were warrants out for his arrest.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant is guilty of embezzlement. Specifically, the prosecution says that, during his two years as the town’s purchasing agent, he only performed one half of his job correctly. They say he sold surplus town vehicles and snow plows on eBay (the half he was supposed to do) but that he pocketed the money himself (the half he was not supposed to do).

One must wonder how much such augmentation to his salary helped given that the court determined that he qualified for a court appointed attorney, meaning that he was without the funds to afford his own.

Continue reading "Charged With Embezzlement, Massachusetts Official Faces Felony Charges Of Larceny" »