Houston Trial Lawyer Blog : Houston Business Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Arnold & Itkin Law Firm : Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Accident Claims

Bernard Madoff is no longer the lone ranger in the world's biggest Ponzi scheme, his accountant, David Friehling, was arrested March 17th for his part in the notorious $65 billion investment fraud. The accountant repeatedly signed off on Madoff's bogus financial reports, helping the fraudster continue his scheme.

Friehling was not charged for knowledge of the investment fraud, but for fallaciously certifying that he audited Madoff's financial statements. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, "Mr. Friehling's deception helped foster the illusion that Mr. Madoff legitimately invested his clients' money."

Friehling turned himself in to authorities and was charged with aiding and abetting, investment advisor fraud, and four counts of filing false statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The 49-year-old could face 105 years in prison for his actions.

Friehling was paid anywhere from $12,000 to $14,500 per month between 2004 and 2007, by Madoff's firm. Also, Friehling and his wife invested with Madoff and had an account of more than $500,000.

Investment Fraud Attorney

Recovering lost investments in a massive scheme like Madoff's can be extremely difficult. Our team of securities attorneys has the skill and experience needed to recover your funds.

If you have lost money in the Madoff investment fraud, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.

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Government officials plan to seize Bernard Madoff's assets. Gradually, prosecutors are identifying Madoff's many assets and filing that they intend to seize them. Madoff, the perpetrator behind the world's largest Ponzi scheme, admitted March 12th to the $65 billion scheme and is now behind bars, awaiting sentencing on June 16th.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Nearly $100 million in assets owned by Madoff and his wife Ruth have been identified and are subject to seizure in the near future. The $100 million includes: real estate, cash, bonds, automobiles and boats. Also up for seizure is the Madoffs' $7 million Manhattan apartment and their homes in New York, Florida and France.

Prosecutors also plan to seize assets in Ruth Madoff's name including: $17 million cash and $45 million in bonds. The Madoffs' lawyers insist Ruth is the sole owner of the cash, bonds and Manhattan apartment and that they are not related to her husbands $65 billion Ponzi scheme. In addition, loans given to the Madoffs' sons, Mark and Andrew, adding up to nearly $32 million are on the list of assets to be seized.

Prosecutors have yet to actually file a seizure request. They have filed a "notice of intent" to seize the assets, warning the Madoffs, their team of attorneys and Judge Denny Chin of the upcoming request.

On December 31, 2008 the Madoffs claimed they were worth $826 million, $700 million of which was Bernie's ownership in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Recently, however, outside evaluators value the company at only $10 million.

Investment Fraud

Our team of securities attorneys has the expertise and experience necessary to take on crooks like Bernie Madoff and have helped many families recover from the financial burden brought on by such schemers.

If you or a loved one has lost investments in the Madoff Investment Fraud or any other investment scam, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free consultation of your case.

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When you look back at 2008, ending with the Madoff investment fraud, it is not surprising that securities attorneys had a busy year. Considering 2009's big start with the Stanford financial fraud exposed, it looks like this years numbers may not be far behind.

A total of 210 securities class action lawsuits were filed last year, of these, 103 were filed against the financial services sector. That is a huge increase from the annual average of 26 lawsuits filed in previous years. According to Business Insurance, contrary what you might expect, most of these lawsuits were not filed in the latter half of 2008, when the extent of the credit crisis became clear. Rather, most of the cases were filed in the first half of the year, before the words "Bernie Madoff" and "investment fraud" became such a familiar part of our lexicon. The reason for this is that most of the biggest firms involved in the credit crisis, had lawsuits filed against them in the beginning of the year. In fact, according to Cornerstone Research of Boston, 9 of the 10 biggest financial firms were sued before December 2008. This was before the Bernard Madoff investment fraud came to light. 18 cases against him were filed in January.

The average securities class action settlement in 2008 was down to $7.5 million from $9.4 million the previous year. However, the percentage of settlements in excess of $100 million increased to 8% in 2008, from 6% in 2005. It’s been a bad year for banks, who are not only besieged by large numbers of class action lawsuits, but are also struggling to survive. Of the 25 banks that collapsed in 2008, five have been sued.

Securities Attorneys

It is impossible for insurance companies, investors and investment fraud lawyers to predict frauds like Madoff's scheme, or the Stanford Financial CD bubble that recently burst. Scams like these are being exposed at an alarming rate and with months or years to go before the credit squeeze is expected to slacken, we can anticipate more frauds coming to light.

If you have lost money in the Bernard Madoff scam or the Stanford Financial Group fraud , contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP to discuss your case.

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In a year that’s been rocked by some of the biggest, and most devastating investment fraud, mortgage backed securities fraud and other scams, there's new evidence that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been lax in its policing efforts throughout the Bush administration. According to the International Herald Tribune, prosecutions for stock fraud fell sharply over the past eight years, as the outgoing administration reduced the SEC to essentially, a toothless tiger.

The number of prosecutions for stock fraud this year is expected to be the lowest since 1991. So far, there have been 133 prosecutions for securities fraud in 2008, compared to 437 prosecutions in 2000. The number of SEC investigations that led to prosecution by the Justice Department fell drastically from 69 in 2000 to just 9 in 2007.

According to the report, cutbacks in federal resources is one of the factors to blame for the increasing perception of the SEC as a spineless body that's more interested in protecting Wall Street than innocent investors. The SEC for instance, has had considerable staffing cutbacks, while the FBI has been forced to shift massive resources to the war against terror. Apart from staffing shortages, the SEC has seen some changes in policy that have weakened investigators' authority to probe cases on their own. Many officers have left for cushy jobs with the firms that they once investigated. As the year ends with the Bernard Madoff scandal stunning everyone in the business, and securities fraud attorneys asking why the SEC was so blind to all the signs of the fraud that Madoff was operating, the SEC Chairman has ordered an investigation into the failure to stop Madoff. Many say it's too late. After all, the biggest fear right now is not the extent of Madoff's fraud, but the very likely possibility that there are more such audacious Madoff-like scams yet to be discovered.

Wall Street Investor Fraud in 2008 Rocked the Country

2008 was to the American investor what 1992 was to Queen Elizabeth II - an annus horribilis. As one financial institution after another collapsed – entirely due to its own greed and shortsightedness – million of investors were looking at the possibility of foregoing any chance of a dignified retirement. The lucky ones could look forward to spending another decade in the workforce to begin saving again, after Wall Street's unchecked gluttony ruined their hopes for an early office farewell party. The fact these firms lobbied to ensure that they would be protected from liability when their scams went bust is proof of the fact that they knew all along that this is where it would end. 

Business litigation against well established and powerfully backed financial firms is not an easy task. It involves going up against billion dollar companies who have well connected people defending their interests. Having the expertise of a professional and specialized securities fraud attorney can however help you build the solid case you need in order to recover any of your hard earned money.

If you've lost money as a result of investor fraud, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.

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