Steven Schulman and Howard Vogel begin their stint behind bars.

Labels: Howard Vogel, Milberg, Steven Schulman

For his role in the firm's decades long, multi-million dollar plaintiff kickback scheme, mortgage broker Howard Vogel has received a sentence of three months in prison. Vogel plead guilty back in 2006 and served as a witness in the prosecutions case against Milberg Weiss and former Milbergattorney, Bill Lerach. For more on Vogel's connection to the case see here.

-- MDT

Labels: Howard Vogel, kickbacks, Milberg

The Milberg kickback probe continues, this time court-side. Milberg partners, currently on leave, David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman both made their first appearance in an L.A. court room on Friday. Each was released on $1million bail and scheduled to appear on Monday to enter their respective pleas. Details follow on yesterday's L.A. court proceedings from The Mercury News. The article is also a decent summary of the happenings to date in the Milberg kickback probe:

Law firm, partners, plead not guilty to federal charges in LA

ERIC BERKOWITZ
Associated Press
July 17, 2006

A top class-action law firm and two of its partners pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of secretly paying more than $11 million in kickbacks to get people to take part in shareholder lawsuits. Also pleading not guilty in federal court were Seymour M. Lazar, who is accused of acting as a paid plaintiff in some of the firm's cases, and Paul T. Selzer, who is charged with laundering money on Lazar's behalf.

In a 20-count indictment handed down in May, prosecutors alleged that Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, along with partners David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman, secretly paid Lazar and others since 1984 to act as plaintiffs in class-action suits against major corporations.

Federal prosecutors alleged that secret kickback arrangements allowed the firm to be among the first to file lawsuits on behalf of shareholders and secure the lucrative position as lead plaintiffs' counsel. The indictment also alleged that "the paid plaintiffs purchased the securities at issue anticipating that the securities would decline in value, in order to position themselves to be named plaintiffs in securities fraud class actions and to obtain kickbacks" from the firm and others.

All the individual defendants were in court to enter their pleas except Lazar, who was unable to attend for medical reasons. Bershad and Schulman are on leave from the firm.

The case, which is the result of an ongoing federal investigation, has already resulted in plea deals with two people allegedly involved in the payoff schemes. Retired real estate mortgage broker Howard Vogel agreed in April to plead guilty to one count of making a false declaration before a court and admitted to receiving $2.5 million in kickbacks from Milberg Weiss in connection with class actions in which he was the plaintiff.

Los Angeles attorney Richard Purtich agreed in May to plead guilty to a federal tax offense by acting as an intermediary through which Milberg Weiss paid his former client Steven G. Cooperman more than $2.5 million in fees for acting as plaintiff in several class actions.
The firm denies any wrongdoing. In a statements released after Monday's arraignment, Bershad's attorney, Robert Luskin, said the indictment "is a disgrace and the charges are utterly baseless," and the firm said it is "confident that we will be fully vindicated"...

Read the full Mercury News article here. And if needbe, catch up on the story by reading some of our past coverage.

-- MDT

Labels: David Bershad, Howard Vogel, hulman, kickbacks, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg, Milberg Weiss, money laundering, Steven Cooperman

Thusfar bossman Melvyn Weiss has bee in the clear of the government's investigation of alleged illegal kickbacks made by Milberg Weiss to individuals in exchange for their re-occuring role as lead plaintiffs in the firm's securities class actions. Both Weiss and former partner Bill Lerach had reportedly been told by feds that neither was in the crosshairs of the ongoing investigation. Recent reports would indicate that the situation has changed.

The National Law Journal is reporting that in a 2003 meeting with Denver lawyer was Gary Lozow, of Isaacson Rosenbaum, Melvyn Weiss offered Lozow agreed that a percentage of attorney fees in two cases would find their way to Howard Vogel, a figure well known to those who have been following the kickback investigation. Lozow is currently cooperating with prosecutors and provides what investigators have long sought, a potential direct link between Weiss and the alleged kickbacks.

-- MDT

Labels: Gary Weiss, Howard Vogel, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss

The Daily Caveat has been following this story for as long as this blog has been around. Government investigators have been probing noted securities plaintiff firm Milber Weiss for more than five years now looking for improprieties in the way the firm handles the management of the large class action cases that often fall under its care. To a lesser extent, also in the cross-hairs was Bill Lerach, a former Milberg partner who, after a falling out with Milberg top-dog Melvyn Weiss, opted to leave the firm has open up his own shop.

Things really started to heat up in the seemingly aimless investigation last summer with the indictment of two Palm Springs, California attorneys who alledgedly participated in a scheme of kickback payments from Milberg to individuals serving as lead plaintiffs for the firm. Seymour Lazar, a movie industry lawyer who once dated Maya Angelou was indicted on charges of receiving kickbacks from Milberg Weiss and Paul Selzer, a real estate lawyer was accused of helping to launder the payments. In the indictment against Lazar and Selzer, as much as $44 million alledgely passed through their hands in illegal kickbacks from Milberg Weiss.

The roots of the Lazar indictment lie in part with art dealer and convicted insurance fraudster, Steven Cooperman. Cooperman was in seven kinds of legal trouble and facing a ten-year sentence when he offered federal prosecutor inside knowledge on Milberg's practices based on his own experience serving some 60 times as a lead plaintiff for the firm. A great deal of information was also gleaned from the briefs filed in Cooperman's nasty divorce. According to testimony by Cooperman in the divorce case, between 1988 and 1997 he received about $5 million from his arrangement with Milberg Weiss.

While Lazar has all along fought the charges against him and refused to roll on Milberg, another former lead plaintiff, Howard J. Vogel, signed a plea deal with prosecutors and, in exchange for avoiding prosecution himself, has offered up his knowledge of the firm. Vogel and members of his family have served as plaintiffs as many as 40 Milberg receiving approximately $2.5 million in illegal kickbacks.

Subsequently we also learned that former Milberg partner, Alan Schulman, who is now a partner at rival firm, Bernstein Litowitz cooperated with the California Grand Jury investigating Milber Weiss. There was apparently no love lost between Schulman and his former firm, and he was all too happy to dish on what he saw as imappropriate tactics used by his former employer.

Midweek-last week saw two Milberg executive partners take a not expected leave of absence. David Bershad and Steven Schulman, both of whom had been courteously informed a few months back that they should keep their dancecards open for the Feds, departed Milberg for the time being to face pending indictments against each of them in relation to the kickback investigation.

The question is, will they have a firm to return to?

Before The Daily Caveat could even get a weekend to catch its breath the California Grand Jury handed down a 20-count indictment against Milberg Weiss based on allegations that, from 1981 to 2005 , in the course of their management of plaintiff class action cases, the firm paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs and other facillitators. Clearly for Milberg and the prosecutors who have been giving chase for the last several years, the past is prologue and the real story has only just begun.

-- MDT

Labels: Bernstein Litowitz and Berger, Howard Vogel, HP, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg, Milberg Weiss

Last Friday saw the first guilty plea in the long-running kickback investigation of noted securities plaintiff firms Milberg Weiss and Lerach Coughlin. Howard Vogel, a former Milberg plaintiff has attested that he took $2.5 million in kickback money in exchange for acting as lead plantiff in a Milberg-run lawsuit.

Vogel has named several current and former Milberg partners as his points of contact, and while none are specifically named in the current indictment, they have been identified in media reports as: David Bershad, Steven Schulman and Robert Sugarman. Looks like this simmering investigation is just about ready to boil over. Comments are expected from Milberg in the near future. Lerach's firm, for its part seems to be getting a pass for the time being.

Many, many more details here or here. And for some history try some of our past coverage.

-- MDT

Labels: Howard Vogel, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss

Six-years into their far-reaching investigation, federal prosecutors insist that indictments are still forthcomings. It is uncetain whether Milber Weiss itself will face indictment, but two attorneys at the firm, Steven Schulman and David Bershad, a named partner, are apparently expecting personal indictments. At issue are payments, potential kickbacks, to real estate broker and former lead plaintiff, Howard Vogel.

Schulman was the lead attorney on the Vogel case and Bershad is the firm partner tasked with cash-flow responsibilities. Milberg reps, including Schulman and Bershad have been meeting with federal regulators in an effort to head off the potential indictments.

More here.

And for more on the history of the investigation, try here, here, here, here or here.

-- MDT

Labels: Howard Vogel, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss