This case involves parental kidnapping by a father in Florida who took his son out of the country on a 32 foot sail boat. In U.S. v. Martikainen the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge of international parental kidnapping (18 U.S.C. §1204(a)), for leaving his the United States with his…
According to a report by Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald, a Federal Judge issued an arrest warrant for lawyer Michael Walsh for his failure to appear in Federal Court. Walsh failed to show up for the start of a Federal mortgage fraud trial for John Guaracino on Monday May…
In some areas of the country, substantial numbers of single family homes fell into foreclosure. In other markets, large numbers of condominiums suffered wholesale foreclosures. People purchased homes for inflated prices borrowing up to 95 to 97 percent of the purchase price, acquiring creative mortgages with low teaser rates or…
A bankruptcy trustee is a private individual, usually a C.P.A. or with similar financial expertise, who is appointed by the U.S. Trustee in Federal Bankruptcy Court and given the job of safeguarding the assets of a bankruptcy estate. The job includes collecting the assets and property belonging to the estate,…
This was case is an example of a cyber crime investigation in Miami that focused on the using the internet to solicit minors for illegal illicit sexual activities. In U.S. v. Lanzon the defendant was indicted for persuading a minor to “engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which…
American Therapeutic Corporation pled guilty to operating a chain of clinics in South Florida that submitted seven years of fraudulent Medicare claims amounting to nearly $200 million dollars. The company was shut down at the end of 2010 in the wake of a lengthy federal investigation that revealed the company…
Three additional individuals were charged in West Palm Beach Federal court in a federal mortgage fraud indictment, making 24 the total number of persons who have been indicted in the multi-million dollar Versailles mortgage fraud scheme. Carl Alexander and Carol Asbury were the two most recent persons indicted. Alexander headed…
The federal mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §1341, makes it a federal crime to use the mail in any way to advance a fraud. The federal wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §1343, makes it a federal crime to use any interstate wire communication to advance a fraud. The defendants here…
Schmitz was an Alabama State legislator convicted of the Federal crime of mail fraud and theft of federal funds. The mail fraud statute (Title 18 USC §1341) makes it a crime to use the mail to advance a fraud. The theft statute (Title 18 USC §666) makes it a crime…
United States v. Ibarguen-Mosquera is the latest of many Eleventh Circuit cases testing the consititutionality of a seizure of a boat by the Coast Guard on international waters. Here the seizure of this boat resulted in a Federal criminal offense. Defendants were crew members aboard a vessel described as an…