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CONFESSIONS OF A
MONEY LAUNDERER by Kenneth Rijock
MONEY LAUNDERER by Kenneth Rijock
Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 95
8 February 2010
We last saw cousin Peter, extradited from Brazil after twenty three months in a squalid Brazilian jail,, finally being released from custody pre-trial, but into the restrictions of home confinement, not bail. Then, a strange thing happened; years go by, and his securities fraud case is not set for trial. Peter says it's because the US Attorney cannot put a finite dollar figure on the amount of damages suffered by the victims. But is there something else at work? Anyone who has the temerity to sue a former US President should understand that he has a lot of friends in the Department of Justice, and adding Hillary to the case might have offended certain individuals working in the US Attorney's office in New York. Whatever the reason, I know of no other recent case where a defendant, through no intentional dilatory action of his own, is waiting for trial for several years. Is not home confinement for four years some form of punishment?
Peter eventually changed his plea to guilty; after all, the evidence was pretty damning, and the giant brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, was one of the principal victims. He had no realistic chance of obtaining a not guilty verdict, in my humble opinion.
He confidentially believed that he would receive credit for his long time in home confinement, also known as house arrest. If he received the maximum possible sentence under the us Sentencing Guidelines, his prison time, when added to his overseas jail time, and his house arrest, would mean, in theory, that he would be sentenced to time served, and walk out of court a free man. But was this merely wishful thinking, ignoring the reality of this high-profile case ? I thought that, having fled the country to evade prosecution, and having prior convictions on his record, the judge would not ensure that he received at least some time in Federal Prison.
The case*, at long last, came on for sentencing. All the bullet points hereafter are verbatim quotes, taken from the court Transcript of sentence, before the Honourable Leonard Wexler. The comments and annotations are mine alone. You decide whether justice was served.
First, the opposing attorneys, with help from US Probation, wrangle over the measure of damages; what is the amount lost by the victims? $12.6m or $15.9m ? Probation even throws out their computation, $28m. The Court settles on the $12m figure.
Now they move on to the guidelines sentencing range:
- Prosecutor: The level in the plea is correct. 32 (Offence Level; used to compute sentence guidelines).
- The Court: 32, which is how much ?
- Prosecutor: It is 151 to 188 [months].
- The Court: So it is a maximum of ten years...
- Prosecutor: Correct, your Honour.
Now, defence counsel makes his argument for time served:
- Defence: We have asked in our papers, I stated in our papers that the government, while not joining in our application, does not oppose our application for this Court to sentence Mr. Paul to time already served. What that includes, your Honour, is 23 months in a Brazilian jail, 20 months in jail here in both the MDC [Metropolitan Detention Centre] and Nassau County [Jail]. And for the last 53 months, being under strict house arrest. That's a total of 96 months, and my argument is, your Honour, it is a total of 96 months incarceration.
- Prosecutor: The plea agreement precludes us from taking a specific position. and I do not disagree with anything Mr. Conway [defence counsel] has said.
Now the Court comments:
- The Court: This is an interesting case. We have a, at one time a lawyer, obviously very bright, well connected, was able to do a great job. except he was convicted of three previous felonies, and went to jail three separate times. He knew about what was happening here, and he fled to Brazil. And he decided to stay there. There was an extradition... I will even go along with the conceded amount of 12 million dollars plus the people who lost money - according to this [Pre-Sentence Report] there are 539 victims.
And indicates the sentence:
- The Court: Okay. Sentence of the Court. Ten Years. Credit for all the time served in jail, and no house arrest. In addition $100 Special Assessment. Three years Supervised Release [ a form of post-incarceration supervision]. Restitution of $12,650,978 to the two corporations [victims]
Final housekeeping matters are disposed of:
- The Court: Okay. I'll give him time to surrender. How much time ?
- Defence : I would ask for 90 days, your Honour.
- The Court: No I'll give him 30 days.
According to the US Bureau of Prisons, with the credit for prior jail time, in the US and in Brazil, Peter is scheduled to be released on Boxing Day, in the year 2014.
Did the punishment fit the crime? You be the judge.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
* Case No. 01-CR-00636-LDW (ED NY)
The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.
Read more in this exciting series
11 April 2010
8 March 2010
8 February 2010
24 January 2010
6 December 2009
27 September 2009
9 August 2009
3 August 2009
30 March 2009
9 March 2009
2 March 2009
22 February 2009
18 February 2009
26 January 2009
18 January 2009
11 January 2009
5 January 2009
29 November 2008
24 November 2008
17 November 2008
8 November 2008
3 November 2008
27 October 2008
20 October 2008
13 October 2008
4 October 2008
28 September 2008
20 September 2008
15 September 2008
15 June 2008
8 June 2008
1 June 2008
26 May 2008
19 May 2008
12 May 2008
4 May 2008
27 April 2008
20 April 2008
13 April 2008
31 March 2008
18 March 2008
4 March 2008
25 February 2008
16 February 2008
10 February 2008
3 February 2008
27 January 2008
20 January 2008
14 January 2008
6 January 2008
16 December 2007
9 December 2007
1 December 2007
25 November 2007
18 November 2007
11 November 2007
3 November 2007
27 October 2007
21 October 2007
14 October 2007
7 October 2007
1 October 2007
23 September 2007
16 September 2007
3 June 2007
27 May 2007
21 May 2007
6 May 2007
30 April 2007
22 April 2007
15 April 2007
8 April 2007
2 April 2007
24 March 2007
19 March 2007
12 March 2007
5 March 2007
25 February 2007
19 February 2007
12 February 2007
4 February 2007
28 January 2007
22 January 2007
15 January 2007
7 January 2007
2 January 2007
16 December 2006
10 December 2006
3 December 2006
27 November 2006
19 November 2006
11 November 2006
5 November 2006
29 October 2006
22 October 2006
16 October 2006
9 October 2006
2 October 2006
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