Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota’
Monday, February 1st, 2010

Attorney General Eric Holder today appointed three U.S. Attorneys to his Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC).

The group is an influential policy-making and advisory body that serves as the voice of U.S. Attorneys throughout the country.

The new members of the advisory panel are Sanford Coats, of the Western District of Oklahoma; Steven M. Dettelbach, of the Northern District of Ohio; and Jim Letten, of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The Justice Department news release gave brief biographical data on each of the new members.

Holder noted that AGAC, which was created in 1973, provides advice to the attorney general on policy, management and operational matters affecting the U.S. Attorneys Offices.

The AGAC now has 15 members. Its chairman is B. Todd Jones, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota.

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Forbes magazine last week released its list of the top 10 CEOs who “showed enough greed, hubris and chutzpah” to give confessed Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff “a run for his (stolen) money.”

We’ve added some information that Forbes left off its list — the top federal prosecutors who get to go after these alleged financial fraudsters, even though some of the investigations began before their time.

Preet Bharara in his first major news conference Nov. 5.  The Manhattan U.S. Attorney announced the arrests of 14 people in an alleged insider trading ring around hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam. (Getty Images)

Preet Bharara in his first major news conference Nov. 5. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney announced the arrests of 14 people in an alleged insider trading ring around hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam. (Getty Images)

Winning a conviction in a high-profile financial case adds a notch to a U.S. Attorney’s belt. A prosecutor might even get to step out at a news conference or two, as Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara did on Nov. 5 when announcing insider trading arrests related to the Galleon hedge fund run by billionaire Raj Rajaratnam.

To be sure, not everyone on the Forbes list is accused of an actual crime. With that caveat, we present Forbes’s “Biggest CEO Outrages of 2009″ list:

1. Lloyd Blankfein. The chairman and CEO made $73 million in 2007 and $25 million in 2008, as the economy entered a deep recession. Although his salary is not a legal offense, Forbes deemed it practically criminal.

2. John Thain. The former CEO of Merrill Lynch approved $3.62 billion in bonuses for his executives last December as the company was being taken over by Bank of America and reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $15.3 billion.

3. Raj Rajaratnam. The founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group was charged with insider trading which allegedly helped him earn more than $33 million in illicit profits. He is being prosecuted in Manhattan by Bharara’s office.

4. Byrraju Ramalinga Raju. The founder of the Indian outsourcing company Satyam Computer Services in January confessed to overstating the company’s profits and fabricating its cash balance of more than $1 billion. He hasn’t been charged.

5. Thomas Petters. The former CEO and chairman of Petters Group Worldwide was charged with orchestrating a $3.5 billion pyramid scheme fraud. He is being prosecuted by the office of Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones.

6. Edward M. Liddy. The former CEO of American International Group (AIG) faced criticism this year for high salaries and bonuses in addition to expensive retreats the company funded after receiving a considerable sum as part of the bank bailout of 2008.

7. Danny Pang. The founder of Private Equity Management Group was accused of running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded his investors of hundreds of millions of dollars. Pangdied of an apparent suicide in September at age 42. Had he lived, he would have been prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, currently headed by acting U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona.

8. R. Allen Stanford. The Texas financier allegedly sold $7 billion worth of certificates of deposit through his Stanford International Bank and misappropriated most of the money. He is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, currently headed by interim U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson. UPDATE: Stanford also is being prosecuted by the fraud section of DOJ’s criminal division.

9. David Rubin. The head of CDR Financial Products was indicted in October on charges of conspiracy and fraud related to rigging auctions to help determine which banks would assist governments in raising money. He will be prosecuted by Bharara’s office in Manhattan.

10. Robert Moran. The CEO of Moran Yacht & Ship pleaded guilty to tax fraud to avoid indictment. He also promised to pay back taxes and penalties and cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service. He was prosecuted by the office of  R. Alexander Acosta, then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Friday, August 21st, 2009
B. Todd Jones (Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi)

B. Todd Jones (Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi)

Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones intends to name as his deputy a prosecutor who clashed with Rachel Paulose, the brash young Bush administration official who once ran the office, a person familiar with his plans told Main Justice today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marti, a line prosecutor in the office, also served as Paulose’s First Assistant. But she demoted him in April 2007 after he reported her for mishandling classified documents. Paulose’s 20-month tenure marked a period of intense turmoil in the Minneapolis-based office, and she became a symbol of the Bush Justice Department’s tendency to promote prosecutors based on ideology instead of competence.

Rachel Paulose (USDOJ)

Rachel Paulose (DOJ)

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an executive branch agency that deals with whistle-blower cases, determined last year that Paulose retaliated against Marti. ”Based on considerable evidence of intent, animus, and motive, OSC concluded that Ms. Paulose constructively demoted” Marti for reporting her conduct to Justice Department officials, according to a news release announcing the findings.

The Justice Department reached an agreement with Marti after the OSC investigation. He was given back pay and a lump-sum payment for damages. The department also agreed to remove any negative references from his personnel records.

Two other lawyers in the office resigned their management positions in protest of her policies and management style, and more threatened to defect if Paulose remained at her post. She resigned as U.S. Attorney in November 2007 after spending less than 20 months as Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor. Paulose was appointed by then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as an interim U.S. Attorney, at the age of 32. The Senate later confirmed her in December 2006.

Her predecessor, Tom Heffelfinger, was on a list of U.S. Attorneys slated for firing compiled by Kyle Sampson, Gonzales’ chief of staff. Heffelfinger, however, resigned before the firings.

Paulose is now a senior trial counsel in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Miami regional office. Read Main Justice’s report about her new gig here.

Jones, a former Minnesota U.S. Attorney during the Clinton administration, is the first Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for the office since Paulose. He was sworn into office last week.

U.S. Attorneys typically change some of the leaders in their offices after they are sworn in.

Marti did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Joe Palazzolo contributed to this report.