|  | | 2007 News and Press Releases | | |
SETTLEMENT NEWS:
Mayer Brown Partner Charged With Securities Fraud in Connection With Refco Deal
Mark Hamblett - New York Law Journal
Law.com. December 19, 2007
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EXCERPT: A Mayer Brown partner was indicted Tuesday on charges he helped Refco Inc. conceal from investors that a company owned by former CEO Phillip R. Bennett owed Refco hundreds of millions of dollars. Joseph P. Collins, head of the law firm's derivatives group, was charged in the Southern District of New York with securities fraud and a host of other counts in connection with the 2004 sale of a majority stake in the financial services company and a 2005 initial public offering. U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said at an afternoon news conference that Collins furthered the fraud at Refco "by telling lies and deceptive half-truths and omitting material information." "He was not merely a lawyer whose client was committing fraud and who should have caught on," Garcia said. "Collins instead played an active and crucial part in perpetrating the Refco fraud." At Collins' arraignment Tuesday afternoon, he pleaded not guilty. Judge Leonard B. Sand accepted the recommendation of Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Garcia and set a $1 million personal recognizance bond. He is expected to post the bond by the end of the week. After the proceedings, Collins' attorney, William J. Schwartz of Cooley Godward Kronish, declared that "Joe Collins is an innocent victim of the Refco fraud. This indictment should send a chill down the spine of every transactional lawyer who believes he or she is representing an honest client. We intend to fight these charges to acquittal." Schwartz had argued that Collins should be released without posting a bond. He told reporters that Collins is dedicated to clearing his name. "The defendant is clearly here to fight and they know he is," Schwartz said. Collins, 57, who works out of the firm's offices in New York and Chicago, was charged with two counts of securities fraud, three counts of making false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, three counts of wire fraud, and single counts of bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. |
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