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Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations

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Posted by:   bobo 5/30/2006 6:16 PM

Want a read that makes Grisham seem ho-hum, lacking in imagination, mundane?

Try the Milberg Weiss complaint.

It's astounding.

Even more astounding is that this has been going on for many, many years, and nobody stopped them.

I'm all for justice being done, but doesn't it seem like when you are getting into decades, so many have been harmed for so long, that the prosecution pales?

And this is just one small aspect of how Wall Street and its familiars operate.

We used to have the mob. Emboldened criminals, hardened, cynical, lacking any remorse - sociopaths, for whom the scam and the money was everything, and for whom there were no allies, only accomplices.

How, precisely, does that differ from Wall Street 2006?

Read the indictment - it literally contains every ugly thing you could imagine an attorney doing, in spades.

And these are the guys who sued most of the our favorite hedge fund's short positions for the last 7 years.

Connect the dots.

Let's see. Hmmmm. Over here, we have the newly retired, still-protesting-innocence hedge fund manager, who so fortuitously bought a ton of puts, due to expire in a matter of weeks, in NFI, just a few short days before it dropped over 50% on a WSJ article....and a Milberg lawsuit. Also happens to be the guy who was short TASR when Milberg filed suit against them, and the SEC launched their well publicized investigation that turned up squat - but the stock dropped 50%.

Boy, if only someone had a crystal ball, or a divining rod, and could tell who the good guys and the bad guys were, and could spot stock manipulation when it was obviously taking place....

Oh, wait, we have the SEC for that. Nice job they are doing, too. They put that menace Martha Stewart away, and we are all the safer for it. And they are so good at zeroing in on the real issues in the market, the real problems, the real crisis-level disconnects.

And they are there to stop obvious stock manipulation - never forget. That is their charter. Not to cater to short sellers who are or have been short a suspiciously large number of the SHO stocks. Tut tut. They are here to protect us!

They must have been thinking that when they launched the fruitless investigation into TASR and NFI and ACAS and OSTK and.............

Some days if you don't laugh, you gotta cry.
Copyright ©2006 Bob O'Brien
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Comments (42)
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By clearthinker on 5/31/2006 6:16 AM
Dave Patch said it best -

investigatethesec.com
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By bbhindyou on 5/31/2006 6:26 AM
Let's laugh loud.Let's laugh in their faces. We should have a Tin foil hat fund raiser for the govener of Utah.Darn it!We should have one in every state.I'll go and contribute if we have one near here .Let's make some noise.Let's laugh.Loudly and in their faces.We dont need to cry now.It's their turn.
More Cox By Catfish on 5/31/2006 2:56 PM
Gotta love this little tidbit:

Before he was elected to Congress in 1988, [Cox] was a corporate lawyer for the failed Irvine securities firm First Pension Corp . . . First Pension collapsed in 1994 after stealing $136 million from 8,500 investors, many of whom were senior citizens who lost their life savings . . . An investor suit accused Cox of knowing of the securities fraud and helping to conceal it.

OC Weekly
Made in Newport Beach: How Chris Cox
helped produce the Enron scandal
March 2002
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By clearthinker on 5/31/2006 3:51 PM
The mere fact that no major media outlet is running with this story speaks to the complacency in our world...which will be our undoing......
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By gregcable2002 on 5/31/2006 4:12 PM
Looks like good ol Mr Cox is as crooked as the day is long.Our country is going to hell in a handbasket.I pray Utah pushes these crooks over the edge.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By InTheKnow on 5/31/2006 4:30 PM
Would you repeat that please...
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By Granny on 5/31/2006 5:08 PM
The Milberg Weiss Indictment Proves Hope Is Alive.

From Condoleeza Rice's Graduation Speech at Boston College

"The fourth responsibility of the educated person is to be optimistic. Too often, cynicism can be the fellow traveler of learning and I understand why. History is full of much cruelty and suffering and darkness and it can be hard sometimes to believe that a brighter future is indeed dawning. But for all of our past failings, for all of our current problems, more people now enjoy lives of hope and opportunity than ever before in all of human history. This progress has been the concerted effort not of cynics but of visionaries and optimists, of impatient patriots who dealt with our world as it was, but who never ever accepted that they were powerless to change that world for the better.

Here in America our own ideals of freedom and equality have been borne through generations by optimists, by people of reason, to be sure, but just as importantly, by people of faith, people who reject the all-too-common assumption that if you can't see something happening and measure it, then it can't possibly be real. "

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/66630.htm
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By Majordanger on 5/31/2006 5:41 PM
I read a few of those 245 indictments and now I feel the need to go vomit. I like the Counterfeit Stock Certificates idea , Sealman.. Please design one and make the PDF avaiable to us all .

With bobo's permission of course.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By InTheKnow on 5/31/2006 5:52 PM
All the SEC scumbags will pay the piper when judgement day comes and it is fast approaching!
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By test on 5/31/2006 6:23 PM
Apparently latest edition of BusinessWeek magazine has article on Fairfax battle against the shorts ... anybody have access to the text?
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By n-tres-ted on 5/31/2006 8:24 PM
As I've said before, I wouldn't count the SEC or its new chairman out at this point. I think prospects remain for significant enforcement actions by SEC. I know there is not much to hang my hat on. But the firm Cox practiced in is blue chip, not suede shoe. I think he is reputable and have heard he has brought in some good people. I don't think he took the job to roll over for crooks. FWIW
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By browntrout on 5/31/2006 8:55 PM
n-tres-ted- Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but for some reason you keep showing up defending Cox. Why is that? He has done NOTHING to help this fight. He has been there long enough to make a difference but he will not unless he observes the gallows in his future. When will you admit that Cox is just a political hack sent to do the big boys bidding? Look into his past. There is plenty on the web about his past. Did he change? Nope. Still won't even enforce SHO and now Utah is at least trying. Are you DAFT?
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By gregcable2002 on 6/1/2006 4:43 AM
As for Cox working for a reputable firm in the past,was not Milberg Wiess a reputable firm a few days ago?
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By oldfeller on 6/1/2006 4:57 AM
slightly off-topic but--

I heard this interview yesterday. The name Patrick Burns got my attention, then after listening I started to wonder if we might have grounds for a False Claims Act lawsuit. If the crooks are avoiding taxes on the money made thru ftd`s it seems possible.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5441272
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By opcowboy03 on 6/1/2006 8:53 AM
Since all of the media coverage about illegal immigration I have had Lou Dobbs on in the background. he always champions the cause of the middle class losing its place in our society because of government and corporate corruption. He would love to flail away at wall street on an issue like this.

Anyone know anyone that is somebody on his staff? Other than sending in one of the many thousand emails he receives each day, I wouldn't know how to get to him.

op
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By hwh on 6/1/2006 4:43 PM
Lance Armstrong/IOC analogy: The IOC has recommended an international tribunal to investigate the drug testing arm of the athletic world after determining Lance had not doped his blood in 1999. Seems the IOC believes the tests were tainted by the drug regulating & monitoring officials...hwh
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By rvac106 on 6/2/2006 6:17 AM
seal:

yes, yes, yes. we can put the fake "BULL" cert in a box, approximately the size of a brick. maybe a blue box. Like the size of a box you get your checks in from the bank. wrapped in blue paper. sent to the congress. we all have those. make a template. they're making such a fuss about the bricks. we're not too proud to piggyback on a good idea, are we? do it.

advise, soonest.

RVAC
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By hemingway811 on 6/12/2006 10:37 AM
The NY Times has an article today about four US Representatives, Rangle, Ackerman, McCarthy & Wexler who are condemning MW's indictment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/business/12milberg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I just posted this on the NFI board:

Identical sums were given to Charles Rangle, Gary Ackerman and Carolyn McCarthy (all are NY Reps.) as follows:

1998 $ 32,000.
2000 38,000. ( $ 3,500. of this came from Brad Freidman who is a Partner in the firm)
2002 219,000.
2004 117,000. (2 separate contributions)
2006 23,000.

Robert Wexler (FL Rep.) did not fare as well:

2002 $ 26,400.
2004 5,500.
2006 -0- as yet

Source: followthemoney.org
Best Line in the Milberg Weiss Indictment By skucount on 5/31/2006 7:04 AM
"MILBERG WEISS, BERSHAD, Partner A, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury obtained and caused to be obtained the cash in a manner that made the payments difficult to trace, including from casinos."

That kinda tells it all wouldn't you say. Maybe the Mob IS involved.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By rick on 5/31/2006 7:05 AM
Their tears,if any, will be for show. No soul they have that I can see. Racketeering, Conspiracy, Money Laundering.

Fry them, Miss Wang! I can't wait till this whole Scam explodes. Good people are consistently chipping away at The Miscreants rotten foundation, and nigh soon, the Scam will be unsustainable and collapse in an orgy of noise and flying debris.

And Cox in orange? Is that too much to ask?

Can't wait.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By piddly_sum on 5/31/2006 7:06 AM
page one is scary enough with:
Conspiracy, Racketeering Conspiracy, Mail Fraud, Money Laundering Conspiracy, Money Laundering, Subscribing to False Tax Return, Obstruction of Justice, Aiding and Abetting and Causing an Act to be Done, Criminal Forfeiture

then I randomly flipped to page 87 and saw:
63. Beginning on a date unknown to the Grand Jury but at least as early as in or about 1981, and continuing until at least in or about 2004...defendants...together with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, knowingly and with intent to defraud, devised, participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud absent class members and shareholders in the Lazar Lawsuits as to a material matter, by depriving these victims of money and property and of the honest services of MILBERG WEISS, lawyers in MILBERG WEISS, and LAZAR, and to obtain money and property by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.

Since 1981 (at least)!!! Sad.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By Cynabear on 5/31/2006 7:21 AM
Goodness....and people wonder why bobo tries to remain hidden???? geesh.... we are not run by those governed by the laws...we are run by those that consider themselves above the law from our current president and his band of miscreants on down to a tangled web of interconnected characters heading the SEC, Nyse, DTCC, major law firms, hedge funds , market makers and venture capital groups... untangling this web means restructuring the whole paradigm....did anyone say revolutionary??
someday I hope we get to meet somewhere besides the new catacombs er......blogashere....it would be a pleasure....
congratulations EB et al you are my heros.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By rtway1 on 5/31/2006 8:03 AM
This is almost too embarrasing to read. How can our government ever be trusted when you see the magnitude of this going on for decades and they did nothing until now. How can they even whisper about investing Soc. Sec. funds into anything but treasury notes until they can at least make it look like they are trying to clean this all up. This is just the tip of the roach hill, imagine what the real inside looks like when you garner in political payoffs. It is truly sickening. But our bashers are probably as proud as peacocks about how they operated for years screwing the rubes.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By old duffer on 5/31/2006 8:42 AM
I give up on present day justice,under present day government.(yes I did not capitalise on purpose)

Only God can ever force justice once and for all. No I have not given up on that ultimate justice.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By Freddo Cazzo on 5/31/2006 8:47 AM
................. and signore Bobo, when the crying doesnt work, it could very well be time to take up arms!


..........lets hope the DOJ does thier job, less they leave it up to the injured to seek these criminals out, and show them how they really feel.


D.E. .50 all the way baby!


........still freddo..........even more cazzo!
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By thatwouldbefine on 5/31/2006 9:04 AM
Put Utah in charge of the SEC. Thanks E.B., I hope your little fury coat is all white like Tom Mix and his big white hat
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By teacheric on 5/31/2006 9:21 AM
The whole thing just makes me want the states to get involved much much sooner. Has anyone heard any news about other states folloing Utah's example? I'm especially interested in Missouri(NFI). I have sent off an email or two but have not received a response, not even a form letter.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By n-tres-ted on 5/31/2006 9:39 AM
piddly_sum, all those references to fraud, racketeering, etc., is about nothing but the chump change in the overall scheme. Specifically, the lawyers were nothing but one aspect of the bashing set up to take down the stock price so the big money could be made, as the bunny has described so well, by the big guys in the hedge funds who sell short and buy puts. That is where the big money was made. And here we have a complaint filed 25 years later, going after some of the chumps who were picking up the small change dropping from the grasping fingers of the higher ups. Yes, the chumps were complicit and should be nailed. But the big guys remain unchallenged, and ought to be pulled down, drawn and quartered.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By sealman on 5/31/2006 9:44 AM
Got to get their attention.
Interesting story about Americans sending bricks to their congressmen opposing amnesty and supporting the building of a wall along US/Mexican border. Right or wrong it got attention of the lawmakers. How about sending a bogus stock certificate for a share of the NYSE, clearly marked as "Counterfeit" to each of our congressment anlong with a letter advising they can turn in their bogus certificate for a real one by sending it back along with a pledge to support legislation against NSS and making SEC do its job.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By InTheKnow on 5/31/2006 9:53 AM
The SEC fines all the brokerage houses, hedge funds and crooked lawyers peanuts while theyall rob everyone blind.

So what do the SEC pussies do... they put Martha Stewart in jail. Laughing my fuqing ass off! How pathetic are they?
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment - other attornies are also involved! By dogman... on 5/31/2006 10:02 AM
bobo, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This indictment neither mentions the short selling/ naked short selling which went on via hedge funds who are connected to this. The money which the hedge funds made from that activitiey will certainly dwarf the amount which MW collected in attorney fees. In addition, there are other attorneys who are connected with this who have strong ties to the SEC. The two principals of one firm based in New England, Connecticutt I believe, were both formerly employed as attorneys by the SEC in Washington, D.C.. (I'd be more specific but the web page for that firm has mysteriously dissappeared.) This firm has regularly engaged in class action lawsuits against companies who were targets of extreme short selling activity just prior to the filing of the class action lawsuits in which the victims usually claimed that management had somehow seduced them into buying company stock via lies or phoney bookeeping. (This firmed filed a CA lawsuit against Novastar)

We all know the tactics which have been imployed by these hedge funds.... first the hedge funds short the stock, buy PUTs, sell CALLs; next the pay reporters to trash the stock in the press; next a SEC "inquirey" is initiated, and next the class action lawsuits are filed. I have no doubt at this moment in time that there are people working for the SEC who are every bit as involved with this as are Milberg and Weiss!

Out of curiosity, has anyone checked the background of Cox to see if he has any connections to Milberg and Weiss? As I recall, Cox came from California. In CA, MW has offices in San Diego, L.A. and San Francisco...

d;?D
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By clearthinker on 5/31/2006 10:07 AM
Correct...but don't forget the PIPE financing that was used to gain control of stock...ala Sedona.....that is the REAL nest of corruption as far as FTD's are concerned.....and how little we have been hearing about what has been found at Refco.....wonder why......

Sickening
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By rtway1 on 5/31/2006 10:27 AM
I think now would be a good time for 60 minutes to do an update on the investigations then and now since their report, especially this one. Has anybody heard anything about this lawsuit and its contents on CNBC.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By dave on 5/31/2006 12:13 PM
The media blackout on this is amazing.
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By for Rick on 5/31/2006 12:20 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Securities_Litigation_Reform_Act
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By for rick on 5/31/2006 12:28 PM
It looks like Milberg Weiss opposed this legislation written by Chris Cox. Clinton tried to veto it, but it went through.

"In reaction to Proposition 201, Bill Lerach of Milberg Weiss will be offering a counterinitiative
for the November, 1996 ballot. That initiative is largely designed to make it easier
to file securities lawsuits in the California state courts, and would, among other things,
effectively reverse Proposition 201 (assuming it passes in March) and establish the "fraudon-
the-market" theory as the law of the land in California."

http://www.fenwick.com/docstore/Publications/Corporate/sec/Corp_Sec_01-00-96.pdf
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By from akron Oh on 5/31/2006 12:39 PM
All I got to say is unfreaking believable.. Does anyone think that the sec Knows what a bunch of Dumb asses they are making of themselves..WOW
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By Mayor Ray Nagin on 5/31/2006 1:40 PM
I'm Stupefied Imus man. If the levees didn't break New Orleans would be fine now. But the levees broke.

You're doing a great job at the SEC Coxxy baby.
Cox By Catfish on 5/31/2006 1:46 PM
Here's a few reasons why I'm sure Cox isn't going to do anything but support the miscreants:

http://billmon.org/archives/001869.html
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By SECCORRUPTIONISSICKENING on 5/31/2006 1:47 PM
The SEC is so corrupt I wish they lived in Saudi Arabia they would have all had their hands chopped off for stealing..It is unreal how the NY Media doesnt even talk about 245 counts, talk about how corrupt Wall Street is Led by THE SEC and The NY Media..
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By stormchaser on 5/31/2006 2:43 PM
You will never see reform on Wall Street as long as " BONUSES " in the amounts that are paid out at the moment are the norm....Spread the wealth and no one will complain...Campaign contributations to both political parties.....why do you think that Elliot Spitzer would'nt touch naked shorting with a ten foot pole....are you nuts.....KILL THE CASH COW.....no way......the whole world is fucking corrupt...and we are the worst...............
Re: Milberg Weiss Indictment Cites 245 Overt Acts of RICO Violations By stormchaser on 5/31/2006 2:43 PM
You will never see reform on Wall Street as long as " BONUSES " in the amounts that are paid out at the moment are the norm....Spread the wealth and no one will complain...Campaign contributations to both political parties.....why do you think that Elliot Spitzer would'nt touch naked shorting with a ten foot pole....are you nuts.....KILL THE CASH COW.....no way......the whole world is fucking corrupt...and we are the worst...............

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