Goodbye job applications, hello dream career
Seize control of your career and design the future you deserve with LW career

Lawyer scams millions to buy diamond ring

A lawyer who cheated investors of $100 million to buy his wife a $350,000 diamond ring has been convicted of grand larceny and faces up to 25 years in prison.RollonFriday reports that James W.…

user iconLawyers Weekly 22 July 2011 SME Law
expand image

A lawyer who cheated investors of $100 million to buy his wife a $350,000 diamond ring has been convicted of grand larceny and faces up to 25 years in prison.

RollonFriday reports that James W. Margulies made his illicit millions via a securities fraud - a so-called "pump and dump" scheme - which artificially inflated the price of stock in Industrial Enterprises of America Inc. - a company at which he was corporate counsel and briefly CEO.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Margulies is alleged to have used the profits to fund a high roller lifestyle filled with private jets, pricey homes and the $350,000 diamond ring for his wife.

Not so subtly, Margulies spent an estimated $7 million on the high life, including $2 million on real estate alone.

Tens of millions of shares were issued to friends and family and immediately sold to bump up their value before Margulies flogged more shares to investors at the inflated price.

Margulies' fellow executive John D. Mazzuto (who has been told to expect a one to three year jail term for his involvement) testified and cut a deal with prosecutors to reduce his own sentence. He was described by Margulies' lawyer as "one of the grand scamsters of our generation."

Margulies was convicted on 30 counts of grand larceny in the first degree, and will be sentenced on 9 August.

You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!