Month: July 2014

A Senior Citizen Scam “-” Michael Lieberman at 866-883-2294 who claims to be from a law firm.

I am not the only lawyer in my family.  My sister, Andrea, is a bankruptcy lawyer in New Jersey.  My dad is a retired lawyer after having practiced 40 years with one firm in Pennsylvania.  I have three other members of the extended family who are lawyers in Florida.  But this post is about my dad.

He’s been getting phone calls from an outfit claiming that they have to serve papers on him.  They have left him messages to call them.  The last message was from a Michael Lieberman (probably not his real name) from a law firm somewhere in the United States (I guess).  Dad smelled a rat and was ignoring them.  I called the number “Michael Lieberman” left 866-883-2294.  A woman answered the phone.

I identified myself as a lawyer and asked to speak to Michael Lieberman.  I was told he was “in court.”  I asked where I was calling.  I was told “Washington.”  I asked if it was the State of Washington or the District of Columbia.  There was a pause, then she said the state.  I asked if she was in Seattle and she hesitantly agreed that she was there.  (I’m skeptical, by the way)  I asked for the name of the law firm.  She said “Feldman & Feldman”  Ah-ha, I thought, now we’re on to something.  So while I was talking to this woman, I went to Google and looked for Feldman & Feldman in Washington.

Surprise! No Feldman & Feldman in Washington state.  No Michael Lieberman in Washington state. She “brought up” my dad’s account.  She had the last four digits of his Social Security number.  I asked for the specifics.  She said that he owed HSBC some money and that he could pay it or they would “serve him with a judgment.”  I told her that he hasn’t had an account with HSBC and before they could “serve hims with a judgment” they would need to serve him and prove that he owed the money.  (They would also have to go through me, which she may have figured out.) I explained to her that it was not that simple.  And since she was in “Washington” it wasn’t going to happen overnight.  We got “disconnected.”

I called back.  I tried to resume the conversation.  We got “disconnected” again.  I was starting to feel like she didn’t want to talk to me any more.

I called again.  This time I was sent to voice mail.  I can’t remember if I left a message.

So, “Michael Lieberman” from Feldman & Feldman in Seattle, Washington, if you’re out there and reading this blog.  Call me.  We should talk.

And if you get a call from Michael Lieberman who leaves the number 866-883-2294, tell him I’m waiting for a call back.  I won’t be holding my breath.

That’s the view of one “fraud-fighting” lawyer in Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Florida.  I’m Marc Dobin (and not Elliot Ness).

Ex-Newbridge Securities Broker Sentenced to Six Years in Prison “-” No Surprise Here.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Brent Deviney had a gambling addiction.  He blames that gambling addiction for the theft of funds from his in-laws.  If anyone had looked at Deviney’s record with any sort of jaundiced eye, they would have realized that he was a ticking bomb waiting to go off.

For all the brouhaha about the FINRA Brokercheck system, this case pretty much confirms that Brokercheck does not help people avoid bad brokers.  Prior to his problems at Newbridge, he was accused of forging customer names on account documents so that he could become the servicing broker on annuity accounts.  The State of Florida delayed his registration for 3 months, fined him $5,000 and put him on a supervision agreement for 2 years.  FINRA suspended his license for 6 months (but gave him credit for the 3 months that Florida meted out) and fined him the same $5,000 that Florida did.  In fact, FINRA gave him full credit for the money paid to Florida.  But he managed to stay in the business because a firm was willing to hire him.

Fast forward a couple of years and, SURPRISE!, he’s stealing money from his in-laws and his wife’s IRA.  He was also the subject of a million dollar arbitration award, but that was after he was fired.  Based on the description of the claims, it appears that at least some of the money he stole from his wife came from a Merrill Lynch account.  His wife and his mother-in-law’s estate both obtained awards against him.

Society will get its revenge.  This miscreant will be put away for 6 years starting in a couple of weeks.  That will give him plenty of time to think about what went wrong here.

That’s the view of one lawyer from Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Florida.  I’m Marc Dobin