The New York Times-20080129-Ex-Client Sentenced in Law Firm Case

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080129

Ex-Client Sentenced in Law Firm Case

Full Text (223  words)

A former client of the securities law firm Milberg Weiss was sentenced to six months' home detention and a $600,000 fine for lying under oath about secret payments that he received in exchange for serving as lead plaintiff in investor lawsuits.

The client, Seymour M. Lazar, 80, had already paid $1.5 million in forfeiture as part of a plea agreement. Judge John F. Walter of Federal District Court, at a hearing Monday in Los Angeles, denied Mr. Lazar's request to sentence him to the time he served in home confinement. The government agreed not to ask for a prison sentence because of Mr. Lazar's age and poor health.

Mr. Lazar, charged in June 2005, was one of the first two defendants indicted in the eight-year investigation of the firm, which is based in New York. Prosecutors accused the firm of illegally and secretly paying clients to file securities-fraud cases that brought in more than $251 million in lawyer fees. Three former Milberg partners and two other former clients have also pleaded guilty.

The nature and circumstances of the offense greatly trouble me, Judge Walter said at the sentencing hearing.

Mr. Lazar demonstrated absolute arrogance by making false declarations to the courts about his arrangements with Milberg Weiss, Judge Walter said.

I understand what you're saying, Mr. Lazar told the judge. And you're right.