Halleleujah! Rarely do law firms or corporations acknowledge contribution of paralegals when a major case is won. Paralegals may work until midnight for months giving up weekends, holidays and birthdays but how often do we see their names mentioned when attorneys take bows over a major win? Going against tradition, the DOJ issued a press release today about a major win that also acknowledged the work and contribution of two of their paralegals.
A federal jury has found four former General Re Corporation Executives and one former American International Group Inc. executive guilty, following a five-week long trial. The Hartford, Conn. jury returned a verdict of guilty on all charges against all defendants contained in a 16-count superseding indictment stemming from a fraudulent scheme to manipulate AIG’s financial statements.
At trial, the government presented evidence that the defendants engaged in a scheme to falsely inflate AIG’s reported loss reserves, a key indicator of financial health. Evidence presented at trial established that when the investigation was disclosed to investors by AIG and through various media outlets between Feb. 14 and March 14, 2005, shares of AIG stock dropped from $73.12 to $61.92
"These convictions continue the string of successes in our crackdown on corporate fraud and our effort to restore integrity to our financial markets," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Craig Morford, chairman of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force.
Sarah Marberg and Amy Konarski get national and public recognition for their contribution to the win of this case. Kudos to The Justice Department not only for fighting corporate fraud but also for the realistic and humane public acknowledgement about a very real team effort.
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