by Brian Whisler, Baker & McKenzie
On June 15, 2010, Lee Bentley Farkas, the former CEO and
Chairman of Florida based Taylor, Bean and Whitaker (TBW), was handcuffed and
arrested outside of his health and fitness club, and was sent to the U.S.
District Court in Alexandria, Virginia where he was arraigned on a 16-count indictment.
Once the head of one of the nation's largest privately-held mortgage lending
companies, Mr. Farkas and his coconspirators were charged with conspiracy to commit
bank fraud, mortgage fraud, and securities fraud allegedly resulting in $1.9
billion in losses caused to Ocala Funding, Colonial Bank, and the Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP). Venue in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) for this
Florida-based conduct was predicated largely on allegations that funds and
emails were routed by TBW through servers in Richmond and that securities
disclosures were filed electronically in Alexandria by Colonial Bank, a theory
of venue that has been previously upheld in the courts.
The indictment against Mr. Farkas and the other
defendants was filed less than one month after the establishment of the Virginia
Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, within
the federal jurisdiction of the EDVA. The new task force includes the SEC, FBI,
Commodities Futures Trading Commission, US Postal Service, and the IRS, which
joined forces as an investigative arm of the President's Financial Fraud
Enforcement Task Force. Widely known for its high-profile prosecutions of
espionage and terrorist cases, EDVA is now rapidly emerging as the preferred venue for
the aggressive pursuit of civil and criminal financial and securities fraud
cases that are national in scope.
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Brian Whisler is a Partner in Baker & McKenzie’s Washington, DC office. With more than 15 years' experience as a federal prosecutor, he has played an integral role in expanding the Firm’s Corporate Compliance Initiative since joining the Firm in 2008.
As a member of the Business Crimes and Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practices, Mr. Whisler is experienced in handling a broad range of civil and criminal matters, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, health care, securities and procurement fraud. He serves multinational and domestic clients in oil and gas services, pharmaceuticals, financial services, manufacturing and telecommunications. Additionally, Mr. Whisler has developed compliance programs for Fortune 50 corporate clients, guided companies and individuals in government investigations in multiple global jurisdictions, and defended clients in criminal and civil litigation.
Baker & McKenzie has built a reputation of successfully counseling and defending businesses that become subject to government scrutiny. This track record of success is facilitated by a strong contingent of former US Department of Justice prosecutors, state prosecutors and SEC and other regulators, as well as corporate lawyers and litigators with extensive experience. The Firm’s global team of experienced lawyers is equipped to represent clients for white-collar crime issues in their home jurisdictions and across borders.
For more information on Brian Whisler, please visit http://www.bakermckenzie.com/BrianWhisler/.
For more information about Baker & McKenzie’s Corporate Compliance Initiative in North America, please visit http://www.bakermckenzie.com/NorthAmerica/CorporateCompliance/.
View Brian Whisler’s martindale.com profile
is a Partner in Baker & McKenzie's Washington, DC
office. With more than 15 years' experience as
a federal prosecutor, he has played an integral role in expanding the
Firm's Corporate Compliance Initiative since joining the Firm in 2008.
As a member of the Business Crimes and Investigations and
Corporate Compliance Practices, Mr. Whisler is experienced in handling a broad
range of civil and criminal matters, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,
money laundering, health care, securities and procurement fraud. He serves
multinational and domestic clients in oil and gas services, pharmaceuticals,
financial services, manufacturing and telecommunications. Additionally, Mr.
Whisler has developed compliance programs for Fortune 50 corporate clients,
guided companies and individuals in government investigations in multiple
global jurisdictions, and defended clients in criminal and civil litigation.
Baker & McKenzie has built a reputation of
successfully counseling and defending businesses that become subject to
government scrutiny. This track record of success is
facilitated by a strong contingent of former US Department of
Justice prosecutors, state prosecutors and SEC and other regulators, as well as
corporate lawyers and litigators with extensive experience. The Firm's global
team of experienced lawyers is equipped to represent clients for white-collar
crime issues in their home jurisdictions and across borders.
For more information on Brian Whisler, please visit http://www.bakermckenzie.com/BrianWhisler/.
For more information about Baker & McKenzie's
Corporate Compliance Initiative in North America, please visit http://www.bakermckenzie.com/NorthAmerica/CorporateCompliance/.
View Brian Whisler's martindale.com profile