Kathleen Niew, Suburban Attorney, Arrested by FBI for Allegedly Stealing $2.34 Million in Clients’ Funds from Her Escrow Account

A suburban attorney whose law license was suspended in May was arrested on federal fraud charges for allegedly misappropriating approximately $2.34 million from a husband and wife who were her clients. The defendant, Kathleen Niew, was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud in a federal grand jury indictment that was returned on Tuesday and unsealed today following her arrest. FBI agents took Niew into custody without incident at her office in Oak Brook.

Niew, 57, of Burr Ridge, operated Niew Legal Partners LLC in Oak Brook. She was scheduled to be arraigned at 3 p.m. yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim in U.S. District Court.

According to the indictment, Victims A and B, a husband and wife who were Niew’s clients, transferred approximately $2.34 million into Niew’s attorney escrow account to be used for closings on commercial real estate transactions. Between January 2010 and December 2012, Niew allegedly used the funds for her own benefit, contrary to the false representations she made to the couple and others.

Without the couple’s knowledge, Niew used their funds to finance the purchases of various mining operations and not to purchase any commercial property for the victims, the charges allege. As part of the fraud scheme, Niew arranged to receive a 20 percent finder’s fee for herself from a mining operation in exchange for providing it approximately $1.5 million in funds that belonged to her clients. She falsely told the couple that their funds were available in her escrow account and were to be used for closings when they were not. She further concealed her fraudulent conversion of funds by telling her clients that the bank had erroneously sent the funds intended for closings to the wrong bank accounts, even though she had not directed any such wire transfer of the clients’ funds to the title companies to purchase real estate, the indictment alleges.

The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunil Harjani.

Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or an alternative fine totaling twice the gross gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater, and restitution is mandatory. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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David Wilder, Former Chicago White Sox Executive, Sentenced to Federal Prison for Taking Kickbacks from Latin American Players’ Signing Bonuses

A former Chicago White Sox scouting executive was sentenced to two years in federal prison for accepting approximately $440,000 in kickbacks from the signing bonuses and contract buyouts that two of the team’s Latin American scouts paid to secure 23 prospective players between December 2004 and February 2008. The defendant, David S. Wilder, the White Sox farm system director from late 2003 to 2006 when he became the team’s senior director of player personnel until May 2008, had pleaded guilty to mail fraud in February 2011.

Wilder, 52, of San Francisco, was ordered to begin serving his sentence on October 31 by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle. Wilder was also ordered to pay $440,781 in restitution to the White Sox.

Wilder admitted that he defrauded the White Sox of money and his honest services while concealing the kickbacks from the team and its more senior executives. He later cooperated with the investigation, leading the government to ask for a reduced sentence.

Two former White Sox scouts, Jorge L. Oquendo Rivera, 52, of Puerto Rico, the team’s Latin American scout between November 2004 and October 2007, and Victor Mateo, 42, of the Dominican Republic, a Sox scout in the Dominican Republic between November 2006 and May 2008, were also charged and pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Oquendo Rivera is scheduled to report to prison this Friday to begin serving a sentence of a year and a day that Judge Norgle imposed in June. Mateo is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18.

According to court documents, the White Sox relied on Wilder, as well as Oquendo Rivera and Mateo, to recommend and approve signing bonus and related payments, depending on a player’s talent, necessary to induce a player to sign with the White Sox or to induce another team to release the player to the White Sox, without being inflated for kickbacks. Instead, Wilder and the other defendants facilitated, solicited, or obtained more than $440,000 in kickbacks from at least 23 Latin American players signed by the White Sox.

The White Sox reported findings of an internal investigation to Major League Baseball and baseball officials referred the matter to federal authorities. Both the team and Major League Baseball were instrumental in launching the investigation and provided continuing cooperation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher K. Veatch and Michelle Nasser.

The sentence was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert G. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Mafia Documentary Video on Genovese Crime Family

Mafia Documentary Video on Genovese Crime Family

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