Ex-Big Law Partner Pleads Guilty to Fraud Conspiracy in Broward
Michael R. Casey had pleaded not guilty on several federal felony mail and wire fraud conspiracy charges before absconding to Mexico in 2014. Since being extradited back to Florida in July, he's changed his tune.
October 11, 2018 at 12:43 PM
3 minute read
Michael R. Casey, the former Greenberg Traurig attorney who jumped bail in 2014 while being tried for his involvement in a $21 million securities fraud scheme, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Casey entered his plea on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea M. Simonton in Miami. On Aug. 31, the former attorney also entered a guilty plea on separate felony bail jumping charges.
Read Casey's 2012 indictment:
Casey's current circumstances are a precipitous decline from the prestige he once enjoyed as a well-respected South Florida attorney. In addition to his time spent with Greenberg Traurig, Casey was also once a partner at Miami business law firm Berger Singerman, as well as with Adorno & Yoss, prior to its implosion. He was also heavily involved in South Florida's larger legal community, having once served as the chairman of the Broward County Bar Association's corporation, banking and business law section.
After Four Years on the Lam, Former In-House Lawyer to Be Extradited to Fla.
The conspiracy charge against Casey concerned his time spent as in-house counsel and later CEO for Fort Lauderdale-based financial services company Commodities Online. According to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, Casey and several co-conspirators “used material false and fraudulent representations and material omissions to obtain over $21 million from over 770 investors” between January 2010 and April 2011.
“Casey and his co-conspirators offered a stated percentage return on investment, such as 10 percent within 30 days, or 20 percent within 70 days,” the release said. “However, the specific purported contracts—for which investors sent COL money—did not exist as represented to investors.”
Following his indictment on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit both in 2012, Casey fled the United States in April 2014, after entering a plea of not guilty. He told a federal judge in August that he had spent four years in Mexico, earning a living as a translator and English teacher, prior to being extradited back to the U.S. earlier this year.
Sentencing for the conspiracy and failure to appear charges is scheduled for Nov. 27, with Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore presiding.
Casey's attorney, Miami-based private practitioner Victor Rocha, did not respond to inquires for comment by press time. Rocha previously told the Daily Business Review that his client “deeply regrets his conduct and expressed his remorse to the court,” and hoped the court would take Casey's history and age into consideration before pronouncing sentence.
Related stories:
After Four Years on the Lam, Former In-House Lawyer to Be Extradited to Fla.
The Fugitive: Once-Prominent Broward Lawyer Taught English While Hiding in Mexico
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'Black Box Evidence is Bulletproof': South Florida Attorneys Obtain $1 Million Settlement
2 minute readUniversity of Florida Drops Title IX Investigation Against Basketball Head Coach
2 minute readKirkland & Ellis Taps Former Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Digital Infrastructure Practice
3 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250