Ex-Willkie Farr partner charged with stealing millions from two New York law firms
Former Willkie Farr & Gallagher antitrust partner Keila Ravelo has been arrested for allegedly conspiring to defraud two New York firms and a client out of more than $5m (£3.2m).
December 23, 2014 at 07:08 PM
2 minute read
Former Willkie Farr & Gallagher antitrust partner Keila Ravelo has been arrested for allegedly conspiring to defraud two New York firms and a client out of more than $5m (£3.2m).
Ravelo and her husband Melvin Feliz were charged with plotting to commit wire fraud, in a complaint filed with the Newark federal court in New Jersey on Monday (22 December).
Prosecutors said that they set up two vendor companies to gain money from Ravelo's former law firm employers and an unnamed client between 2008 and July 2014.
Court documents do not disclose which firms were targeted, however Ravelo previously worked at Hunton & Williams for five years from 2005, joining Willkie Farr in 2010, which match the dates specified in the documents. The papers indicate that her employment with the second firm ended last month.
A statement from Willkie Farr reads: "Ms. Ravelo is no longer with the firm. We have been cooperating fully with the authorities and have no further comment to make at this time."
Hunton & Williams stated: "Hunton & Williams is committed to meeting and exceeding the highest ethical and legal standards, and any [behaviour] to the contrary is not tolerated by the firm. We are cooperating fully with the investigation."
The authorities said that Ravelo and Feliz created the vendors, which claimed to provide litigation support services to the firms, and controlled the related bank accounts.
The companies purportedly did not produce any work. Law firm employees who worked with Ravelo on matters allegedly supported by the vendors said that they "reviewed no work product produced" by either company.
The firms paid more than $5m to the vendors, with most of the payments approved by Ravelo. The couple allegedly funnelled the majority of the funds into their joint bank account, which were used to pay for personal expenses and investments including $250,000 (£161,000) in payments to a jewellery store.
Ravelo joined Hunton & Williams' New York office as a partner from Clifford Chance. During her career she represented MasterCard on a number of antitrust cases.
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