Former Willkie Farr Partner Disbarred
A federal wire fraud and tax conviction has led to the automatic disbarment of a former big law attorney by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department
In 2017, respondent was convicted, upon her plea of guilty, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 USC §§ 1343 and 1349, and tax evasion in violation of 26 USC § 7201. Respondent is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28, 2018.
Respondent’s conviction stemmed from her involvement in a conspiracy with her husband by which she defrauded two law firms (where she was employed as a partner) along with a client of approximately $7.8 million by submitting false invoices for litigation support services purportedly rendered by two entities formed by respondent and her husband.
Abovethelaw reported
Keila Ravelo used to be a high-flying Biglaw antitrust partner at Willkie Farr (and before that at Hunton & Williams). But three years ago, that all came crashing down when she was arrested in 2014 for a variety of financial crimes.
Ravelo, along with her husband, was initially indicted on charges of wire fraud and embezzlement for allegedly creating dummy corporations to funnel “legal consulting fees” (for work that was never actually done) from both of her former firms. The indictment was later updated to include charges of tax evasion and using fake billings to funnel the allegedly fraudulently obtained $7.8 million in litigation support fees. Her (now estranged) husband pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in August 2015.
Here
Automatic disbarment is warranted herein because respondent’s federal conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 USC §§ 1343 and 1349, if committed in New York, would constitute the New York felony of scheme to defraud in the first degree (Penal Law § 190.65[1][b]). Although conspiracy to commit wire fraud has no direct felony analogue under New York law (see Matter of Merker, 140 AD3d 1, 4 [1st Dept 2016]; Matter of Sorin, 47 AD3d at 3), admissions made by respondent as part of her written plea agreement and plea allocution, read in conjunction with the indictment to which she pled guilty, satisfy the elements of scheme to defraud in the first degree, a class E felony (Penal Law § 190.65[1][b])…
Through this conspiracy, respondent and her husband “fraudulently obtained approximately $7,800,000 from Law Firm 1, Law Firm 2, and Client 1.” Respondent entered into a written plea agreement in which she admitted to conspiring to commit wire fraud and reaffirmed the admission during her plea allocution.Respondent’s plea admissions, read in conjunction with the indictment to which she pled guilty, satisfy the elements of Penal Law § 190.65(1)(b) because respondent admitted that over a period of time she and her husband engaged in a systematic course of conduct by which they fraudulently obtained over $7 million from her former law firms and a client thereof.
(Mike Frisch)