Lawyer To Plead Guilty To $700M Fraud

A prominent Manhattan lawyer accused in a $700 million fraud will plead guilty next month to all of the charges he faces, his attorney told a judge Monday.

Marc Dreier will enter the plea to securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges, attorney Gerald Shargel told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.

Dreier, 58, will enter the plea on May 11 without a plea deal with the government, meaning he could face a maximum of 30 years to life in prison.

"I wasn't expecting any deal," Shargel said.

He said Dreier wanted to "demonstrate his acceptance of responsibility and his profound remorse."

Until December, Dreier had led a law firm, Dreier LLP, with 250 attorneys and celebrity clients. He was arrested after hedge funds complained he was stealing from them.

Dreier has remained under house arrest and was not in court Monday. He was first arrested on impersonation charges in Canada in early December before he flew to New York City, where U.S. authorities arrested him at the airport.

A court-appointed receiver, Mark Pomerantz, has said Dreier received $670 million between 2004 and 2008 from the sale of fictitious securities. Dreier was accused of spending much of it on a lavish lifestyle that included millions of dollars in artwork, beachfront homes on both coasts and the yacht, "Lady Seascape."

The receiver has said Dreier's law firm, despite appearances of profitability including rapid growth and new construction, was actually losing enormous amounts of money.

Among assets described in court papers by the receiver was an extensive fine art collection worth about $39 million, a $10 million Manhattan apartment and three properties in the Hamptons and an $18.5 million yacht, "Lady Seascape."

Prosecutors say $400 million of the $700 million involved in the fraud was missing, but Pomerantz has said he has since identified $100 million in assets. That leaves $300 million missing.