Showing posts with label Legal Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legal Services. Show all posts
Monday, 3 January 2011
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Kachroo Legal services in the Media
For any investors considering whether to join-in the action against the SEC by KLS, and protect their future rights to sue the SEC, Here are a couple of articles that have been in the media relating to Dr Kachroo and the work she has already done for the Madoff Victims. I hope you find them helpful in deciding whether this action is best for you or not:
The following story “The Whistleblower’s Lawyer,” appeared in the Summer 2009 Harvard Law Bulletin.
Gaytri Kachroo S.J.D. ’02 was preparing to fly to India for business when she got a call that thrust her into the midst of one of the largest financial stories of our time. The caller was her client Harry Markopolos, an independent fraud investigator who, in the ensuing 24 hours, would go from being an unknown Chicken Little to a national hero.
Markopolos had spent almost 10 years trying to convince federal regulators that the Wall Street wonder Bernard Madoff was running the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history—a $65 billion investment fraud that would spell financial ruin for thousands of individuals, charitable organizations and investment groups.
When he called Kachroo on the night of Dec. 11, Markopolos told her that Madoff had just confessed and that The Wall Street Journal would be breaking the story in the morning edition. He wanted her to advise and represent him.
It was quite a request, given that until that moment, Kachroo knew next to nothing about her client’s investigation of the Madoff affair and had no experience with the press. A transactional lawyer who now specializes in emerging markets in India and Southeast Asia, she had been representing Markopolos since he began his fraud investigation business in 2004, and she had developed a strong bond with him based on their shared belief that you don’t have to compromise your ideals to succeed.
When the story broke on Dec. 12, her client was flooded with requests from media around the world.
“I was a little overwhelmed initially,” said Kachroo, a partner at McCarter & English in Boston. “We were deluged with calls from CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and I was on the phone daily from Pune [India] with congressional counsel and SEC Inspector General David Kotz. I had to get up to speed in a hurry.”
Kachroo knew that all of their preparation in the coming weeks was leading up to the moment when Markopolos would testify before Congress. She worked with him on what names he could include without exposing himself to liability and pressed him on what he knew for certain from his own evidence as opposed to what he assumed based on information from others.
“I was asking Harry constantly what he really knew, not just what he thought, and I asked him to base his opinions solely on that,” Kachroo said. “This provided testimony that was palpably Harry’s own and something the public could identify with.”
The media were smitten by the image of Markopolos as a modern-day Cassandra, hounding federal regulators for nearly a decade to consider his evidence that Madoff was a fraud. Despite numerous letters from Markopolos culminating in a detailed 21-page memo in 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had ignored his warnings. Consequently, a scam that totaled about $7 billion when Markopolos first uncovered it in 1999 was allowed to grow to more than nine times that size.
According to Kachroo, the Madoff debacle is not an isolated occurrence, but a symptom of overwhelming flaws that plague our regulatory system.
“This is not a story about one rogue investor,” she said. “It’s a symbol for the systematic failure that we are experiencing in our financial systems. It’s about how we need to change the rules and the roles people play so this never happens again.”
On Feb. 4, Kachroo sat at her client’s side through four hours of congressional testimony in which he presented the House Financial Services subcommittee with his evidence against Madoff, his blistering criticism of the SEC and a series of specific suggestions on how to reform the nation’s financial regulatory system.
“Government has coddled, accepted and ignored white-collar crime for too long,” he told Congress. “It is time the nation woke up and realized that it’s not the armed robbers or drug dealers who cause the most economic harm; it’s the white-collar criminals living in the most expensive homes who have the most impressive resumes who harm us the most. They steal our pensions, bankrupt our companies and destroy thousands of jobs, ruining countless lives.”
Since her client’s testimony, the international financial crisis has occupied more of Kachroo’s professional focus.
She and Markopolos met with the new chairwoman of the SEC, Mary Shapiro, in mid-March to discuss her client’s recommendations for reforming the beleaguered regulatory agency.
The previous month, Kachroo was named vice chairwoman of the newly formed Global Law Firm Alliance, a coalition of 45 firms from 25 nations dedicated to assisting the estimated 3 million victims of the Madoff scam. Because of the complexities involved in adjudicating a worldwide financial fraud, the alliance has proposed the creation of an International Financial Court. Kachroo coordinated meetings with members of Congress and the White House and oversaw the draft proposal and its incorporation into the agendas for the European Union Summit in April and a G-20 meeting in September.
She has also been asked to represent, before Congress and the Securities Investor Protection Corp., a large national coalition of investors in Ponzi schemes, including Madoff’s and several others.
Lawyer for Madoff Whistleblower Launches Own FirmPosted by Brian Baxter
The longtime lawyer for Harry Markopolos, the forensic accountant who tried to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff, is starting over.
Gaytri Kachroo stepped down from her position as international practice chair at McCarter & English three months ago because of potential conflicts over her work representing victims of Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme.
Last week, Kachroo hung out her own shingle in Kachroo Legal Services. At the moment, the firm is a one-lawyer shop based in Cambridge, Mass.
But the 47-year-old Kachroo has big plans.
Kachroo is focusing most of her attention on a global settlement for all Madoff victims (Kachroo prefers the term "innocent investors" to victims). Her proposal, she says, will provide a cohesive solution for Madoff claimants--Kachroo herself represents about 600--by forging alliances with other firms.
"I'm working on [forming] a consortium of firms in New York, Washington, and Boston," says Kachroo, who declined to publicly name the firms because she doesn't yet have signed agreements from all of them.
Since the Madoff fraud came to light, Kachroo has sought to leverage her connection as counsel to its chief whistleblower. She serves as vice chair of a global alliance of 50 firms representing Madoff investors, and has joined in its call for the creation of an international financial court.
Kachroo also assisted in collecting affidavits that were used for an internal investigation conducted by the SEC's inspector general. The investigation ultimately led to a 457-page report released last month detailing how Madoff systematically deceived the regulator for decades.
It's the SEC that Kachroo has in her sights.
She says the regulator must accept responsibility for its past failures by sponsoring a government-backed global Madoff settlement that will send a positive message to investors worldwide. (Kachroo commends current senior SEC officials for implementing changes to the way the agency operates.)
Taxpayers won't be responsible for funding an SEC-sponsored settlement, Kachroo says. Instead the money will come from a list of financial institutions identified by her and a team of affiliated firms.
"I don't want to go near the word 'bailout,'" she says. "The SEC was not the only agency or institution responsible--it shares responsibility with other financial institutions, many of whom have been bailed out. But they're still deep-pocketed and there's no reason for them not to come forward and settle their claims."
By partnering with the government as a group, Kachroo believes more financial institutions will be incentivized to come forward. The SEC or some other special government task force or commission can administer claims, she says.
It's a tall order for any firm, let alone a start-up, but Kachroo says she's already taken steps towards her goal. The technology behind a registration system for Madoff victims on her firm's Web site is worth nearly $4 million, she says. The money was "provided more or less pro bono" by a sympathetic IT company.
That system will enable Kachroo and those working with her to present the SEC with a comprehensive list of victim names and, as such, emphasize the potential for litigation against the agency, Kachroo says. She hopes to use her growing network of firms to enlist between 100,000 and 1 million investors--"the numbers are key," she adds--for a global settlement.
Kachroo Legal Services might be a one-person firm today, but it's namesake is ready to start hiring immediately.
"It's a big campaign that we're launching here and it's not going to be a one-person job," Kachroo says. "I'm getting outstanding resumes."
She hopes to soon hire one lawyer with six years of SEC experience, something she jokingly notes Markopolos would probably scoff at. A corporate lawyer by trade, Kachroo has a particular need for litigators experienced in fraud and securities cases. (Kachroo, who used to head McCarter's India initiatives, also hopes to add another corporate lawyer to assist with transactional work.)
Start-up capital for her new firm is coming partly from large groups of clients, both domestic and international, who are paying her to investigate and pursue claims against the SEC and certain financial institutions.
Kachroo's efforts to unify various investor groups has also been met with a positive response, she says, adding that the firms she hopes to affiliate with will also share some of the financial burden in order to get her campaign going.
And her star client is also branching out. Markopolos is writing a memoir and plans for a documentary are also in the works. The whistleblower and his team that spent nine years investigating Madoff will work closely with Kachroo's new firm.
The following story “The Whistleblower’s Lawyer,” appeared in the Summer 2009 Harvard Law Bulletin.
Gaytri Kachroo S.J.D. ’02 was preparing to fly to India for business when she got a call that thrust her into the midst of one of the largest financial stories of our time. The caller was her client Harry Markopolos, an independent fraud investigator who, in the ensuing 24 hours, would go from being an unknown Chicken Little to a national hero.
Markopolos had spent almost 10 years trying to convince federal regulators that the Wall Street wonder Bernard Madoff was running the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history—a $65 billion investment fraud that would spell financial ruin for thousands of individuals, charitable organizations and investment groups.
When he called Kachroo on the night of Dec. 11, Markopolos told her that Madoff had just confessed and that The Wall Street Journal would be breaking the story in the morning edition. He wanted her to advise and represent him.
It was quite a request, given that until that moment, Kachroo knew next to nothing about her client’s investigation of the Madoff affair and had no experience with the press. A transactional lawyer who now specializes in emerging markets in India and Southeast Asia, she had been representing Markopolos since he began his fraud investigation business in 2004, and she had developed a strong bond with him based on their shared belief that you don’t have to compromise your ideals to succeed.
When the story broke on Dec. 12, her client was flooded with requests from media around the world.
“I was a little overwhelmed initially,” said Kachroo, a partner at McCarter & English in Boston. “We were deluged with calls from CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and I was on the phone daily from Pune [India] with congressional counsel and SEC Inspector General David Kotz. I had to get up to speed in a hurry.”
Kachroo knew that all of their preparation in the coming weeks was leading up to the moment when Markopolos would testify before Congress. She worked with him on what names he could include without exposing himself to liability and pressed him on what he knew for certain from his own evidence as opposed to what he assumed based on information from others.
“I was asking Harry constantly what he really knew, not just what he thought, and I asked him to base his opinions solely on that,” Kachroo said. “This provided testimony that was palpably Harry’s own and something the public could identify with.”
The media were smitten by the image of Markopolos as a modern-day Cassandra, hounding federal regulators for nearly a decade to consider his evidence that Madoff was a fraud. Despite numerous letters from Markopolos culminating in a detailed 21-page memo in 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had ignored his warnings. Consequently, a scam that totaled about $7 billion when Markopolos first uncovered it in 1999 was allowed to grow to more than nine times that size.
According to Kachroo, the Madoff debacle is not an isolated occurrence, but a symptom of overwhelming flaws that plague our regulatory system.
“This is not a story about one rogue investor,” she said. “It’s a symbol for the systematic failure that we are experiencing in our financial systems. It’s about how we need to change the rules and the roles people play so this never happens again.”
On Feb. 4, Kachroo sat at her client’s side through four hours of congressional testimony in which he presented the House Financial Services subcommittee with his evidence against Madoff, his blistering criticism of the SEC and a series of specific suggestions on how to reform the nation’s financial regulatory system.
“Government has coddled, accepted and ignored white-collar crime for too long,” he told Congress. “It is time the nation woke up and realized that it’s not the armed robbers or drug dealers who cause the most economic harm; it’s the white-collar criminals living in the most expensive homes who have the most impressive resumes who harm us the most. They steal our pensions, bankrupt our companies and destroy thousands of jobs, ruining countless lives.”
Since her client’s testimony, the international financial crisis has occupied more of Kachroo’s professional focus.
She and Markopolos met with the new chairwoman of the SEC, Mary Shapiro, in mid-March to discuss her client’s recommendations for reforming the beleaguered regulatory agency.
The previous month, Kachroo was named vice chairwoman of the newly formed Global Law Firm Alliance, a coalition of 45 firms from 25 nations dedicated to assisting the estimated 3 million victims of the Madoff scam. Because of the complexities involved in adjudicating a worldwide financial fraud, the alliance has proposed the creation of an International Financial Court. Kachroo coordinated meetings with members of Congress and the White House and oversaw the draft proposal and its incorporation into the agendas for the European Union Summit in April and a G-20 meeting in September.
She has also been asked to represent, before Congress and the Securities Investor Protection Corp., a large national coalition of investors in Ponzi schemes, including Madoff’s and several others.
Lawyer for Madoff Whistleblower Launches Own FirmPosted by Brian Baxter
The longtime lawyer for Harry Markopolos, the forensic accountant who tried to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff, is starting over.
Gaytri Kachroo stepped down from her position as international practice chair at McCarter & English three months ago because of potential conflicts over her work representing victims of Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme.
Last week, Kachroo hung out her own shingle in Kachroo Legal Services. At the moment, the firm is a one-lawyer shop based in Cambridge, Mass.
But the 47-year-old Kachroo has big plans.
Kachroo is focusing most of her attention on a global settlement for all Madoff victims (Kachroo prefers the term "innocent investors" to victims). Her proposal, she says, will provide a cohesive solution for Madoff claimants--Kachroo herself represents about 600--by forging alliances with other firms.
"I'm working on [forming] a consortium of firms in New York, Washington, and Boston," says Kachroo, who declined to publicly name the firms because she doesn't yet have signed agreements from all of them.
Since the Madoff fraud came to light, Kachroo has sought to leverage her connection as counsel to its chief whistleblower. She serves as vice chair of a global alliance of 50 firms representing Madoff investors, and has joined in its call for the creation of an international financial court.
Kachroo also assisted in collecting affidavits that were used for an internal investigation conducted by the SEC's inspector general. The investigation ultimately led to a 457-page report released last month detailing how Madoff systematically deceived the regulator for decades.
It's the SEC that Kachroo has in her sights.
She says the regulator must accept responsibility for its past failures by sponsoring a government-backed global Madoff settlement that will send a positive message to investors worldwide. (Kachroo commends current senior SEC officials for implementing changes to the way the agency operates.)
Taxpayers won't be responsible for funding an SEC-sponsored settlement, Kachroo says. Instead the money will come from a list of financial institutions identified by her and a team of affiliated firms.
"I don't want to go near the word 'bailout,'" she says. "The SEC was not the only agency or institution responsible--it shares responsibility with other financial institutions, many of whom have been bailed out. But they're still deep-pocketed and there's no reason for them not to come forward and settle their claims."
By partnering with the government as a group, Kachroo believes more financial institutions will be incentivized to come forward. The SEC or some other special government task force or commission can administer claims, she says.
It's a tall order for any firm, let alone a start-up, but Kachroo says she's already taken steps towards her goal. The technology behind a registration system for Madoff victims on her firm's Web site is worth nearly $4 million, she says. The money was "provided more or less pro bono" by a sympathetic IT company.
That system will enable Kachroo and those working with her to present the SEC with a comprehensive list of victim names and, as such, emphasize the potential for litigation against the agency, Kachroo says. She hopes to use her growing network of firms to enlist between 100,000 and 1 million investors--"the numbers are key," she adds--for a global settlement.
Kachroo Legal Services might be a one-person firm today, but it's namesake is ready to start hiring immediately.
"It's a big campaign that we're launching here and it's not going to be a one-person job," Kachroo says. "I'm getting outstanding resumes."
She hopes to soon hire one lawyer with six years of SEC experience, something she jokingly notes Markopolos would probably scoff at. A corporate lawyer by trade, Kachroo has a particular need for litigators experienced in fraud and securities cases. (Kachroo, who used to head McCarter's India initiatives, also hopes to add another corporate lawyer to assist with transactional work.)
Start-up capital for her new firm is coming partly from large groups of clients, both domestic and international, who are paying her to investigate and pursue claims against the SEC and certain financial institutions.
Kachroo's efforts to unify various investor groups has also been met with a positive response, she says, adding that the firms she hopes to affiliate with will also share some of the financial burden in order to get her campaign going.
And her star client is also branching out. Markopolos is writing a memoir and plans for a documentary are also in the works. The whistleblower and his team that spent nine years investigating Madoff will work closely with Kachroo's new firm.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Kachroo Legal Services - Statement To The Stanford Investors
Investors defrauded by the Stanford Ponzi Scheme
We recommend that all Stanford investors file a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) through Kachroo Legal Services, P.C. (KLS) as soon as possible and no later than February 16, 2011. Due to the statute of limitations KLS will prepare to file the class action suit within six (6) months after that date. It is recommended that investors submit their information to KLS well before this deadline to ensure their claims are timely processed. KLS will file a class action lawsuit against the SEC (similar to a normal class action but in this instance only for those investors for whom KLS has filed an SEC administrative claim). Only those clients who have filed an SEC administrative claim under the FTCA will be represented in the KLS class action. All investors would be represented by our class action, both domestic U.S. investors and international investors around the world affected by the SEC’s actions and omissions.
We anticipate filing thousands of claims (as there are over 20,000 investors into the Stanford Ponzi Scheme), so to ensure your claim is handled promptly, you should file as soon as possible.
We will help you by processing and filing your FTCA claim with the SEC. In addition, KLS will file a lawsuit against the SEC on behalf of everyone who has filed FTCA claims by the deadline.
All investors must sign the KLS engagement letter attached herewith in English or in Spanish. The cost for both the SEC administrative claim work and the lawsuit will be as follows per investor:
For investors who have invested less than $100,000 USD total through all their accounts - $500;
For investors who have invested between $100,000 USD and $1million USD - $1000;
For investors who have invested more than $1million USD through all their accounts - $1500.
This will be the only cost per investor for all such legal services other than a contingency fee of $15% of the recovery obtained by KLS as well as reasonable costs and expenses of the litigation.
Why Choose KLS?
1. Dr. Kachroo, Principal of KLS, is also Vice-Chairman of the Global Alliance, a civil society whose members hip consists of 5000 attorneys from around the world.
2. KLS has experience working closely with the SEC and their offices. We are currently in discussions with the SEC to establish the Madoff Task Force and develop an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to settle cases against implicated financial institutions.
3. As a part of the Markopolos team, Dr. Kachroo represented the whistleblower that first discovered the Madoff fraud and exposed the SEC. From this experience, she has gained better insight into the possible legal recourses for Madoff victims. Due to our involvement in the various SEC investigations into ponzi schemes including the Stanford Ponzi Scheme, we have first-hand knowledge of the SEC’s involvement and the OIG’s report to succeed in a potential litigation.
4. With our track record of helping Madoff victims and our wealth of experience in this matter, we are confident that our litigation strategy under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) has the highest likelihood of obtaining a recovery from the U.S. Government.
5. So far neither plaintiffs nor attorneys for plaintiffs have obtained specific information that supports more than the negligence of the SEC in its investigation. KLS believes it is critical to a successful action against the SEC that further information, which it is optimally positioned to obtain, and which it is currently researching is unveiled as to the conduct of SEC investigations in this case.
6. Confidentiality. The class action will provide some level of anonymity in any action we take. We will attempt to limit discovery to the named plaintiffs only.
Benefits of KLS Proposal
Joining the class action through the SEC administrative claim is a low cost and highly efficient method of litigating to recover your losses.
The more investors that join through this process, the greater the pressure exerted on the SEC to reach an equitable settlement.
You will receive regular updates of our progress and on other related legal actions.
KLS Update on Current Situation in US Courts
There are two cases currently pending that involve Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) claims against the SEC for its handling of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. The first was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 14, 2009. See Phyllis Molchatsky, et al. v. United States, case no. 1:09-cv-08697 (LTS). Briefing on the Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction was completed on June 11, 2010.[1]
The second case was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on December 10, 2009. See Dichter-Mad Family Partners, LLP, et al. v. United States of America, et al., case no. 09-9061. On April 20, 2010, the Court granted Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, but provided that “Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint containing new allegations that are reasonably aimed at satisfying Plaintiffs burden as described in this Order.”
These second plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on May 17, 2010 (re-filed on May 20, 2010) on the basis of a submission of ‘a document that contains or identifies the mandatory duties that SEC employees failed to follow in their investigations and failures to investigate Madoff’. These plaintiffs were specifically ‘informed by an SEC employee that this document contains mandatory conduct guidelines, duties and policies for SEC employees and it is entitled “The SEC Policies, Procedures and Administrative Regulations.”
In addition with regard to class issues: In June 2009, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an opinion in the Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation allowing plaintiffs’ claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) to proceed as a class action. The court held that “a class action can be alleged under the FTCA as long as the administrative claim requirements are fulfilled.” In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48837, 265 (E.D.La.). Thus, we would be able to proceed as class action (subject to certification) for all investors who timely file their claims against the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) within the two year period, i.e., by February 16, 2011.
The FTCA provides that the government entity against whom the claim is made (here, the SEC) has six months to respond to the administrative claim. The claimant’s right to sue in court vests once the claimant receives the SEC’s denial of the administrative claim, or six months after the administrative claim is filed, if the SEC fails to respond. Thus, we would define the class to include those investors who (i) file a claim within the two year period and (ii) either receive a denial from the SEC or do not receive a response from the SEC within the six month period.
Concluding Thoughts
The time window for you to join this lawsuit is limited due to the statute of limitations. We are offering a cost effective and efficient method for you to file your claim so that you will benefit from any positive settlement.
We urge all of you to notify other investors to get in touch with us without delay so that we may get all claims in by February 16, 2011.
We shall advance all expenses including but not limited to any expenses incurred by you related to depositions or any other legal proceedings we advise you to attend, including travel expenses.
The sole contingent fee upon which we shall be compensated from the Recovery shall be in the amount awarded by settlement or a judgment of a Court of law. We are seeking a contingency of 15% of the recovery plus reasonable expenses.
Please contact KLS at info@kachroolegal.com or by phone at:
Dr. G. Kachroo : +1 617-864-0755
for further information about KLS, please go to www.kachroolegal.com
We recommend that all Stanford investors file a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) through Kachroo Legal Services, P.C. (KLS) as soon as possible and no later than February 16, 2011. Due to the statute of limitations KLS will prepare to file the class action suit within six (6) months after that date. It is recommended that investors submit their information to KLS well before this deadline to ensure their claims are timely processed. KLS will file a class action lawsuit against the SEC (similar to a normal class action but in this instance only for those investors for whom KLS has filed an SEC administrative claim). Only those clients who have filed an SEC administrative claim under the FTCA will be represented in the KLS class action. All investors would be represented by our class action, both domestic U.S. investors and international investors around the world affected by the SEC’s actions and omissions.
We anticipate filing thousands of claims (as there are over 20,000 investors into the Stanford Ponzi Scheme), so to ensure your claim is handled promptly, you should file as soon as possible.
We will help you by processing and filing your FTCA claim with the SEC. In addition, KLS will file a lawsuit against the SEC on behalf of everyone who has filed FTCA claims by the deadline.
All investors must sign the KLS engagement letter attached herewith in English or in Spanish. The cost for both the SEC administrative claim work and the lawsuit will be as follows per investor:
For investors who have invested less than $100,000 USD total through all their accounts - $500;
For investors who have invested between $100,000 USD and $1million USD - $1000;
For investors who have invested more than $1million USD through all their accounts - $1500.
This will be the only cost per investor for all such legal services other than a contingency fee of $15% of the recovery obtained by KLS as well as reasonable costs and expenses of the litigation.
Why Choose KLS?
1. Dr. Kachroo, Principal of KLS, is also Vice-Chairman of the Global Alliance, a civil society whose members hip consists of 5000 attorneys from around the world.
2. KLS has experience working closely with the SEC and their offices. We are currently in discussions with the SEC to establish the Madoff Task Force and develop an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to settle cases against implicated financial institutions.
3. As a part of the Markopolos team, Dr. Kachroo represented the whistleblower that first discovered the Madoff fraud and exposed the SEC. From this experience, she has gained better insight into the possible legal recourses for Madoff victims. Due to our involvement in the various SEC investigations into ponzi schemes including the Stanford Ponzi Scheme, we have first-hand knowledge of the SEC’s involvement and the OIG’s report to succeed in a potential litigation.
4. With our track record of helping Madoff victims and our wealth of experience in this matter, we are confident that our litigation strategy under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) has the highest likelihood of obtaining a recovery from the U.S. Government.
5. So far neither plaintiffs nor attorneys for plaintiffs have obtained specific information that supports more than the negligence of the SEC in its investigation. KLS believes it is critical to a successful action against the SEC that further information, which it is optimally positioned to obtain, and which it is currently researching is unveiled as to the conduct of SEC investigations in this case.
6. Confidentiality. The class action will provide some level of anonymity in any action we take. We will attempt to limit discovery to the named plaintiffs only.
Benefits of KLS Proposal
Joining the class action through the SEC administrative claim is a low cost and highly efficient method of litigating to recover your losses.
The more investors that join through this process, the greater the pressure exerted on the SEC to reach an equitable settlement.
You will receive regular updates of our progress and on other related legal actions.
KLS Update on Current Situation in US Courts
There are two cases currently pending that involve Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) claims against the SEC for its handling of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. The first was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 14, 2009. See Phyllis Molchatsky, et al. v. United States, case no. 1:09-cv-08697 (LTS). Briefing on the Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction was completed on June 11, 2010.[1]
The second case was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on December 10, 2009. See Dichter-Mad Family Partners, LLP, et al. v. United States of America, et al., case no. 09-9061. On April 20, 2010, the Court granted Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, but provided that “Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint containing new allegations that are reasonably aimed at satisfying Plaintiffs burden as described in this Order.”
These second plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on May 17, 2010 (re-filed on May 20, 2010) on the basis of a submission of ‘a document that contains or identifies the mandatory duties that SEC employees failed to follow in their investigations and failures to investigate Madoff’. These plaintiffs were specifically ‘informed by an SEC employee that this document contains mandatory conduct guidelines, duties and policies for SEC employees and it is entitled “The SEC Policies, Procedures and Administrative Regulations.”
In addition with regard to class issues: In June 2009, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an opinion in the Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation allowing plaintiffs’ claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) to proceed as a class action. The court held that “a class action can be alleged under the FTCA as long as the administrative claim requirements are fulfilled.” In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48837, 265 (E.D.La.). Thus, we would be able to proceed as class action (subject to certification) for all investors who timely file their claims against the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) within the two year period, i.e., by February 16, 2011.
The FTCA provides that the government entity against whom the claim is made (here, the SEC) has six months to respond to the administrative claim. The claimant’s right to sue in court vests once the claimant receives the SEC’s denial of the administrative claim, or six months after the administrative claim is filed, if the SEC fails to respond. Thus, we would define the class to include those investors who (i) file a claim within the two year period and (ii) either receive a denial from the SEC or do not receive a response from the SEC within the six month period.
Concluding Thoughts
The time window for you to join this lawsuit is limited due to the statute of limitations. We are offering a cost effective and efficient method for you to file your claim so that you will benefit from any positive settlement.
We urge all of you to notify other investors to get in touch with us without delay so that we may get all claims in by February 16, 2011.
We shall advance all expenses including but not limited to any expenses incurred by you related to depositions or any other legal proceedings we advise you to attend, including travel expenses.
The sole contingent fee upon which we shall be compensated from the Recovery shall be in the amount awarded by settlement or a judgment of a Court of law. We are seeking a contingency of 15% of the recovery plus reasonable expenses.
Please contact KLS at info@kachroolegal.com or by phone at:
Dr. G. Kachroo : +1 617-864-0755
for further information about KLS, please go to www.kachroolegal.com