Sitting Cook County judge convicted in mortgage fraud scheme

A Cook County, Ill. circuit judge is now facing resignation following a conviction in a federal $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Following a six-day trial, a jury convicted Judge Jessica Arong O’Brien of two counts of fraud for scamming several different lenders through the purchase of two properties on the city’s South Side when she was a lawyer and real estate agent 10 years ago.

The Chicago Tribune reports that O'Brien was elected to the bench in 2012 and is the first Filipina judge in Cook County. She presided over a small-claims courtroom before being reassigned to administrative duties following her indictment last year.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin set O’Brien’s sentencing for July 6.

The Tribune reports that while the scheme took place long before O’Brien was elected to serve as a judge, under Illinois state law it is mandatory that an elected official can’t stay in office after a felony conviction but the timetable for her removal is unclear.

At the time of the fraud, O'Brien was serving as special assistant attorney general for the Illinois Department of Revenue, where she also reportedly held the position of chief counsel to the Illinois Lottery. O’Brien also owned her own real estate company and worked part time as a loan originator for Amronbanc Mortgage Corp.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Madden told jurors in his remarks that O'Brien lied at least four times on loan and refinancing applications for two investment properties she purchased in 2004 and 2005 when she was working as a lawyer for the Illinois Department of Revenue.

She then made a profit by unloading the two homes in 2007 by paying kickbacks to a straw purchaser, Madden said.

In all, O'Brien pocketed at least $325,000 from the transactions, Madden said. She also caused losses to lenders after the straw purchaser defaulted on payments and the properties wound up in foreclosure, he said.

"She used lies to buy and sell these properties," Madden said.

Among the lies O'Brien told were listing her income as $81,000 in 2004 when in fact she was on maternity leave and made only $11,000 that year, Madden said.

The next year, O'Brien claimed in refinancing documents that her company, O'Brien Realty, took in at least $240,000 in profits in 2005, but tax returns showed only $21,000 in receipts, Madden said.

Maria Bartko, a co-defendant in the case, was also working for Amronbanc and agreed to take part in the scheme, prosecutors said. Bartko plead guilty last month to one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and agreed to testify against O’Brien but the Tribune reports she was never called as a witness.

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Sitting Cook County judge convicted in mortgage fraud scheme

Bribe-taking judge will get annual $120,000 pension

By pleading guilty to bribery-related felonies days ago, John A. Michalek did nothing to jeopardize his six-figure state pension as a former State Supreme Court Justice.

He will be paid approximately $120,500 annually through his golden years, The Buffalo News determined through payroll records and a years-of-service figure provided by the State Comptroller’s Office, which manages the state’s pension funds.

The payments could change slightly based on subtle variables that will be considered before the payments begin later this year, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office said after being told of The News’s calculation.

Michalek’s pension is safe, even though New York lawmakers and good-government groups have long argued that public officials should lose all or some portion of their pensions if convicted of a crime related to their official duties.

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Bribe-taking judge will get annual $120,000 pension

Broward judge in PBC court, fighting for career

A Broward County judge, who was convicted of DUI last year by a Palm Beach County jury, is back in court this morning, fighting to make sure the conviction doesn’t destroy her judicial career.

Broward County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Imperato, right,

While Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Imperato agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, to be suspended without pay for 20 days and to be publicly reprimanded, the Florida Supreme Court said it wanted more information about the events that surrounded her November 2013 arrest in Boca Raton. It ordered the Judicial Qualifications Commission to conduct a full hearing and determine the appropriate punishment.

A six-member panel is hearing evidence at the Palm Beach County  Courthouse about whether the 58-year-old tried to use her position to avoid arrest when she was pulled over by Boca police on Palmetto Park Road after attending a networking event sponsored by justice associations in Palm Beach and Broward counties. The panel is also weighing her behavior, such as refusing a Breathalyzer, during the arrest. A decision won’t be made for at least two months.

Her attorney David Rothman argued that Imperato, a former prosecutor who has been on the bench since 2003, has been punished enough. She has been pilloried in the press, he said. Further, he said, she has accepted full responsibility for her actions. Ignoring her attorney’s advice, she pulled the plug on an appeal of her conviction and served her 20-day sentence on house arrest. She even apologized to the officers who arrested her, he said.

Attorney David McGee, who is representing the judicial watchdog group in the proceedings, argued that the DUI arrest wasn’t her first. She was arrested in Tallahassee, where she worked as a police officer, shortly before graduating from law school in 1988.

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Broward judge in PBC court, fighting for career