Posted on 04/20/2013 7:11:32 AM PDT by AtlasStalled
Hillel "Helly" Nahmad, the art dealer and playboy whom federal prosecutors allege was involved with an illegal gambling and money laundering ring tied to the Russian Mafia, has retained criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman who insists on his client's innocence as reported by Vivian Yee for The New York Times:
"Mr. Brafman, who is representing Mr. Nahmad with another lawyer, Paul Shechtman, said in a statement after the hearing, 'We do not believe that Mr. Nahmad has knowingly violated the law.' He also said, 'We anticipate that he will be fully exonerated.'"
Nahmad "is keeping himself out of jail by turning over the deed to his ritzy Fifth Avenue apartment . . . to satisfy his $500,000 bond" and "surrendering his US, Italian and Brazilian passports" as reported by Josh Saul for the New York Post.
Brafman previously represented class action king Mel Weiss, and at the time of Weiss's federal indictment in September 2007 said "we are confident that when the evidence is carefully reviewed at a trial of these charges, Mr. Weiss will be fully exonerated" as then reported by Barry Meier for The New York Times. Several months later Weiss pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy for his role in a decades-long scheme pursuant to which serial plaintiffs were paid illegal kickbacks from attorneys' fees in order to file securities fraud lawsuits against publicly-traded companies, and was sentenced to thirty months in prison as then reported by Jonathan D. Glater for The New York Times.
Brafman is among the best lawyers but he has an imperfect record as a fortune teller.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.