Marc Stuart Dreier (born May 12, 1950) is an American former lawyer who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2009 for committing investment fraud using a Ponzi scheme.
Dreier owned a waterfront home in the Hamptons, a Manhattan triplex, and a penthouse on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California, which he leased out.
[24] In 2007, Dreier expanded to Los Angeles and brought in Hollywood superstar lawyer Stanton "Larry" Stein, whose clients included Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Hilary Duff.
[citation needed] On January 27, 2009, Paul S. Anik, a partner at Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George, LLP died from a sudden stress-related heart attack at 54.
Founding member and managing partner Paul Traub participated in several of the largest retail bankruptcies in previous years, including Kmart, FAO Schwarz Inc., KB Toys Inc., Stage Stores, Office Max, and eToys.com.
[34] In February 2009, Epstein, Becker & Green, a firm specializing in government contracts, brought the seven-member Traub/Dreier bankruptcy team into their New York office, which included Paul Traub, Steven E. Fox, Wendy G. Marcari, and Maura I. Russell.
Peter Morton, co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain, had signed a contract to purchase the home from Dr. Gary Feldstein.
In 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, citing their "extensive history of persistent, repetitive, and vexatious litigation", ordered Solow and Dreier to pay double costs to Morton and Feldstein.
Some of these clients include Bill Cosby, Tim Burton, Justin Timberlake, the music groups the Virgins, the Dead Trees and the Black Angels, production company Monkey Dog Music, Harry Connick, Jr., Elvis Costello, Jon Bon Jovi, Diana Krall, 50 Cent, Echo & the Bunnymen and companies representing the Doors, the B-52's, and the Ramones.
[24] In March 2008, Dreier sued client Judith Regan, claiming she owed the firm fees in connection with her $100 million defamation and breach of contract suit against her former employer, News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers LLC.
Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected the prosecutors' request of a maximum responding, "he is not Mr. (Bernard) Madoff from any analysis, and that's why I can't understand why the government is asking for 145 years".
[5] The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a separate civil suit against him for stealing funds from an escrow account belonging to one of the firm's bankruptcy clients.
[8][48][49] Dreier may also be facing criminal charges in Canada for impersonating an in-house lawyer at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in connection with an attempted sale of financial instruments worth US$44.7 million, for which he was arrested.
[50] On February 5, 2009 U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan had written in a brief that a total of 10 conditions set for the release Marc Dreier "will be sufficient to reasonably assure the defendant's appearance in court as required".
[citation needed] He issued a formal bail order on February 9, 2009, that Dreier be freed on $10 million bond, under 24-hour house arrest with armed guards and electronic monitoring.
[51] Judge Rakoff noted prosecutors had demonstrated, for the limited purposes of bail, that Dreier "is not only a master of deceit and a doyen of dishonesty, but the kind of person who, under stress, may resort to desperate measures" and his motive to flee was "palpable".
He also ordered that all means of communication, other than a land-line telephone needed for electronic monitoring, be removed from Dreier's apartment and that no visitors would be allowed without approval from the government.
[52] In a letter to the magistrate judge opposing bail, assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan R. Streeter had said, Dreier is "exceptionally deceptive, brazen, creative and resourceful in achieving his criminal goals".
On March 31, 2010, at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan, Kosta S. Kovachev, 58, was sentenced to 46 months in prison and a fine of $215,000 (the amount Dreier paid him for the impersonations).
He agreed to forfeit the compensation of $100,000 from Dreier in November 2008 for impersonating both a person at a Canadian pension plan, and, a few days later, a representative of an Icelandic hedge fund by telephone, to sell about $44.7 million in fictitious promissory notes.
[citation needed] On December 8, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Dreier with fraud in connection with an elaborate scheme that raised at least $113 million from the sale of bogus promissory notes.
Dreier distributed fake financial statements and audit opinion letters of a reputable accounting firm and recruited assistance to represent legitimate companies involved in the transactions, including false e-mail addresses and telephone numbers.
Dreier was offering fictitious promissory notes in the name of former client Solow Realty, a New York real estate development company.
Since at least October 2008, Dreier approached at least three different investment funds with an offer to sell at deep discount various short-term unsecured promissory notes, ostensibly issued by Solow.
Kinel e-mailed Dreier on December 1 requesting disbursal of $38.5 million from an escrow account on behalf of 360networks (USA) Inc., a client that emerged from bankruptcy in 2002.
[32] A 10-page list of property[72] filed with the Court some of which includes: 5 bank/investment accounts; Boats: "Seascape", 2005 Hessen Motor Yacht,[73] 2008 Novorunia Equator Yacht Tender, Yamaha Waverunners (4); Cars: 2007 Aston Martin, DB9 Volante, 2006 BMW 650i convertible, 2000 Mercedes Benz S500 Sedan, 1997 Mercedes Benz SL500 Roadster; More than 100 works of Art: "Chair with Book on Red Carpet", David Hockney; "First Painting with Bottle", Roy Lichtenstein; "Blue Jackie", "White Jackie", "Jackie Profile Looking Down", Andy Warhol; "Portrait of a Girl", Pablo Picasso; "Grand Masque", Henri Matisse; "Big Thief", Tom Otterness, and a 2006 high-definition, Salma Hayek video by Soho photographer Robert Wilson;[48] Real Estate: New York City condominium 151 E. 58th street; Hamptons homes: East Quogue (2), Sag Harbor; Anguilla, West Indies condominium (2).
[citation needed] Mark F. Pomerantz of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison was named court-appointed receiver for Dreier LLP.
[73] Dreier held stock certificates in an office safe, and stakes in a company called People Capital, as well as a startup bio-diesel firm in Argentina.
[77] On March 26, 2009, an auction held at the law office sold most of the firm's furnishings and accoutrements at rock bottom prices, with the exception of Dreier's furniture and paintings.
[80] Sheila Gowan, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of the law firm, filed a Chapter 7 involuntary bankruptcy petition for Dreier on January 26, 2009.