After
Guilty Verdict In Reverse
Mortgage Fraud Trial of Hild
Allegations of KFC Impropriety
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon,
Podcast
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Aug 2 β Michael
Hild was
arraigned for
fraud on Live
Well
Financial's
reverse
mortgages and
home equity
conversion
mortgages by
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Ronnie Abrams
on September
5, 2019. Inner
City Press
covered it, here.
On
April 29,
after Hild
took the
witness stand
and claimed he
was just along
for the ride,
an SDNY jury
in less than
four hours of
deliberation
declared him
guilty on all
counts. "HILD,
46, of
Richmond,
Virginia, was
convicted of
five
counts:
one count of
conspiracy to
commit
securities
fraud; one
count of
conspiracy to
commit wire
and bank
fraud; one
count of
securities
fraud; one
count of wire
fraud; and one
count of bank
fraud." Photo
here.
Now Hild's
post-trial
motions
include
allegations of
conflict of
interest of
prior counsel.
Judge Abrams
to her credit
put into the
record an
email of May
7, Katy
Lawrence
saying Joe and
Paul joked
about getting
KFC for lunch
one day, so
maybe we can
cater in KFC
for everyone?
With covid
restrictions,
I wasn't sure
if a mailed
package of
some Kentucky
/ Cincinnati
specific items
would be
acceptable
like Skyline
chili or
Graeter's ice
cream (can be
mailed with
dry ice)."
Watch this
site
On
May 12,
approval of
new counsel
for Hild, and
a delay in his
sentencing:
"MEMO
ENDORSEMENT as
to Michael
Hild on re:
[68] LETTER
MOTION filed
by Michael
Hild addressed
to Judge
Ronnie Abrams
from Attorney
Brian A.
Jacobs dated
May 12, 2021
re: Extension
of Time For
Post-Trial
Motions and
Sentencing.
ENDORSEMENT:
Application
granted. Mr.
Jacobs is
substituted as
counsel on
behalf of Mr.
Hild. The
deadline to
file
post-trial
motions is
extended until
July 27, 2021.
The sentence
date is
adjourned to
September 10,
2021."
Back
on April 14,
Judge Abrams
started the
trial. Inner
City Press
live tweeted
the morning,
below, and
noted that Hild
worked at
Capital One,
and was
building an
empire in
South Richmond
which some
locals
denounced as
gentrification.
Hild, of
course, has another
story.
And
on April 27,
defendant Hild
took took the
witness stand,
which is rare.
Inner City
Press tweeted,
here:
Hild:
At Capital
One, I worked
to get them
into the
mortgage
industry....
Livewell
Financial was
founded in
2005: he and a
bunch of
papers in my
kitchen.
Hild:
We needed $20
million. We
went to
Customers
Bank. They
said they
could do it,
they had to go
to the credit
committee but
it should be
no problem.
Still, there
would be delay
and we were at
the limit of
our Zenith
Bank warehouse
line. So we
went with
re-po
OK
- defendant
Hild now
continues on
direct
examination
after lunch
break. He
hired people -
who have
testified
against him in
this trial as
cooperators.
This
cross-examination
should be a
doozy.
Watch
this site.
Back
on Saturday,
April 24, the
US filed this:
"Re: United
States v.
Michael Hild,
19 Cr. 602
(RA) Dear
Judge Abrams:
The Government
writes in
advance of the
charge
conference
scheduled for
April 26,
2021, to
propose an
addition to
the Courtβs
jury
instructions.
Given the
testimony and
cross-examination
on the
disclaimer
that Live Well
provided to
IDC (Tr.
153-55,
388-89, 918,
1078-79), the
Government
proposes that
the second
paragraph on
page 28 of the
draft charge
be revised as
follows, with
proposed
additions in
bold: Any
testimony that
you may have
heard from any
witness with
respect to
whether a
particular
fact would or
would not have
been important
to him in
general
reflect that
witnessβs
individual
views.
Although you
may consider
such
testimony, it
is not
controlling.
It is for you
to determine
whether a
particular
fact would
have been
significant to
a reasonable
person in
making an
investment
decision. In
considering
whether a
statement or
omission was
material, let
me caution you
that it is not
a defense if
the material
misrepresentation
or omission
would not have
deceived a
person of
ordinary
intelligence.
Nor does a
disclaimer
regarding the
accuracy of
information
render that
information
immaterial as
a matter of
law." We'll
see...
On
April 15,
cooperator
Darren
Stumberger was
asked on cross
examination
how he
selected when
to tape
record, and
when not. He
tried to
dismiss
selectivity,
tying his
recording to
the "Scenario
14 era."
Simultaneously
on April 15,
in
Stumberger's
separate case
before SDNY
Judge J. Paul
Oetken,
19-cr-608, his
lawyer "asked
the Court to
seal Docket
Number 13."
That's appears
to be an
unnumbered
Minute entry
of a motion
hearing for
withdrawal of
counsel. There
is no item
numbered 13
anymore, not
even "sealed
document
placed in
vault." Why
not? Why now?
On
April 19, as
the trial
continued, the
abrupt closure
of Live Well
was portrayed,
with a lending
who flew from
Detroit to
demand a
meeting to
Hild on the
stand. Hild
had refused to
meet; later
the lender was
told that a
warehouse line
of credit
might be paid
back over
time.
On
April 20, the
US Attorney's
Office asked
Judge Abrams
to "impose a
deadline for
the defendant
to decide
whether he
will waive the
attorney
client
privilege in
support an of
advice- or
presence of
counsel
defense...
prior to the
completion of
the direct
testimony of
Eric Rohr,
Live Well's
form CFO."
There
is Hild's line
that every
business
failure is not
a criminal
act. On this
one, we'll
see. The trial
continue on
April 21.
From
April 14:
Assistant US
Attorney, in
opening, says
it unraveled
in 2018 when
lenders asked
for more info.
$200 million
stolen; the
cooperating
witness are
criminals,
sure, AUSA
says, but they
have accepted
responsibility.
Next
up: Ben
Dusing. And
he's laying it
on thick
[Note: "βIt is
the Yankee
Stadium of
financial
fraud
worldwide,β
Dusing told
Cincinnati ABC
affiliate WCPO
shortly after
his hiring in
March]
[And: Hild has
a website of
his endeavors,
here]
Ben
Dusing: I'm
from Kentucky,
I speak with
an accent,
you're going
to hear it a
lot. My daddy
told me, A
trial is a
search for the
truth. We
begin together
to search for
the truth. And
that's the
exciting
thing. We can
all be proud.
These are
interesting
times
Ben
Dusing: Never
before have I
been confined
by
plexi-glass.
We'll have to
lean over
more, to find
the truth. But
it is a common
purpose. We
haven't seen
any proof
yet. At
the end I will
ask you to
find Mr.
Michael Hild
not guilty
based on the
facts and law
Ben
Dusing: It
will come down
to, did Mr.
Hild intend to
defraud
people. It's
complex.
You're going
to hear about
pre-payment
speed. Truth
is found
within the
complexity,
not despite
it.
Ben
Dusing: This
case is about
throwing
people under
the bus.
Bigger fish. I
thank you for
the sacrifice
you are about
to make.
[Then a 5
minute break,
during which:
Could you tell
them not to
clean the
windows now?
Courtroom 110
is big, with a
lot of
history]
It's
11:25 am and
Judge Abrams
is back with
more jury
instructions:
"You must
follow the law
as I explain
it to you,
whether you
agree with it
or not," etc.
First
government
witness
against
Michael Hild
of Live Well
is a
cooperator,
who previously
worked at
Morgan Stanley
then Goldman
Sach
As
this witness
Darren
Stumberger,
drones on,
Inner City
Press has
looked up
the
transaction
being asked
about: "Ernie
Calabrese and
Vice President
Dan Foster who
will also join
Live Well
alongside
Stumberger.
On
April 13,
Judge Abrams
picked a jury
of 12, with
three
alternates, in
the large Jury
Assembly Room
of the SDNY,
with the
venire in
masks and
individual
chairs,
socially
distanced.
Inner City
Press was
there.
The Juror
Questionnaire
asked about
any links to
or knowledge
of Bank of New
York,
Customers
Bank, First
Bank of
Tennessee,
Flagstar Bank,
ICBC,
International
Data
Corporation
(IDC), Mizuho
Securities,
NRMLA, Nomura,
Republic Bank,
U.S. Bank and
others.
In
the run-up to
the trial,
which starts
on April 14 at
10:15 am and
which Inner
City Press
will cover,
the US
Attorney's
Office filed a
motion in
limine seeking
to preclude
"evidence
suggesting
that IDC or
the lenders
were negligent
or careless in
failing to
stop the
fraud."
Echoes
of the Eaze
trial of US
v. Weigard,
earlier this
year before
Judge Jed S.
Rakoff,
unsealing
order won by
Inner City
Press here.
Again, beyond
mortgage
fraud, we note
for now that
Hild worked at
Capital One,
and was
building an
empire in
South Richmond
which some
locals
denounced as
gentrification.
Hild, of
course, has
another story.
Watch this
site.
The
case is US v
Hild,
19-cr-602
(Abrams). There is
and will be
more on
Patreon, here.
***
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