Lawyer told to repay $46M for exploiting the dying
Feb 3, 2014, 7:27 PM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A lawyer must repay $46 million to companies that lost money in a scheme that exploited dying people, a federal judge said Monday.
Joseph Caramadre and his ex-employee, Raymour Radhakrishnan, paid terminally ill people cash, passing it off as charity, then used their personal information to purchase bonds and annuities that would pay out when the person died.
U.S. District Judge William Smith said in his order that Caramadre must repay the companies that paid out on the bonds and annuities from 1995 to 2010. He ordered Radhakrishnan to be jointly responsible for $33 million of the total amount for his conduct between 2007 and 2010.
Both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy, although Caramadre later unsuccessfully tried to take back his plea, saying he lied to plead guilty.
Smith sentenced Caramadre in December to six years in prison, while Radhakrishnan was sentenced to a year and a day, followed by six months home confinement. They must each also serve 3,000 hours of community service to help elderly and terminally ill people.
At the time they were sentenced, the judge put off a decision on how much restitution they should pay, because the defense objected to the amount. In his Monday order, Smith overruled those objections.
Among the high-profile people who directly or indirectly invested with Caramadre were Terry McAuliffe, now governor of Virginia, and U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island. There is no evidence they knew it was illegal, and they each later donated the money to charity.
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