By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Attorney-turned-rabbi Earl David
has been disbarred, six months after pleading guilty to running
a multimillion-dollar immigration fraud mill through a New York
law firm.
David fled to Canada in 2006 when he learned his company,
the David Firm in Manhattan, was under investigation,
authorities said. The dual-Canadian-U.S. citizen was arrested
last year in Canada and extradited in January to face federal
charges in New York.
David agreed to forfeit $2.5 million when he pleaded guilty
to conspiracy and wire fraud charges in April. He has not yet
been sentenced.
The disciplinary committee of the First Department,
Appellate Division, disbarred him retroactively to April,
according to a decision released Thursday.
Prosecutors said David and others charged up to $30,000 to
file fake employment letters on behalf of illegal immigrants,
beginning in 1996.
In 2003, writing under the name Earl Avraham David, he wrote
"Code of the Heart," a treatise on Hebrew numerology that
claimed to reveal predictions of the future based on a hidden
code in the Bible.
Prosecutors said he used a bank account in the name of the
book to continue to profit from the fraud.
David, whose firm prosecutors said netted millions of
dollars from the fraud, was suspended from practicing law in
2004. But prosecutors said he continued to run the scheme, even
after fleeing to Canada, where he became a regular member of a
small Orthodox temple in Toronto.
David had previously participated in a separate securities
fraud, money-laundering and bribery scheme in the early 1990s
but agreed at the time to testify for the prosecution, helping
the Securities and Exchange Commission and criminal authorities
convict nearly 40 defendants.
He was suspended for 15 months for that conduct, after a
panel of judges at the First Department credited him with his
efforts on behalf of the government, even as he had already
begun operating the immigration scheme, prosecutors said.
David did not oppose the disbarment, according to his
lawyer, Avraham Moskowitz.
The case is Matter of David, Appellate Division, First
Department, No. 3022.
For the disciplinary committee: Raymond Vallejo of the
committee's counsel.
For David: Avraham Moskowitz of Moskowitz & Book.
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