Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Robert E. Brennan released from prison/duped investors still seeking funds

Robert Brennan is back in the news this week, following the successful completion of his prison sentence.  According to the AP, Brennan spent months in a Newark halfway house following his time in FCI at Fort Dix.  [Note: NJ.com ran the same AP article here, which may be of use if Philly.com deactivates the Inquirer link as is its custom within a few weeks of an article's publication.]

Importantly, the coverage also offers an update on some of the outstanding financial judgments against Brennan.  I have always found this area of securities fraud enforcement fascinating - and equally frustrating - in large part because offenders very rarely compensate their victims in any meaningful way (either because the ill-gotten money has been squandered and/or successfully hidden, and/or because victims are fighting with government agencies who want their own judgments paid, and/or because lawyers fighting on behalf of duped investors are entitled to their own piece of the judgment pie).  In the specific rulings against Brennan, the AP article offers the following updates:

*Regarding a $55 million judgment against Brennan in a class-action suit brought by investors, less than half of that figure has been recovered. 

*Regarding a $75 million judgment against him in a Securities and Exchange Commission case, the SEC has collected $29 million. 

*Regarding a $45 million judgment against him in a New Jersey Bureau of Securities case, the state has been paid approximately $5 million. [Another article regarding this case notes that 27,000 investors/victims are eligible to file for a portion of the $5 million.]