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OLR seeks 2-year suspensions for incarcerated attorneys

By: Eric Heisig//September 27, 2013//

OLR seeks 2-year suspensions for incarcerated attorneys

By: Eric Heisig//September 27, 2013//

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Two attorneys serving federal prison sentences for their roles in an insider trading and kickback scheme now face complaints from the Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Richard Kranitz and Steven Berman each were sentenced to 18 months in July after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in Massachusetts federal court. According to court filings, both were involved in a company called China Wi-Max Communications Inc. and worked to sell stock at a price higher than the market dictated.

Kranitz is a longtime securities lawyer in Grafton and was on the company’s board. Berman, the company’s CEO, is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin but was living in Ohio prior to his incarceration.

The OLR compliant, filed Wednesday, details how Kranitz and Berman worked with a man to sell the stock and give kickbacks to a representative of a “major investment fund” who helped facilitate the sale. Unbeknownst to Kranitz and Berman, that representative was an undercover FBI agent, the complaint reads.

The OLR is recommending that the state Supreme Court suspend their Wisconsin law licenses for two years due to their criminal conduct.

According to the OLR complaints, Kranitz is at a federal prison camp in Duluth, Minn., while Berman is serving his sentence in Morgantown, W.V.

A sentencing memorandum for Kranitz stated he “has been active in numerous community and charitable organizations” throughout his life.

“Grafton is a small town,” the memorandum states, “and Mr. Kranitz’s reputation is now indelibly stained there, and in the Wisconsin legal community.”

The memorandum also points out that the OLR has known about Kranitz’s case since he was indicted in December 2011. However, the memorandum stated, the OLR put the matter on hold until the criminal case was finished.

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