Helio Trial Resumes Today.

Hi folks, blah blah blah.

I see the Helio trial resumes today:

Experts say jurors will have to decide if the Castroneves deal was real or contrived to make it appear he didn't have control of his Penske money.

"What the government is saying is, if you are entitled to some cash, and you leave it in your mother's bank account, it's still your cash," said Chas Roy-Chowdrey, a tax expert with the global industry group Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Castroneves is a top Indy Racing League driver, winning the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 and finishing second in 2003. In 2007, he gained even greater fame by winning TV's "Dancing With The Stars" competition.

Issues at trial have their origins in the final event of1999 of the Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART — at the time a rival of the Indy Racing League. On Oct. 31 of that year in Fontana, Calif., Castroneves was driving in the final race for his soon-to-be-disbanded Hogan team and Greg Moore was about to sign a lucrative new contract with Penske Racing.

Moore crashed and was killed. In less than a week, Penske signed Castroneves, using Moore's contract by simply crossing out the old names and amounts and replacing them in handwritten notations. Miller negotiated that deal for $6 million — $1 million paid directly to Castroneves and $5 million to license Castroneves' name and image.

At first, the $5 million was supposed to flow to a Panamanian corporation called Seven Promotions.

In mid-December 1999, Miller sent a letter to Penske asking that the transaction be halted, according to trial testimony. Penske's general counsel, Lawrence Bluth, said the company held onto the Castroneves cash until January 2003, when it was invested with Netherlands firm Fintage Licensing B.V., where it remains today.

"We were ready to make payments to Seven Promotions. We were told not to," Bluth testified.

The IRS and federal prosecutors charge that arrangement was a tax dodge.

They contend Castroneves secretly controlled Seven Promotions — disputed vigorously by the defense — and should have paid U.S. taxes under the "constructive receipt" doctrine as soon as Penske was ready to start cutting checks.

"The individual's wishes do not control," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Axelrod. "A taxpayer may not deliberately turn his back upon income and thereby select the year for which he will report it."

Hmm, that's it?

I didn't do too well with trusts and such when I had Professor Gaubatz (RIP), but this strikes me as a tough case for the prosecution.

UPDATE: Pete Yanowitch testifies --

Attorney Peter Yanowitch testified Tuesday that he was involved in contract talks between Castroneves and the Hogan racing team in 1999. Yanowitch says Castroneves wanted his money to go to a Panamanian entity that he owned.

"Much of Brickell Avenue Was Built With Drug Money."

Welcome to Monday, folks -- SFL here, still subbing for the big man.

Remember, no throwing erasures in the classroom!

That great quote above is from Joe DeMaria, weighing in on the black market peso exchange and the government's case against Ben Kuehne:

Kuehne is represented by Miami attorney Jane Moscowitz of Moscowitz & Moscowitz and John Nields of Howrey in Washington. Kuehne has become a cause celebre among peers who see his prosecution as an attempt to chill legal representation for drug traffickers and other high-profile defendants. Kuehne’s clients included Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential recount litigation.

Now his own attorneys are challenging the use of a key government expert, retired DEA agent Donald Semesky, who they say will testify that most of the dollars that Colombians get from the exchange are from narcotics trafficking. “Agent Semesky’s proffered testimony is woefully insufficient” and is intended to fill a gap in evidence, the Feb. 6 defense motion states.

Kuehne argues a federal bankruptcy court in New York recently rejected the government’s characterization of the exchange as utterly corrupt.

DeMaria said it’s disingenuous for prosecutors to denigrate the parallel money market.

“Much of Brickell Avenue was built with drug money. Does that mean you take down all those financial institutions?” he asked. “Sometimes the government has gone too far with the black market peso exchange.”

Take 'em down?

We're probably bailing them out.

Goggles case finally over

Vanessa Blum has the scoop:

A federal judge sentenced an Iranian woman today to five years and three months in prison for trying to illegally export U.S.-made night-vision goggles to Iran.Sharhazad Mir Gholikhan, 31, was found guilty of violating trade laws in December after she represented herself at trial.U.S. District Judge James Cohn said Gholikhan's crimes compromised the safety of U.S. military personnel and the country. However, Cohn gave Gholikhan credit for voluntarily surrendering to face the charges against her."Without that, I think we can all agree she would not be before the court," Cohn said.

Does the JNC Lack Diversity?

Hi folks, SFL here.

It's Friday, so let's talk about women.

Come on now, this is David's blog -- I mean the lack of same on the new JNC Panel:

The 56-member list produced by Nelson and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez includes 11 women. Three of 20 from South Florida are women.

“I was appalled,” said Lehner, director of the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. “It’s mind-boggling. It’s a total and complete mystery how anyone can constitute a commission, which is supposed to be selecting candidates for federal office, with such a gross disparity and inequality toward women.”

Lehner said she has written a letter of complaint to Nelson’s office and has heard from a number of women lawyers who are concerned about the commission’s gender bias.

“Myself and other women are disappointed in the under-representation,” said Jennifer Coberly, a former member of The Florida Bar board of governors and the general counsel for Point Blank Solutions in Pompano Beach. “It’s important to not just the legal profession but to the community.”

John teased out some great quotes for this story. How about this one:

“Somehow, if there is no contribution, then you don’t rise to the attention of the decision makers,” said Marva Wiley, a Miami attorney and president of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association and the Haitian Lawyers Association.

I also like how all those contacted by Pacenti for this story all declined comment:

Zack, like other JNC members contacted, said he had no comment on the number of women on the commission.

That's the smart play of course, but here's what I would have said:

"If the Senators in their judgment determine that a more diverse or different Panel be selected, I would gladly offer up my seat so that this very worthwhile goal could be accomplished."

Maybe that's why I never get picked for these things.

Baker & McKenzie UBS Memo Takes Center Stage

SFL here.

Come on folks -- David needs to focus on his trial, and a bunch of nudnick commenters force him to change his comment policy. Oy.

Meanwhile, the UBS saga unfolds on multiple fronts, in addition to Judge Gold's courtroom. In Senate testimony yesterday, a Baker & McKenzie tax memo took center stage:

According to a 180-page list of exhibits released by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a UBS memo dated July 4, 2000, shows that the Swiss bank relied on outside legal counsel from Baker & McKenzie when setting up offshore asset vehicles and insurance plans to aid U.S. clients. (The UBS memo citing legal advice obtained from Baker & McKenzie can be seen on PDF pages 178 and 179.)

The memo, which was signed by UBS financial planning and wealth management employees Jonathan Bourne and René Sonneveld, explicitly states that the firm was consulted when setting up such schemes.

It also appears that UBS is arguing some sort of abstention doctrine before Judge Gold:

Branson said that UBS views the John Doe summons filed by the IRS in federal court in Miami as a dispute between the IRS and the Swiss government, which can best be resolved through diplomacy rather than litigation that is neither "proper nor productive."

UBS is being advised by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz litigation partners John Savarese, Ralph Levene, and Martin Arms. Eugene Stearns, chairman of Florida firm Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, is serving as local counsel to UBS along with litigation partners Ana Barnett and Gordon Mead, Jr. (Stuart Gibson, senior litigation counsel with the Justice Department's tax division, is the lead lawyer for the government.)

What is with the Swiss and diplomacy? Also, when is litigation ever "proper or productive"?

Welcome to America!