Attorney who tried to sell secret lawsuits pleads guilty (Bloomberg)
A former Justice Department attorney who attempted to peddled copies of two sealed lawsuits has agreed to plead guilty after he showed up at a Cupertino hotel where he planned to sell copies of the lawsuits for $310,000 to a corporate defendant. His scam was foiled when he was met by an FBI agent.
Jeffery Wertkin, who was at the time working for prominent law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, was attempting to sell copies of the two lawsuits that were filed by the Justice Department under the False Claims Act, which allows whistle-blowers to sue on behalf of the government. Typically, these lawsuits involve corporate tax fraud.
Wertkin was charged with obstruction of justice and interstate transportation of stolen goods. The charges Wertkin will plead guilty to have not yet been specified.
