Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Lawyers for John Otto, HL Leasing, or his companies

Disclaimer: The people listed here should not be considered tainted or guilty by association.  This list is from public sources, and all we know is that the source web page has some indication of a tie in with some company or entity that may (or may not) be related to HL Leasing or John Otto. The source web pages can change, and there is no assurance that they are accurate.  We also don't know and can't say if the lawyer's client isn't just somebody who shares a name, but has no association with the persons or entities mentioned in conjunction with the alleged ponzi scheme described on Leasingnews.org.   Do not assume that any of these lawyers did anything wrong. At this point it looks like Otto and his companies employed a lot of lawyers nationwide, which would be expected of a company with business throughout the country.  Do not assume a relationship existed, and if a relationship did exist, do not assume that it had not been terminated days, months, or years ago.

Helfand and Helfand (lists Heritage Pacific Leasing as a client as of 5/21/09) (New York and New Jersey).  Also note that they represented HL Leasing in the bankruptcy of Constable in the Eastern District of New York, 08-76313, and filed on January 26, 2009 to block discharge of debt owed under one of the Pentech leases, claiming that HL owns the lease.  The calendar for that case for today, May 26, shows that a pre-trail conference was scheduled to be held by the judge with HL's lawyers at Helfand and Helfand (the link is www.nyeb.uscourts.gov/calendars/ESPhrgs/ednyhrgs_dte.htm but probably will be changed to tomorrow's calendar pretty soon).

Victor Harris (listed "Heritage Pacific Leasing, a division of Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation" as a representative client until a few days ago, but it is still visible on the Google cached copy of the page as of 5/21/09 at http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:TFExDOCDn5sJ:www.martindale.com/Law-Offices-of-Victor-Harris/2030736-law-firm-office.htm+%22victor+harris%22+heritage+pacific+leasing&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us).

Callahan & Blaine, Marc P. Miles and Daniel J. Callahan (allegedly hired "just days before Otto's suicide", Callahan is quoted as saying "the money will be located in the accounts where it belongs.").  See this letter as well saying "the company has retained our firm and we are diligently working through a plan of action to ensure that the monthly payments to you get back on track in short order."  Anybody who invested additional funds based on that letter (or who held off on starting work on recovering funds based on the letter) should ask their own lawyer about whether the Callahan firm has some liability if the statements in the letter turn out to be false.

Cosgrove, Webb & Oman, Robert L. Baer, Topeka, KS (Bankruptcy case 07-40286 in Kansas)

Stephen Koch, Visalia (several cases in Fresno Superior Court).


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