Refile: Meet Mary Mulligan, lawyer for indicted Trump financial chief

Crown Equity Holdings

01/07/2021 18:44

(Refiles to fix dateline)
    * Mulligan represents Trump company executive Allen
Weisselberg
    * High-profile former clients include ex-FIFA executive
Chuck
Blazer

    By Caroline Spiezio
    July 1 (Reuters) - The indictment of a top official at
former U.S. President Donald Trump's company marks a critical
shift from probe to prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney
Cyrus Vance Jr.
    New York lawyer Mary Mulligan could play a key role in what
happens next.
    Mulligan, a former federal prosecutor turned criminal
defense attorney, is representing Allen Weisselberg https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-organization-cfo-expected-be-charged-thursday-wsj-2021-06-30,
 the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer.
After a nearly three-year investigation, Vance's office was
expected to unseal tax charges against Weisselberg on Thursday.
He was indicted https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-organization-cfo-expected-be-charged-thursday-wsj-2021-06-30
 on Wednesday. 
    Weisselberg "intends to plead not guilty and he will fight
these charges in court" Mulligan said Thursday in a joint
statement with tax lawyer Bryan Skarlatos. She declined to
comment on her multi-year representation of Weisselberg, or on
Skarlatos' role in the matter.
    Mulligan is no stranger to high-profile assignments. 
    She previously defended an ex-Lehman Brothers broker https://www.reuters.com/article/insidertrading-devlin/broker-who-stole-business-secrets-from-wife-avoids-prison-idINDEE82M0OX20120323
 who stole corporate secrets from his executive wife and shared
them with friends, and a South African pilot who was arrested
alongside https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-bout/accomplice-to-arms-dealer-bout-handed-five-year-prison-term-idUSBRE84M1KV20120523
 Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in an undercover sting by U.S.
agents posing as Colombian guerrillas looking to buy weapons. 
    She also represented Chuck Blazer https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-blazer/banned-former-fifa-executive-chuck-blazer-dies-idUSKBN19Y08J,
 the former FIFA executive committee member who pleaded guilty
to racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering for accepting
bribes in the bidding process for the 1998 World Cup in France
and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
    Mulligan was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of New York from 1997 to 2002. In that role, she
investigated and prosecuted fraud, corruption and financial
crimes cases, according to her LinkedIn profile. 
    She joined law firm Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman in
2006, after a stint in-house at Universal Music Group. Her
practice includes defending clients against allegations of money
laundering, insider trading, corruption, campaign violations and
various types of fraud.
    In the Trump Organization case, charges by Vance, a
Democrat, focus on whether Weisselberg and other company
officials received perks and benefits such as rent-free
apartments and leased cars without reporting them properly on
their tax returns.
    Weisselberg is a close Trump confidant, making his
cooperation potentially crucial to any future case against Trump
himself.
    Trump, a Republican, released a statement Monday night
calling the prosecutors "rude, nasty and totally biased" and his
company's actions "in no way a crime." 
    

 (Reporting by Caroline Spiezio; Editing by David Bario and
Daniel Wallis)
 ((Caroline.Spiezio@thomsonreuters.com; 332-223-9317;))