Former Expert Witness Will Plead Guilty To Perjury

John Torkelsen of Princeton, New Jersey, a former expert witness in numerous class action securities cases for Milberg Weiss and other firms, has agreed to plead guilty to a one count criminal information charging him with perjury, according to a plea agreement filed on Thursday in US District Court in Philadelphia. Torkelsen offered expert witness testimony on plaintiff class damages and the value of settlements. According to the DOJ press release and the criminal information, the firms who hired Torkelsen, including one identified as “the New York Law Firm”, represented to various federal courts that he was an independent expert, which should have precluded them from paying him on a contingency basis; however, the firms allegedly entered into secret arrangements to pay him contingency fees. According to DOJ, the law firms submitted reimbursement requests to courts for contingent fees that Torkelsen had already been paid, and when he had to write off expenses for cases they lost, he submitted fraudulent bills on other cases for work he did not perform, which were then submitted to the courts by the firms. The one perjury count referenced in the guilty plea involved a 1999 case in San Jose, California, in which Torkelsen allegedly attested to a “non-contingent engagement by plaintiff’s counsel” when he was actually paid, according to the criminal information, by “the New York Law firm” on a contingent basis. Lawfuel has the DOJ press release here. No sentencing date has been announced. The DOJ press release was posted on the site of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the Milberg Weiss case. Milberg Weiss’ principal office was in New York during the time periods covered in the information. In the press release, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California thanked the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for his assistance. The plea also disposed of tax-related issues in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Torkelsen is currently serving a 70 month prison sentence for stealing SBA funds in an unrelated case. His ex-wife Pamela was also indicted in that case and became a cooperating witness, not only against her ex-husband but against Milberg Weiss. A 2006 Law.com story here provides some interesting background.