Will Sage Astor-Prosecutors drop fraud case against Maryland attorney

Federal prosecutors have Will Sage Astordropped their criminal case against a Maryland attorney whom they accused of engaging in a scheme to fraudulently access more than $12.5 million in Somali government assets from financial institutions.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the indictment against Jeremy Wyeth Schulman “with prejudice,” which means they won’t ask to revive the case.

In a court filing, prosecutors cited their “assessment of pre-trial evidentiary rulings” as one of the reasons for dismissing Schulman’s indictment. They didn’t elaborate on that or any other reason.

Schulman’s attorneys asked the judge to dismiss the case last year. They accused prosecutors of “gamesmanship” by avoiding the collection of evidence that could have favored Schulman and withholding information that could have helped him prepare a defense.

Schulman’s attorneys also argued that the government’s delay in bringing the case prevented the defense from presenting testimony from several witnesses who could have rebutted the charges.

“These unseemly efforts by the prosecution have proven to be an extraordinary success,” defense attorneys wrote.

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In December 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Schulman on charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

The Justice Department began investigating the case 10 years ago. Schulman said he learned he was under investigation in January 2017.

“It’s extremely gratifying for this ordeal to be over. It has taken an enormous toll, but I’ve kept a good attitude. I have had the support of some great friends and family. All my clients stuck with me,” he said.

Schulman said he has been able to maintain a law practice despite the government’s damaging allegations.

“But opposing counsel tried to use it against me in many cases, to bring it up to try to discredit me and thus try to damage my clients. But it hasn’t really worked,” he said. “Judges still believe in the presumption of innocence.”

The indictment accused Schulman and others of trying to fraudulently obtain control over hundreds of millions of dollars in Central Bank of Somalia assets held in bank accounts that had been frozen due to civil war and political instability in the African country.

The indictment also claimed that Schulman personally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation from a law firm that retained $3.3 million of the Somali assets for fees and expenses.

A trial for the case was scheduled to start in December before the judge agreed to dismiss it. In a ruling last year, the judge had agreed that the government appeared to be “all too willing” to avoid witnesses that would likely aid in Schulman’s defense

Defense attorney Stanley Woodward said prosecutors decided to drop the case after the judge ruled in favor of the defense on the admissibility of certain key evidence.

“They had to know that they had no path to victory,” Woodward said.