By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 20 – The saga of fraudster Alberto Vilar in the Southern District of New York is well known, including his re-sentencing to ten years for refusing to pay his victims, and more recently claims he can't, living off a $2,200 a month Social Security check.
But the United Nations connections, we had not known until now. And now we know more.
First, the present, Judge Richard J. Sullivan's order of July 30: "Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Richard J. Sullivan: Oral Argument as to Alberto William Vilar, Gary Alan Tanaka held on 7/30/2021. The Court held oral argument via ZoomGov videoconference on the government's motion to dismiss several third-party petitions filed in connection with the Court's August 2, 2019 and December 9, 2019 Preliminary Orders of Forfeiture as to Substitute Assets...The Court reserved decision on the pending motion to dismiss. The Court directed the Pension Scheme and the government to submit a joint letter by August 13, 2021 proposing a schedule for discovery, summary judgment, and an ancillary hearing."
Docketed on August 20 is a letter from Laurie Christov, amplifying what she said in the July 30 proceeding: "I feel my oral arguments at the hearing on July 30 feel woefully short... the condition the arbitrator put on my husband's award was the worst case of unjust enrichment, leaving the burden of removal to Vilar and Tanaka, which of course they did not do, why would they?" Why indeed.
Digging back through the docket, Inner City Press came upon Judge Sullivan's order (Docket Number 537) denying bail to Vilar, and specifically declining to credit the declaration of of Walter Pfaeffle "asserting that Defendant Vilar is not a flight risk."
The underlying declaration by Walter Pfaeffle, a United Nations correspondent when Inner City Press was there and apparently still there, in the unresponsive UN Correspondents Association, said that
"I am a German-born freelance journalist... Early on I invested successfully in residential properties. I live in one and rent out the other... I met Alberto Vilar for the first time in June 2005 following his release from the MCC. At the time, Alberto's then lady-friend helped arrange his $4 million bail package, to which I contributed... We often had dinner together and sometimes attended the opera... I was, somewhat by default, left in charge of emptying his apartment at 860 United Nations Plaza."
But now on August 10, still awaiting the August 13 filing (and staring at a BOP site saying "ALBERTO VILAR Register Number: 57828-054 Age: 80 Race: White Sex: Male Released On: 09/10/2018," here's more on Pfaeffle, from another case, Ackermann v. Levine, 610 F. Supp. 633 (S.D.N.Y. 1985) -
"present at the meeting was a friend of Mr. Bauer's, Walter Pfaeffle, a West German journalist living in New York who spoke both German and English and who Mr. Bauer referred to as his "financial consultant," a status not supported by the proof. (Tr. 463) At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Bauer agreed to keep in touch with defendant after he returned to West Germany; the two were to communicate through Mr. Pfaeffle (he possessed a Telex machine). (Tr. 306; 308) It was defendant's understanding that Mr. Pfaeffle would share in the commission. (Tr. 334)."
Ah, the UN - where the correspondents are supported by real estate speculation, as landlords, and bail out fraudsters who refuse to pay their victims. We'll have more on this. The case is US v. Vilar, et al., 05-cr-621 (Sullivan).
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
