STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Manhattan lawyer faces federal charges for allegedly helping a South Beach resident, who is the convicted con-man son of a business magnate, orchestrate a multimillion-dollar fraud that centered on the purported purchase of Maxim magazine, according to a report in the New York Post.
Harvey Newkirk was arrested and charged with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft for allegedly aiding Calvin Darden Jr. in the elaborate scheme in which Darden impersonated his father, Calvin Darden Sr., a retired United Parcel Service bigwig, the report said.
The younger Darden tricked financial backers into lending him millions of dollars by telling them he was buying the struggling men's magazine, said prosecutors. The sale never materialized.
He also fooled a company in Taiwan into paying him $500,000 to set up a New York Knicks exhibition game in Asia, said Manhattan federal prosecutors.
Darden pleaded guilty in November and awaits sentencing, the report said.