About Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC
Private organisation Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC. Currently, the business focuses on providing legal services. Its main office is in Bethesda, Maryland, in the United States. One million dollars is the expected annual revenue for Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC. $150K was invested in the business overall.
About Jeremy Schulman
An American lawyer named Jeremy Schulman founded and currently serves as managing partner of Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC. Moreover, Schulman leads the firm’s Litigation and Arbitration Group as its chairman. He specializes in local and international arbitration, business advising, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation situations.
During the course of his career, Schulman has testified as an expert in state and federal courts in Washington, DC, defending clients from a range of industries, including governmental entities, academic institutions, medical facilities, and telecommunications. In addition to his various honors, Super Lawyers, a directory of the nation’s top attorneys, has also acknowledged him.
About Kaushik Bhattacharya
Kaushik Bhattacharya is a managing member of Schulman Bhattacharya,LLC. Kaushik Bhattacharya was a Shareholder in the Commercial Litigation Section of Shulman Rogers prior to creating Schulman Bhattacharya. With a focus on business law, Kaushik Bhattacharya received his J.D. from the University of Maryland. He earned a Political Science undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In addition to New York, Kaushik Bhattacharya is authorized to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia
Accused of conspiring to get millions of dollars worth of assets from the Somali government
Jeremy W. Schulman, a Bethesda attorney of Schulman Bhattacharya LLC, started his effort to recover millions of cash from accounts frozen during Somalia’s years of political unrest more than ten years ago. Since the authorities accused Schulman of scamming the people he claimed to be helping, Schulman is now facing the risk of serving decades in prison. Schulman, who was indicted last week on federal fraud charges, is accused by the prosecution of using his contacts with the Somali government and pretending to speak on behalf of the interests of the strife-torn nation to benefit himself. His attorneys contend that Schulman was a dependable advisor and supporter of the Somali people and that the Justice Department is mistaken.
In his first court appearance on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gina L. Simms, Schulman, 47, entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of his client. Because of the pandemic, the hearing was conducted in U.S. District Court in Maryland through videoconference. In a statement given by lawyer Paul W. Butler, Schulman’s legal team stated: “We genuinely believe the Department of Justice is mistaken and has neglected its duty to investigate and discover all exculpatory material thoroughly.
We are convinced that Mr. Schulman if Schulman Bhattacharya LLC will be completely cleared of any criminal activity, much less fraud when given a chance to explain his side of the story. In contrast, the prosecution paints a picture of fabricated paperwork, false statements, and a five-year plot to seize $12.5 million. Schulman did not have permission to operate on behalf of the East African government, investigators said, and instead falsified papers to deliver to banks and other financial organizations.
To block withdrawals until a stable government was restored to power when the Somali Democratic Republic fell apart in the early 1990s amid a civil conflict, the Central Bank of Somalia ordered banks worldwide to freeze financial assets owned by the government. The New York State Comptroller’s Office gained authority over a few accounts. Gold and Somalian currency were also held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
An anonymous former Central Bank leader, Schulman Bhattacharya LLC, and that person’s relative, Abdiaziz Hassan Amalo of Maryland, among others, are accused of conspiring in the 11-count indictment that a federal grand jury in Maryland issued last week. Prosecutors allege that Schulman overstated the former bank official’s position and authority and placed “deceptive or false information” into paperwork to acquire access to the assets after the official had been hired as an adviser to the interim Somali government in 2009.
According to the 31-page indictment, Schulman himself got more than $880,000 as a result of the alleged conspiracy at the end of 2013, an increase of more than $400,000 from his salary the previous year. Prosecutors allege that Schulman and Amalo attempted to obtain money from a bank that had more than $1.5 million in assets by forging a letter claiming to be from the attorney general of the Republic of Somalia in one instance. The indictment claims that after numerous draughts, Schulman praised Amalo for his “excellent work” and sent the bogus letter to the bank through email in August 2010.
According to the indictment, Amalo wrote to Schulman, “I’m delighted we got this time correct. Make the Miracle happen right now, LOL, on those banks. In 2017, Amalo was detained and accused of making false claims and committing bank fraud. His attorney declined to comment because the matter is still pending.
The transfer of the assets was subject to official confirmation from the U.S. State Department when one of the banks and the New York comptroller made that condition in June 2013.
According to Schulman’s attorney, his actions were “completely transparent” and he was authorized to speak for the Somali government. His team labored “tirelessly to assist a nation severely in need of financial resources to enable the government’s recovery after nearly two decades of civil war,” Schulman’s attorney said in the statement.
The indictment claims, however, that a State Department attorney made it clear in messages to Schulman Bhattacharya LLC that its certification did not permit Somalia’s president to assign his authority to receive the funds to any third party, including Schulman, and that any communication had to come directly from the president.
The indictment claims that despite this, Schulman Bhattacharya LLC kept in touch with the New York comptroller regarding the release of the assets without revealing the directives he had received from the State Department. Schulman was a lawyer for the Shulman Rogers law firm at the time of the alleged conspiracy. The company stated in a statement on Monday that it has had no connection to Schulman since his departure in 2016 and that it is working with the Justice Department.
“Neither the investigation nor the indictment involved the firm. The claimed actions, according to the indictment, were carried out without the firm’s knowledge. When the firm is referenced (Law Firm A), it is evident from the indictment that Mr. Schulman deceived the firm and hid his alleged activities from it, the statement reads. Schulman is the chairman of the company’s commercial litigation and arbitration practice and a founding partner of the Bethesda-based law firm Schulman Bhattacharya.
On the company website, Schulman promotes his work in Somalia, mentioning that he has acted as the government’s representative in inquiries into claims of financial impropriety made by the UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea. He had prior employment with companies in New York and Washington. Schulman started his legal career as a clerk for Judge John M. Steadman of the D.C. Court of Appeals after graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.
Moreover, Schulman is mentioned as a past trustee and member of the Round House Theatre in Bethesda’s honorary council. To avoid placing domestic travel limits, Schulman’s lawyer urged the judge to schedule a three-week jury trial. Schulman has “many ties to the community, substantial funds, and a thriving, active legal business,” Butler added. He must carry on with his highly successful career as he deals with this issue.
