Victory was secured for a Varnum client after the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division (DOJ) dropped criminal charges following a 33-month investigation and two weeks before trial was scheduled to begin, a rarity in government-led litigations. In total, the Varnum team has secured the dismissal of four significant felony charges since the original DOJ indictment was filed in December 2020.
Varnum represented Metro-Detroit businessman, Cory Mann, after he was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud along with six other individuals in a matter involving allegations of illegally obtained police reports and car crash victim solicitation. The Defendants were accused of participating in a scheme to steal auto crash reports and use them to solicit victims of the crashes. Charges against three of the Defendants were dismissed following a hearing in U.S. District Court, in which the defense argued that the Defendants had no way of knowing the police reports were fraudulently obtained.
Varnum attorneys Eric Nemeth and Will Thompson represented Mr. Mann in the matter.
“Over the last 33 months since the indictment I have presented substantial evidence that my client knew nothing about how crash reports were obtained,” Nemeth said. “Furthermore, there is no evidence that my client had any knowledge regarding the use of crash reports. My client operated MRI centers. Nothing more.”
The initial dismissal of charges garnered significant media coverage, including in The Detroit Free Press and Law 360, on Oct. 6. A subsequent court order announcing that three additional charges of wire fraud were dropped against Mr. Mann in a related case on Monday, October 23, resulting in another unfounded rarity in DOJ led investigations.