Criminal Defense Attorney Liane Kerr – ex-wife of guilty trust manager Paul Donisthorpe

New Mexico: Victims of Desert State still waiting for restitution, more than one year after Donisthorpe’s guilty plea

August 12, 2018 // 0 Comments

By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter Saturday, August 11th, 2018 at 11:30pm A woman known in court records as “J.W.” died destitute this year. But she had once been a co-beneficiary of a $600,000 trust at the now-defunct and disgraced Desert State Life Management company of Albuquerque. Her money, along with savings and trust accounts of more than 70 other vulnerable people who were clients of Desert State, were part of the estimated $4.8 million embezzled by company CEO Paul [- more...]

New Mexico: New legislation gives regulators more power – but will they exercise it?

August 12, 2018 // 0 Comments

New Mexico financial regulators learned their lesson the hard way after discovering in early 2017 that millions of dollars had been embezzled from clients at the small nonprofit Desert State Life Management. The state Financial Institutions Division of the state’s Regulation and Licensing Department headed to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe this year to seek new laws to help prevent another such criminal scheme, which went undetected for years. “Unfortunately, it was a reactive response. But [- more...]

New Mexico: Plea bargain catches victims by surprise

November 30, 2017 // 0 Comments

 By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter Federal law says crime victims have a right to “reasonable and timely notice” of any public court proceedings involving the crime. But Paul Donisthorpe’s sudden plea bargain Monday in a high-profile $4 million trust fund embezzlement scheme caught victims by surprise. Armando Ramirez, of Santa Teresa, helps support his brother Omar Ramirez, who lost nearly $1 million in a trust account managed by Donisthorpe that was supposed to pay for [- more...]