Felix Sater Extortion Bid Gets New York Lawyer Suspended

A lawyer who obtained sealed documents to try and extort a settlement from a former business associate of President Trump has been suspended for a year, according to a New York appeals court.

The documents stemmed from Felix Sater’s conviction on federal racketeering charges in 2000.

Attorney Frederick M. Oberlander also directed “relentless insults and attacks” against federal judges involved in his client’s fraud lawsuit against Sater, where he was using the documents, according to the New York Appellate Division.

Sater is a New York real estate developer who proposed the Trump Tower Moscow project as a way to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election, according to Bloomberg News.

Oberlander’s accusations of court corruption, fraud, and illegality, “coupled with his campaign to extort a settlement using improperly obtained materials, constitute undoubtedly serious professional misconduct,” the panel said Sept. 11.

His discipline in the state court follows an investigation and parallel suspension in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Prosecutors announced Sater’s conviction for racketeering in March 2000, but not his cooperation with them, according to the court. Judge I. Leo Glasser of the Eastern District kept his criminal records sealed, since his cooperation could put his life in danger if his identity were known.

After Sater joined real estate development company Bayrock Group LLC in 2002, he kept records on an office computer. Those records ended up with a former Bayrock employee, who then gave them to Oberlander, who had been hired to represent a Bayrock finance executive in a suit against Sater.

The complaint in the executive’s suit, which alleged embezzlement and fraud and was filed in the Southern District of New York, attached some of the sealed materials as exhibits, and the complaint itself referred to Sater’s cooperation with the government, according to the court.

After Glasser became involved, issuing several injunctions to keep the materials from public release, Oberlander allegedly accused the federal judge of operating an oppressive “star chamber” and an unconstitutional “super-sealed docket system.” The attacks allegedly escalated and included other courts and judges.

Meanwhile, Oberlander continued to demand money from Sater and other defendants to settle the Bayrock executive’s suit, threatening to release some of the sealed information, according to the court.

The Eastern District of New York found violations of professional conduct rules relating to illegal conduct, fitness as a lawyer, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Oberlander didn’t challenge the New York Superior Court, Appellate Division’s consideration of reciprocal discipline, the court said.

The case is Matter of Oberlander, 2019 BL 340232, N.Y. App. Div., No. 2019-00958, 9/11/19.