Paul T. Selzer, the last defendant in the Milberg Weiss kickback case, pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to a tax-related felony.
Selzer, a Palm Springs environmental lawyer, admitted he obstructed the Internal Revenue Service code. According to prosecutors, Selzer accepted close to $50,000 from New York-based Milberg Weiss, now known as Milberg, but didn’t tell the IRS he transferred $19,000 of that money to pay Seymour Lazar, who then served as a dummy plaintiff in class-action lawsuits brought by the firm.
Selzer, the sixth and final defendant, agreed to pay a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced in November and also faces an additional three years in prison.
Last month, Milberg co-founder Melvyn Weiss pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and forfeited $9.75 million he made from the kickback scheme. The firm also agreed to settle a federal lawsuit over the scheme for $75 million.
Four other attorneys pleaded guilty.
