Dale Susan Fischer | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California | |
Assumed office May 1, 2024 | |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California | |
In office November 5,2003 –May 1,2024 | |
Appointed by | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Seat established by 116 Stat. 1758 |
Succeeded by | vacant |
Personal details | |
Born | Orange,New Jersey,U.S. | October 17,1951
Education | University of South Florida (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Dale Susan Fischer (born October 17,1951) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Fischer was born in Orange,New Jersey. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida in 1977,and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1980. [1]
Fischer was in private practice in California for 17 years,from 1980 to 1997,during which she also volunteer briefly for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. [1] [2] She practiced as a business litigator at the law firms Heller Ehrman and Kindel &Anderson. [3] [4]
Fischer was a judge on the Los Angeles Municipal Court from 1997 to 2000,hearing criminal cases. She was then a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court,hearing criminal cases from 2000 to 2003. [1] [4]
On May 1,2003,Fischer was nominated by President George W. Bush to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California created by 116 Stat. 1758. [1] She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 27,2003,and received her commission on November 5,2003. She assumed senior status on May 1,2024. [1]
In 2008,she oversaw the case of private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Fischer sentenced Pellicano to 15 years in prison for running an illegal wiretapping operation,wiretapping billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's former wife. [5] The sentence significantly exceeded the five-year,10-month term recommended by probation officials. [5]
In 2023 the criminal securities fraud case of Terren Peizer,the CEO and chairman of publicly traded healthcare company Ontrak,was assigned to Fischer. [6] [7] After Peizer was charged with insider trading by the SEC,which alleged that he sold $20 million of Ontrak stock while he was in possession of material nonpublic negative information related to the company’s largest customer, [8] [9] the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges of securities fraud against Peizer,charging that thereby he had avoided $12 million in losses. [7] [10] [5] [11] [8] If convicted,Peizer could face up to 65 years in prison. [12]
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities based on material,nonpublic information about the company. In various countries,some kinds of trading based on insider information are illegal. This is because it is seen as unfair to other investors who do not have access to the information,as the investor with insider information could potentially make larger profits than a typical investor could make. The rules governing insider trading are complex and vary significantly from country to country. The extent of enforcement also varies from one country to another. The definition of insider in one jurisdiction can be broad and may cover not only insiders themselves but also any persons related to them,such as brokers,associates,and even family members. A person who becomes aware of non-public information and trades on that basis may be guilty of a crime.
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Anthony J. Pellicano is a high-profile Los Angeles private investigator and convicted criminal known as a Hollywood fixer. He served a term of thirty months in a federal prison for illegal possession of explosives,firearms,and a grenade. In 2008,he began serving an additional sentence for subsequent convictions for other crimes,including racketeering and wiretapping. Several other people were also convicted of crimes associated with their involvement with his illegal activities,including his actress girlfriend Sandra Will Carradine,film director John McTiernan,Beverly Hills police officer Craig Stevens,Los Angeles police sergeant Mark Arneson,and attorney Terry Christensen.
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The Raj Rajaratnam/Galleon Group,Anil Kumar,and Rajat Gupta insider trading cases are parallel and related civil and criminal actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice against three friends and business partners:Galleon Group hedge fund founder-owner Raj Rajaratnam and former McKinsey &Company senior executives Anil Kumar and Rajat Gupta. In these proceedings,the men were confronted with insider trading charges:Rajaratnam was convicted,Kumar pleaded guilty and testified as key witness in the criminal trials of Rajaratnam and Gupta,and Gupta was convicted in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan in June 2012.
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