WASHINGTON— A federal judge in New York has denied a request by David Rubin, founder of CDR Financial Products, to transfer a bid-rigging case against him, his firm and two other former CDR officials to a federal court in Los Angeles.
Rubin made the transfer request last month, arguing it would be expensive and inconvenient for him to participate in a six-to-eight week trial later in New York this year while caring for his wife, who is ill and looking after their young children in the Los Angeles area.
Judge Victor Marrero, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, chided Rubin in a ruling released Tuesday for not filing the request earlier in the legal proceedings.
“Had Rubin elected to move for transfer a year ago, shortly after the initial indictment was filed, trial of this action in the district of his residence might have weighed more favorably,” Marrero wrote.
He said the court must consider Rubin’s motion in light of the “considerable efforts” expended by the parties and the court during the 14 months that have elapsed since the original indictment was filed to establish a workable case-management plan and ensure a timely trial.
“Transferring the case at this juncture to another court in another judicial district would no doubt scuttle much of that progress,” Marrero wrote.
The judge indicated the transfer would cause the trial to be postponed many months, if not “indefinitely” and inconvenience both the government, other defendants, and in some respects Rubin himself.
A federal grand jury in October 2009 indicted the firm, Rubin, former chief financial officer Zevi “Stewart” Wolmark, and former vice president Evan Andrew Zarefsky on nine criminal counts in connection with bid-rigging of municipal investment and derivatives contracts from as early as 1998 until at least November 2006.
A new indictment filed against the firm, Rubin, and former officials last month expands on some of the original charges against them to include so-called honest services fraud.
