Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that a former lawyer for Vince McMahon was wrong to "withhold some documents from a federal grand jury" as it investigated how Vince McMahon investigated how McMahon handled settlements with women who accused him of sexual abuse, according to The Associated Press.
The article noted;
"Three judges on the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court ruling that said the documents were not protected by attorney-client privilege because of an exception for “crime or fraud.”
The appeals court said the lower court judge found prosecutors had reasonable grounds to believe that McMahon and his lawyer illegally “circumvented” the WWE’s internal controls and created false records when they concealed the employees’ claims and settlement agreements from the company, and that they made false and misleading statements to the company’s auditors — even though McMahon paid the settlements with funds that did not come from the company."
The attorney, who was not named, "submitted a log of 208 documents that were being withheld under assertions of attorney-client privilege" according to the AP.
The AP article also noted:
"Though the identities of the parties were not disclosed in the appeals court opinion, a person familiar with the matter confirmed the unnamed “former Chief Executive Officer of a ”publicly traded company” was McMahon. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public.
The status of the grand jury investigation was not immediately clear. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has declined to comment when asked about the investigation, which it has not publicly disclosed.
Representatives for McMahon, who has denied wrongdoing, said they had no immediate comment on the court ruling. McMahon has previously suggested that he was no longer under investigation."
Janel Grant's attorney declined to comment when reached by the AP.
To read the complete AP piece, click here.
To read the ruling, click here. Of note, the ruling implies the criminal case against McMahon has not ended, noting, "Sealed Appellant 1 is the former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of a publicly traded company (“the Company”). He is also the subject of an ongoing grand jury investigation concerning whether, as CEO, he engaged in a criminal scheme to circumvent the Company’s internal accounting controls – a violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(b)(2), 78m(b)(5) and 78ff(a) – and mislead Company auditors – a violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 7202, 7242, and 78ff(a) and 17 C.F.R. § 240.13b2-2 – in order to conceal multiple allegations of sexual misconduct raised against him by two former Company employees (“Victims 1 and 2”).1 Sealed Appellants 2 and 3 are a lawyer and law firm, respectively, that represented Sealed Appellant 1 and the Company. As part of its investigation, the grand jury subpoenaed Sealed Appellants 2 and 3 for documents reflecting communications between them and Sealed Appellant 1 concerning Victim 1’s and Victim 2’s allegations."
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
