The Daily Caveat first wrote last November about the government's interest in Milberg Weiss regular expert witness, John Torkelson. Torkelson, a former investment banker, has been facing civil charges from the U.S. Small Business Association since 2004 in relation to a venture capital fund run by he and his wife which the Torkelsons allegedly used to swipe millions from federal government coffers.

As of September '05 Mr. Torkelson was also facing a criminal charge of making false statements to the SBA and, the world on the street was, a plea deal was in the offing provided, of course, that Mr. T offered up his knowledge on the kickbacks Milberg Weiss was alledgedly paying to lead plaintiffs in the law firm's securities class action cases.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscrip required), in addition to the indictments that have been handed down in recent days against Milberg, interest in Torkelson's information, and what he, himself may or may not have been paid by Milberg Weiss is on the front burner for federal prosecutors.

-- MDT

Labels: Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss