NEW YORK — Investment adviser Kenneth Starr, charged in connection with a $30 million fraud scheme, was given a public defender after his private attorney, Joshua Klein, withdrew over a conflict of interest.
U.S. Magistrate Theodore Katz assigned Peggy Cross to the case at a hearing Wednesday. The magistrate gave Starr until Friday to decide if he will hire a new attorney.
“The question is if Mr. Starr has the resources to retain counsel or get one appointed,” Katz said. “He can’t drag this matter out.”
Starr, 66, manager of more than $700 million, was arrested May 27. The adviser, who has represented such actors as Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, “systematically defrauded his clients,” Robert Beranger, an agent with the Internal Revenue Service, said in a criminal complaint.
The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a court order freezing 23 Starr-related bank accounts, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of Manhattan. Bloomberg News
