Update on the Charles Schwab ARS fraud case appeal

A significant number of visitors to my blog come here after searching Google for information on the Charles Schwab auction-rate security fraud case that has been slowly — very slowly — making its way through the New York courts. There are thousands of people affected by this case.

You can read my previous posts about this case here. For those who tuned in late, Charles Schwab sold auction-rate securities as “safe” and “liquid” to rubes like me, then refused to make good on them when the market collapsed in 2008. Everyone else has settled, but not Chuck. They stood on “principle” — one that has only one core belief: no matter how much we lie to you, we get to keep the money.

Unfortunately for those of us who are stuck with this dreck, the trial judge ruled in late 2011 in favor of Schwab’s motion to dismiss the case. Fortunately for holders of this effluent, the NY Attorney General appealed the case.

Today, a visitor commented that his state securities department thinks the appeal will be successful.

That sent me online to see what I could find out about the appeal’s progress. It was relatively easy to follow the trial case because the trial court posted all the documents online. The appeal is much harder to track because the Appellate Division does not seem to be as online as the lower court.

However, I did discover that the date to “perfect” the appeal has been moved to the Appellate Division’s February, 2013 calendar. “Perfecting” the appeal means doing the paperwork necessary to prepare the case in advance of actually getting a date to hear the case. That’s how I interpret the FAQ I found here on perfecting cases. (See question 6.)

I also found this link to the status of the case. And this link where we might be able to track the case once it’s on the docket.

So, the wheels of justice continue to move, if glacially. At least the fat lady hasn’t sung. I continue to be grateful for the perseverance of the NY AG . Without their commitment to justice, Schwab would have been able to screw people out of hundreds of millions of dollars and, like many of the Great Recession miscreants, never be held accountable for its actions.