Grand Rapids, Michigan – December 15, 2006 – United States Attorney Margaret M. Chiara and Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey L. Sauter announced today the conviction, by plea, of Charles M. Zwick, a licensed attorney with a practice in Charlotte, Michigan, and Kathy L. Vanderske, his office manager, of Portland, Michigan, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. Vanderske pled guilty to the charges on December 10, 2006 and Zwick on December 13, 2006 before Magistrate Judge Joseph M. Scoville.

The charges stem from a joint task force investigation conducted by the Eaton County Sheriff’s Department, Charlotte Police Department, Michigan State Police, Social Security Administration--Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The 16 - month investigation began in July of 2005, when Zwick failed to appear in Eaton County Probate Court to show cause why he was not filing reports of assets under his control. After a bench warrant was issued, he was arrested during a traffic stop in St. Joseph, Michigan, on August 14, 2005.

At the plea proceedings, both Zwick and Vanderske admitted that between 2000 and July 2005, when the law office closed, they had regularly and systematically taken money from the accounts of the wards and estates of clients of the practice. They admitted to having taken approximately $1.5 million in assets from 100 victims. Following the completion of a presentence investigation, the defendants will be sentenced before United States District Judge Gordon J. Quist in the spring of 2007.ext