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Judge From New York To Handle Utah Real Estate Mogul Retrial

New York Judge Frederic Block
occuworld.org
New York Judge Frederic Block

A veteran federal judge from New York will preside over the retrial of a Utah real estate mogul accused of heading a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the June 4 trial of Rick Koerber has been assigned to Frederic Block, a senior judge from the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby, who presided over last year's trial in Salt Lake City, recused himself after Korber's mistrial last October.

Jurors remained deadlocked for seven days on charges including money laundering and securities fraud.

Koerber, the self-proclaimed "Latter-day Capitalist," once offered $2,000 real estate-investing seminars and hosted a radio show.

Charges against him were thrown out once before, but prosecutors refiled them. They accuse him of lavish personal spending while his businesses lost money.

Defense attorney Marcus Mumford says Koerber made legitimate investments.