Judge in Condor Case Says Outside Counsel Has Conflicts with Wells Fargo
The judge in the Condor Capital Corp. case brought by the N.Y. State Department of Finance raised concerns that the law firm representing the state agency, Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, has a conflict of interest because it represents Wells Fargo and Bank of Montreal. Both those banks are members of Condor’s lending syndicate. Subprime auto lender Condor owes Wells Fargo $261 million. Wells Fargo has since been named an intervenor in the case. On May 7, the judge wrote, “I do not understand why the Attorney General is incapable of representing the Superintendent” of Financial Services. One week earlier, on May 1, Auto Finance News filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the DFS asking for details surrounding the case, as well as why the state hired outside counsel.
