Judge orders Maharaj's rearrest
Bond hiked to $150,000; Yale now seeks full restitution for financial-aid money
Akash Maharaj, the former Morse College junior charged with forging his application to Yale and stealing some $46,000 in scholarships, was scheduled to be in New Haven Superior Court Wednesday. Instead, he checked himself into a hospital.
So the judge ordered him back behind bars.
After failing to appear for his hearing Wednesday morning, Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani ordered Maharaj’s rearrest, forfeited the previous bond of $20,000 and ordered a new one of $150,000. And a new move by the Yale General Counsel’s Office suggests that the University doesn’t want him...
If Yale spends more than the "$31,750 he received in Yale financial aid" trying to recoup that lost money, it would be both ironic and emblematic of the Administration's preoccupation with image. By going after him and the money, they can then look tough, and distract attention from their less than stellar ability to discern fraud. Or maybe, given the large number of applications, we shouldn't really expect the University to catch every case. In which case, let's just admit the occasional defeat in battle, and go on and win the war.
And if they spend less than 30K on legal fees, including the salaries of the in-house lawyers, then all the power to them!
Yale is going to pay the salaries of the in-house people, so it is silly to try to add those to the cost particularly as no period is specified for the salaries -- a year, or two, or what? Moreover, this guy is unlikely to be able to afford counsel in a civil action or even pay a damage judgment against him so the University may well never see the money even if they were to win. There is no easy calculation of damages less costs here, much though accountants or others like such stuff.
At any rate, such allocation questions are quite besides the point in this assessment. Some entities will sometimes engage in litigation for whatever deterrent effect they believe can come out of a judgment. If the individuals attempting such a fraud believe that all they will get is some suspended sentence, they may believe thy do not face much downside. The University may thus believe one of two things: they may believe the restitution they seek is beyond this guy's means and by asking for it they make the chance of a trial or some jail time higher when he refuses to pay or they may believe that the downside of having to pay full restitution will have a deterrent effect on potential others.
Bottom line, unlike you guys, I don't see much of a likelihood of a full blown civil suit over restitution. The plea arrangement and restitution I would assume will include admissions of guilt for the fraud, perhaps even an admission of the amount to get the fraud into clear felony territory -- there's not so much left to fight about in the civil suit after that. Look at it this way -- what attorney will take the case for this guy if he admits liability and the amount at stake is something less than $30k. It's not Yale but this guy who cannot afford the suit and if one were filed I see a default judgment. That only costs the amount of the complaint drafting filing and service and a motion for default judgment. Not much cost for Yale.
Sounds like a good fact pattern for a 1L exam on torts, fraud, etc.
Smells like a lawsuit in the making. Pity poor Maharaj's lawyer - the perp will probably sue him and appeal any judge's ruling based upon "ineffective assistance of counsel."