An elderly socialite was convicted of swindling would-be investors yesterday – but the verdict was immediately cast into doubt because of an 11th-hour legal fiasco.
Elizabeth Kummerfeld – who helped Elizabeth Taylor found AmFAR to fight AIDS – sat expressionless behind large sunglasses as the guilty verdict was read out in Manhattan federal court.
Kummerfeld, 70, helped friend Carolyn Mintus get millions of dollars from investors who were promised massive profits of up to 5 percent per day.
But the verdict came just as Judge Kimba Wood was trying to decide if she should declare a mistrial because Mintus had paid for the lawyer of one of the other defendants, Mark Capozzi.
Just as the trial ended, Capozzi wrote a letter to the judge criticizing his lawyer, Charles Ross.
Ross had apparently been paid about $50,000 by Mintus to defend Capozzi, but toward the end of the trial he allegedly learned that Mintus was not going to pay him another $30,000 she had promised.
In his closing arguments, Ross painted Mintus as “a fraudster,” but insisted Capozzi was still clean.
Capozzi’s new lawyer, Gary Becker, argued that Ross may have had a serious conflict of interest by arguing against the person he thought had stiffed him on a legal bill.
Ross told the judge that because his client had raised a serious ethics question about him, he wanted to consult with a lawyer before he said anything about the billing question.
The judge called the issue “a can of worms” and spent hours hearing arguments from all sides on the issue.
But before they could find a solution, the panel returned with a verdict.
Mintus and her cohorts were convicted of all 26 counts stemming from the investment-fraud scheme – and Mintus was ordered held without bail out of fear the 70-year-old woman might flee the country with a 20-year prison stretch looming.
Mintus’ lawyer, Kerry Lawrence, said the questions surrounding Ross make for a strong appeal, and that his client believes she will ultimately beat the case.
Kummerfeld faces up to five years in prison. Her husband, Donald Kummerfeld, is a former budget director for New York City, and also worked in the ’80s as a high-ranking executive for News America, a sister company of The Post.