The trial of Michael C. Hild — the former CEO of defunct reverse mortgage lender Live Well Financial — for an alleged bond fraud scheme is on schedule to begin on April 12, after being delayed by six months due to complications arising from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. This is according to original reporting by RichmondBizSense and court documents obtained by RMD.
The most recent developments in the impending trial are related to the jury selection process, in which Hild’s attorney Benjamin Dusing presented no objections to the instructions for jurors that were proposed by the legal team representing the federal government in the case. Previously, the government submitted a request to the Court asking that certain provisions in the potential defense of Hild be precluded from the defense.
The final pretrial conference is scheduled for April 8, 2021. According to a recently-released court transcript from the initial indictment, government attorneys expect that the trial will last 3-4 weeks.
This is the latest in a series of unfolding events concerning the abrupt closure of Live Well Financial, which RMD learned about in May of 2019. After a series of lay-offs and other lawsuits, Hild was arrested by the FBI for the alleged bond fraud scheme and charged by federal authorities, before being released on an unsecured bond.
Hild entered a “not guilty” plea shortly after his arrest. At the beginning of 2020, Hild dismissed his legal defense team in favor of hiring Mr. Dusing, a friend and former classmate, to represent him at the upcoming trial. The delay due to COVID-19 took place in August 2020, roughly two months before the trial was originally scheduled to begin.
Read the story at RichmondBizSense.
