Case: Litman v. Goldberg, Index No. 524343/2025 Prepared: 4/18/2026 Trigger: Richard Litman 4/18/2026 theory that the 2/9/2026 $291,173 KFU wire on docket 36372 is not a fresh external client payment but recycled money shuffled back into the account. Classification: Attorney Work Product / Privileged
CLARIFICATION (4/18/2026 PM): The reference to "Maria analysis" in uncle's original message was a phone-autocorrect transcription of "Martha / my analysis." There is no third-party Maria. The CPA uncle is implicating is Debbie Schaeffer (NGM's CPA of record; also excluded Freedom Bank from her 6/26/2025 Kren report — see
project_freedom_bank.md). The transactional signer on both the 11/20/2024 and 2/9/2026 sweeps is Valencia Gray (VG), NGM accounting staff. Schaeffer's accountability is at the monthly-reconciliation layer; Gray's is at the keystroke layer.TEMPLATE: The 11/20/2024 → 2/9/2026 turn-and-burn pattern repeats identically, 15 months apart, same signer (VG), same counterparty (Nath & Associates PLLC), same residue ($84K), same memo-style narrative ("Wire KFU … Retainer"). The 2/9/2026 event is not a one-off; it is the second documented execution of the template. This strengthens uncle's shuffle-back theory materially but still does not resolve origin — only an external Fedwire/SWIFT MT-103 for either event does. The subpoena demand now extends to both windows: 11/18–11/20/2024 AND 2/6–2/10/2026.
Verdict on uncle's "shuffle back" theory: INDETERMINATE but structurally suspicious, now with a 15-month-apart template match strengthening the suspicion. We cannot resolve origin (external wire from KFU vs. internal recycling) from the production alone. The memo line Wire KFU 2.6.2026 Retainer / Pa 36372 ... 135900 - King Faisal University is NGM's own bookkeeping description and is not bank-side wire-origin proof. Two structural facts make the shuffle theory plausible:
The $87K figure Litman recalls is the $84,231.87 balance frozen on docket 36372 (Eagle Bank t23) since 11/20/2024 — he is rounding. It sat on the Eagle Bank Trust_0495, not BoA Escrow_8777. That $84,231.87 is the exact "residue" left after the final KFU-related sweep to Nath & Associates operating on 11/20/2024 ($493,898 out, $499,658 in).
One crucial discovery demand to resolve it: Eagle Bank account 0495 incoming-wire detail for 2/6–2/10/2026 (Fedwire/SWIFT IMAD/OMAD, originator name, originator bank, reference field). If the wire originator is Al Rajhi Bank / King Faisal University, Riyadh KSA, the theory is refuted. If the originator is a US-domiciled NGM-controlled account (BoA 8751, BoA 2417, Freedom Bank 1028/1002, or any other NGM-affiliated bank), the theory is confirmed and this is a spoliation/deception event.
Source: NGM-produced Trust Register Report PDFs, one per month, parsed from output/attachment_text/.
| Month-end | Acct | Opening | Money In | Money Out | Closing | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2024 | t3 | $1,156,987 | $94,694 | $102,851 | $1,148,829 | Active — 78+ transactions |
| Jul 2024 | t3 | $1,142,741 | $112,001 | $103,820 | $1,150,922 | Active |
| Aug 2024 | t3 | $1,150,922 | $52,908 | $113,158 | $1,090,672 | Active |
| Sep 2024 | t3 | $1,088,872 | $1,055 | $106,065 | $983,862 | Near-zero inflow, continued outflow |
| Oct 2024 | t3 | $1,437,363 | $611,608 | $746,685 | $1,302,286 | Heavy churn — migration preparation |
| Nov 2024 | t3 | $1,302,286 | $493,250 | $315,116 | $1,480,420 | Active |
| Dec 2024 | t3 | $1,483,420 | $1,690,290 | $1,477,515 | $1,696,195 | Peak balance — $3.2M churn |
| Jan 2025 | t3 | $58,166 | $79,238 | $76,238 | $61,166 | $1.64M DROP — BoA→Eagle migration completed |
| Feb 2025 | t3 | $61,166 | $0 | $3,900 | $57,266 | Stagnation begins |
| Mar 2025 | t3 | $57,266 | $1,630 | $4,435 | $54,461 | Stagnant |
| Apr 2025 | t3 | $58,896 | $5,787 | $3,787 | $60,896 | Stagnant |
| May 2025 | t3 | $42,196 | $13,665 | -$344 | $56,205 | Stagnant |
| Jun 2025 | t3 | $56,205 | $0 | $2,000 | $54,205 | Stagnant — last month in production |
| Jul 2025 – Dec 2025 | t3 | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | NO TRUST REGISTER PRODUCED — discovery gap |
| Jan 2026 | t3 | $96,232 | $0 | $15,296 | $80,936 | Back on record — single Kuwait U outflow |
| Feb 2026 | t3 | $80,936 | $0 | $0 | $80,936 | Zero movement |
| Mar 2026 | t3 | $80,936 | $0 | $1,623 | $79,313 | One Qatar outflow |
Stagnation actually begins January 2025, not June. From Feb 2025 through June 2025 the BoA t3 account was effectively dormant at ~$42K–$61K, well under uncle's remembered $87K figure. Between July 2025 and Dec 2025 we have NO NGM-produced monthly Trust Register — that gap is itself a discovery red flag.
Timing reconciliation (uncle's 4/18/2026 clarification): Uncle recalled the move as happening "at end of June 2025." The Trust Register for June 2025 (Bates ND0000117251) shows the firm-wide Bank Account Summary for 6/30/2025 was: t20 Freedom Trust_1028 $24,495.15; t23 Eagle Bank $1,325,331.50; t3 BoA Escrow $54,204.54. Docket 36372 (KFU General Matter) on the June 2025 RCL Trust Listing is still at $84,231.87 with last trust entry 11/20/2024. Uncle saw the $84K frozen balance in every monthly report from November 2024 through June 2025 — so "end of June 2025" correctly marks the last month he had visibility (the production blackout begins July 2025), but the move that created the residue happened eight months earlier on 11/20/2024. Uncle's pattern-level memory is accurate; only the date anchor shifts back.
Answer: Litman is rounding $84,231.87 up to "$87K."
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Exact balance | $84,231.87 |
| Docket | 36372 (General Matter – King Faisal University, client 135900) |
| Bank | Eagle Bank Trust_0495 (t23) — NOT BoA Escrow 8777 (this is important; uncle misattributed the bank) |
| First recorded at this balance | 11/20/2024, Tran# 3844512 |
| Entry that set the balance | 11/20/2024 IN $499,658 Wire KFU (t23, ref 6913) following same-day OUT $493,898 to Nath & Associates operating (t23, ref 2120) |
| Responsible attorney | RL |
| Who authorized the 11/20/2024 sweep | Trust Bank Journal Nov 2024 (Bates ND0000253210, ND0000209730) identifies Valencia Gray (VG) as signer on both Tran# 3844418 ($493,898 OUT to Nath & Associates PLLC) and Tran# 3844512 ($499,658 IN from KFU). Schaeffer is the CPA of record who reviewed the monthly reconciliation that parked this sweep. JBG journal universe (Finding #64) scopes all post-arb trust-to-op transfers to Goldberg at the policy layer. |
| Last post-2024 activity | 2/17/2026 (unchanged from 11/20/2024 through 2/8/2026 — 14 months, 19 days of flatline) |
"Out of trust for Nath and Associates": The last-before-stagnation sweep was 11/20/2024 Tran# 3844418 — $493,898 from t23 to Nath & Associates PLLC (client 106715). That is the most likely event uncle is remembering as "money moved out of trust for Nath and Associates" — the sweep that left the $84,231.87 residue.
Source: output/KFU_TRUST_LEDGER_36372.csv lines 851, 872; output/Q1_2026_rcl_trust_positions.csv lines 50, 215–216, 446; output/GOLDBERG_DEPOSITION_PREP.md § 13F Exhibit PP.
Wire KFU 2.6.2026 Retainer / Pa 36372 135900 - King Faisal UniversityThe memo Wire KFU 2.6.2026 Retainer / Pa 36372 is NGM's own bookkeeping narration, written by NGM's accounting staff in PracticeMaster/Soluno. It is NOT a bank-produced Fedwire or SWIFT advice showing the originator. The date "2.6.2026" inside the memo suggests NGM is narrating that KFU initiated the transfer on 2/6/2026 that arrived 2/9/2026 — but that is NGM's story, not bank evidence. The pattern is identical to the "Retainer" mischaracterization systematically applied to all KFU wires (see output/KFU_36372_TRUST_LEDGER_ANALYSIS_20260416.md — every major KFU wire is mislabeled "Retainer" despite all KFU billing being fixed-fee per Litman 4/8/2026).
output/Q1_2026_RECONCILIATION_MEMO.md § 2(a)). The $291K could be partial restoration of a much larger missing pool.Grep of output/martha_kfu_email_docket_detail.csv for "291", "291,173", "Wire", "Retainer.KFU", "2.6.2026" — zero hits in February 2026 emails*. Discovery production email corpus appears to cut off before February 2026. This means we have:
- No KFU-side confirmation email
- No Martha-side wire-received acknowledgment
- No Deborah Schaefer / Maryjane Harper reconciliation email for this wire
The absence of KFU email traffic around 2/6–2/10/2026 referencing a $291K wire in NGM's production is consistent with either (a) KFU did not send such confirmation (unusual for the 4th-largest recorded KFU wire), or (b) NGM did not produce the email if it does exist. Either way, it is a follow-up discovery demand.
Verdict: INDETERMINATE, leaning toward STRUCTURALLY SUSPICIOUS / PLAUSIBLE.
The shuffle-back theory cannot be confirmed or refuted from NGM's 4/17/2026 Q1 production alone. But the behavioral fingerprints match: 1. The docket was stagnant at $84,231.87 for 14 months, inconsistent with any ongoing KFU attorney-client relationship of the scale the 2/9/2026 wire implies. 2. 77% of the wire was swept to operating within 24 hours — exactly the Finding #64 trust-to-op sweep pattern. 3. The net residue returned to within $174 of the exact pre-wire stagnant balance — suggesting engineered precision. 4. NGM withheld six months of Trust Register reports (July–Dec 2025) that would show what happened to the BoA t3 balance between the June 2025 dormancy and the Jan 2026 restart. 5. Memo line is NGM's own narration, not bank-produced wire origin.
Subpoena Eagle Bank, N.A. for Account 0495 incoming-wire detail for the period 2/6/2026 – 2/10/2026, specifically: - Fedwire or SWIFT MT-103 for wire credit of $291,173.00 on 2/9/2026 - Originator name and originator bank - IMAD/OMAD identifier - Originator-to-beneficiary reference field
If the originator is Al Rajhi Bank / King Faisal University, Riyadh KSA → shuffle theory is refuted; the wire is genuine external client money, and Goldberg just kept it stagnant and then burned most of it to operating.
If the originator is a US-domiciled NGM-affiliated account (BoA 8751, BoA 2417, Freedom Bank 1028/1002, or any other) → shuffle theory is confirmed, and this is a spoliation/deception event showing that Goldberg fabricated the appearance of a fresh KFU retainer by recycling internal funds. This would be prima facie evidence of actual fraud, materially strengthening punitive damages and potentially triggering crime-fraud exception to any privilege Goldberg might claim.
| Source | What it gave us |
|---|---|
output/Q1_2026_TRUST_BANK_FLOW.md |
Confirmed Q1 2026 t3 stagnation at $80,936; 2/9/2026 wire detail |
output/Q1_2026_rcl_trust_positions.csv |
Docket 36372 per-month RCL trust position Jan-Mar 2026 |
output/KFU_TRUST_LEDGER_36372.csv |
Complete docket 36372 transaction history 9/30/2020 – 11/20/2024 |
output/KFU_36372_TRUST_LEDGER_ANALYSIS_20260416.md |
Bank-level KFU account reconciliation |
output/ANOMALOUS_TRANSACTIONS_CATALOG.md §§ 3.3, 3.4 |
Documented trust-to-operating sweep pattern and BoA/EagleBank migration |
output/GOLDBERG_DEPOSITION_PREP.md § 13F |
Exhibit PP establishing $84,231.87 frozen-since-11/20/2024 fact |
output/attachment_text/C2051472_ND* Trust Register PDFs (12 months) |
Month-by-month BoA Escrow 8777 balances Jun 2024 – Jun 2025 |
output/martha_kfu_email_docket_detail.csv |
Confirmed no KFU email hits for $291K / 2.6.2026 wire |
The 36372 balance on 11/20/2024 = $84,231.87. Balance on 2/17/2026 after the $291,173 wire and $290,999 of disbursements = $84,405.87. Net change = +$174.00.
Two inter-sub-docket transfers within KFU dockets on 2/10/2026 add up to exactly $174.00 of residual receipts ($112 + $62, visible in output/Q1_2026_payments_received_detail.csv). This is very tight engineering if the goal was to return the master docket to approximately its pre-wire balance. Real client wires don't normally produce mathematical precision like this — unless someone is sizing the wire amount specifically so that after invoice-allocation sweeps, a target residue lands on the master docket. Strong structural indicator consistent with the shuffle theory.
Uncle referenced "Maria analysis" in his 4/18/2026 message. Searching all prior project memory, email corpus, and output files: no person named "Maria" has been documented as a case collaborator. Most plausible interpretations in order: (1) transcription error for "my analysis," (2) shorthand for Martha Long (KFU paralegal at NGM — but she is opposition-side), (3) a family member we haven't catalogued. Not speculating further; noted for clarification.
Prepared by: Claude (forensic analysis on uncle's 4/18/2026 theory) Timebox: < 20 minutes Next step: Serve the Eagle Bank 0495 incoming-wire subpoena as the single highest-value discovery action.