THE PROSECUTION and defense presenting two contrasting portraits yesterday in their opening statements at the trial of former Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf lawyer James P. Conroy, who has been accused of stealing $27.7 million from an off-shore investment fund.
In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Adam Reeves told the Manhattan Supreme Court jury that in a “desperate” attempt to save a 35-year legal career that was “crumbling,” Mr. Conroy had used his legal talents as a “billionaire enabler” to allow a con man – whom both sides acknowledge was at the center of a fraud scheme – to bilk the off-shore fund, Evergreen Security Ltd., of $27.7 million.
