[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Former partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP, Martin Weisberg, has pled guilty to stealing from a client’s account and participating in a $55 million securities fraud scheme.  Weisberg, who resigned from the firm in October 2007, faced accusations of placing $30 million in an interest-bearing account and wiring out nearly $1.3 million without the client’s knowledge, according to U.S. prosecutors. Track Record. Weisberg, 61, entered his plea to money laundering and conspiracy charges today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, after being indicted in 2008 on wire fraud and money laundering charges for taking money from an escrow account established on behalf of a corporate client.  The theft-related charges were filed after Weisberg was charged with conspiracy in 2007 over his role in a stock fraud. Findings and Allegations. Weisberg concealed the theft by telling the unidentified client that the bank holding the account didn’t produce monthly statements.  At the same, he sent letters to the client with false balances. He conspired with Xybernaut Corp. and Ramp Corp. executives in a conspiracy involving short-selling.  The defendants caused Xybernaut, a Fairfax, Virginia-based maker of wearable computers for aircraft mechanics and telephone linemen, and Ramp, a bankrupt developer of health-care software, to issue hundreds of millions of dollars of heavily discounted shares through offshore entities between 2001 and 2005. Sentencing. Going forward, Weisberg is looking at maximum sentences of 10 years on the money-laundering count and 5 years on the conspiracy charge.  In addition, Weisberg, who earned his law degree from Northwestern University Law School in Chicago, may have to forfeit proceeds and lose his law license, according to prosecutors. The case: U.S. v. Saltsman, 07-cr-641, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). For further details, go to [Businessweek, 5/21/12].