Only Ivy League Or Similar Need Apply

When potential employers add “only Ivy League or similar need apply” to job postings, they’re probably not talking about smarty pants like Hakan Yalincak, who was charged in federal court for bank fraud just days before graduating from NYU’s College of Arts & Sciences:

While most graduates will walk through the arch Thursday stress-free and exuberant with success, one CAS student will be sitting behind bars in Rhode Island, contemplating a charge of multi-million dollar bank fraud.

Hakan Yalincak, a CAS senior majoring in mathematics, pleaded not guilty on Friday at the New Haven, Conn., district court to charges of conducting a $43 million bank fraud scheme by depositing fake certified checks into bank accounts in Connecticut and Switzerland. On a separate lawsuit in civil court, he is charged with conning Connecticut investors into investing $2.8 million in a non-existent hedge fund.

Things you don’t want your attorney telling the New York Times include but are not limited to “the facts will either indicate that he is culpable or is not culpable.” That’s not a great way to build confidence in your client:

“He’s an enterprising finance guy, an extraordinarily intelligent young man,” Mr. [Mickey] Sherman said. “At some point, I think the facts will either indicate that he is culpable or is not culpable.”

Bonus: Legal remedies for investors victimized by check-kiting schemes.