New York Daily News – A federal judge charged with slapping his wife hired a big shot defense attorney as he faces a misdemeanor charge that could land him in the clink.

James Peck, 63, the bankruptcy judge overseeing the breakup of Lehman Brothers, hired Barry Bohrer, a prominent criminal defense lawyer whose clients have included Sam Israel, the hedge fund swindler who went on the lam last summer after faking his own suicide to avoid a 20-year jail term.

Peck, who was briefly assigned to handle the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy until he recused himself in December, told cops when they came to his Park Ave. apartment Saturday afternoon that "I was defending myself."

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New York Daily News – Disgraced Park Ave. lawyer Marc Dreier gave fellow scamsters $100,000 to impersonate others in calls to victims, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

The new details emerged at a bail hearing for former broker Kosta Kovachev, 57, arrested yesterday for allegedly helping Dreier try to steal some $100 million from hedge fund managers.

Prosecutors say Kovachev pretended to be a real estate developer’s controller in an October sitdown with hesitant hedge fund managers. Kovachev also impersonated the developer’s CEO in a conference call, prosecutors say.

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