A former lawyer for a financial adviser to celebrity clients was arrested Thursday on money-laundering charges filed in New York alleging he helped conceal the adviser's Ponzi-like scheme.

Attorney Jonathan Bristol pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. He was released on $1 million bond.

An indictment alleges that Bristol hid investor money stolen by Kenneth Starr — a one-time adviser to Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone and Martin Scorsese — in secret escrow accounts.

Prosecutors say Bristol raided the accounts in January to pay $1 million to settle a claim by a disgruntled Starr client. They say another $100,000 was used to cover bills from Bristol's law firm.

In April, Bristol also used the escrow accounts to help Starr siphon $7 million in investors' money to buy Starr a five-bedroom, six-bath condominium, the indictment says. Prosecutors had previously alleged that $5.75 million of the total was stolen from a 100-year-old heiress.

Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender is misleading and deceiving homeowners who have tried to modify mortgages in two of the nation's most foreclosure-damaged states.

Bank of America violated Arizona's consumer fraud law by misleading consumers who tried to reduce their monthly payments to keep their homes, state Attorney General Terry Goddard said. The bank also violated the terms of a 2009 consent agreement requiring its Countrywide mortgage subsidiary to implement a loan modification program, the Arizona lawsuit alleges.

Hundreds of homeowners kept making their mortgage payments because Bank of America repeatedly assured them that their loans were being modified, Goddard said. Instead, many lost their homes anyway.

"Those people could have used that money for something else," Goddard told The Associated Press. "They were deceived into continuing to make mortgage payments when they had no hope of saving their homes."

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto told the AP that the Silver State's lawsuit was a last resort to try to get the bank to change its ways. It was filed after several discussions with bank managers led to assurances but little more.

It's another missed court date, another arrest warrant for Randy Quaid's wife, Evi.

The 47-year-old failed to appear for a probation hearing Thursday in Santa Barbara and faces a new $100,000 arrest warrant, Deputy District Attorney Anthony Davis said.

At the hearing, Evi Quaid's attorney, Robert Sanger, withdrew from the case. He declined comment Friday in an e-mail.

Randy and Evi Quaid are wanted in the coastal city for a felony vandalism case in which they're accused of causing more than $5,000 damage to the guest house of a home they once owned. Neither has shown up for any court hearings since a criminal case was filed in October and have already forfeited $1 million in bail.

They remain in Canada, where they are seeking asylum from a group they have dubbed the "Hollywood star-whackers."

Randy Quaid faces immigration hearings there to determine whether he should be allowed to remain in Canada and whether he should be granted refugee status. His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 22.

The retention vote in which three Iowa Supreme Court justices were ousted was illegal, according to a lawsuit seeking to keep the three justices from being tossed from the bench.

The lawsuit claims the vote violated the Iowa Constitution, which requires judicial retention votes to be held on a separate ballot.

Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and justices Michael Streit and David Baker were voted off following a campaign by groups opposed to the court's unanimous decision to legalize same-sex marriage in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register reported that the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Thomas W. George, John P. Roehrick and Carlton Salmons, asks for a temporary judicial order that would prohibit the judges from leaving the court when their terms expire at the end of December.

The Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A., www.suemyadvisor.com, announced today it filed an arbitration claim against UBS Financial Services, Inc. (“UBS”), (NYSE: UBS) on behalf of an investor who lost the vast majority of his retirement savings as a result of the purchase of Lehman Brothers principal protected notes (“Notes”).  The claim alleges UBS was negligent and engaged in gross misconduct by misrepresenting and omitting material facts regarding the Notes.

UBS marketed the Notes as safe, secure, investments without informing the purchasers of the true risks associated with the Notes, including the fact that the Notes were tied to the credit worthiness of the guarantor, Lehman Brothers.   Furthermore, based on the examiner’s report of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, UBS engaged in short term lending transactions with Lehman Brothers known as Repo 105 transactions on a fully collaterized basis, while its trading force continued to solicit purchases of the Notes which contained 100% risk.  When Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the values of the Notes became essentially worthless. 

If you have purchased Lehman Brothers Notes or have sustained any other investment losses, the attorneys at the Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A. are dedicated to pursuing claims on behalf of investors who have suffered investment losses as a result of broker misconduct. 

For a free case evaluation or to discuss this matter, please contact the Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A., at 888-923-9223, or visit us on the web at www.suemyadvisor.com