People v. Radojcic
Annotate this Case
Radojcic, his daughters, his attorney Helfand, and the office manager for one of his companies, were indicted for 52 financial crimes involving fraud on mortgage lenders. It was also alleged that Radojcic, while owing the IRS more than two million dollars, fraudulently obtained rental checks exceeding $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. After discovery, the state indicated its intent to call Helfand as a witness in exchange for use immunity. Helfand and Radojcic objected, asserting attorney-client privilege, and the trial court struck Helfand’s name from the state’s witness list. The appellate court reversed. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed, based on the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege, which applies when a client seeks the services of an attorney in furtherance of criminal or fraudulent activity. Transcripts of grand jury testimony met the standard of providing a reasonable basis to suspect the perpetration, or attempted perpetration, of a crime or fraud by Radojcic and a reasonable basis to suspect that communications with Helfand were in furtherance of the fraudulent scheme. The state met its burden of overcoming the privilege; there was no need to examine Helfand in camera prior before trial testimony. The only attorney-client communications that are subject to disclosure are those related to transactions identified in the indictment.
Court Description:
This Cook County appeal decides an evidentiary question in a criminal case. No trial has yet occurred.
Budimir Radojcic, two daughters of his, his attorney Mark Helfand, and Christa Patterson, the office manager of one of his companies, were indicted by a grand jury of 52 financial crimes. In 2009, after discovery, the State indicated its intent to call Helfand as a witness in exchange for use immunity. Both Helfand and Radojcic objected, asserting the attorney-client privilege, and the circuit court struck Helfand’s name from the State’s witness list. The appellate court reversed and the Illinois Supreme Court, in this decision, affirmed the appellate court.
The scheme alleged involved the defrauding of several mortgage lenders including Wells Fargo Bank, Credit Suisse Financial Corporation, Countrywide Mortgage Corporation, and others. It was also alleged that Radojcic, at a time when he owed the Internal Revenue Service over $2million, had fraudulently obtained rental checks exceeding $500,000 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege is at issue here. It is applicable when a client seeks or obtains the services of an attorney in furtherance of criminal or fraudulent activity. In this case, what was available to the circuit court for making its ruling was the grand jury testimony in transcript form, rather than live testimony. However, the supreme court said that the available grand jury testimony met the standard of providing a reasonable basis to suspect the perpetration, or attempted perpetration, of a crime or fraud by Radojcic and also a reasonable basis to suspect that his communications with Helfand were in furtherance of the mortgage fraud scheme. The State had thus met its evidentiary burden of overcoming the privilege, and the court found no need for Helfand to be examined in camera prior to testifying at trial. The only attorney-client communications which are subject to disclosure are those which relate to the real estate transactions identified in the indictment.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.