California attorney tried to hire Black Cube hackers to smear judge, state bar alleges

A Los Angeles area lawyer is facing potential disciplinary charges from the State Bar of California for allegedly conspiring to hire hackers from the controversial Israeli firm Black Cube to dig up dirt on a rival attorney and a judge who previously ruled against him. 

A June 6 filing in the bar court lays out the accusations against Michael Libman, who was one of the attorneys representing plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which resulted in a $67 million settlement. 

Libman was ultimately forced to return his $1.65 million fee from the settlement after it was determined that he had been a puppet of the city’s lawyers, taking instructions from them on how to represent his client.

According to the State Bar, that was just the beginning of Libman’s ethical violations. Hoping to expose collusion between Judge Elihu Berle and the new class counsel, Brian Kabateck, he allegedly conspired with a New York attorney to hire Israeli hackers to get access to their emails and phones. 

That attorney, Paul Paradis, was actually a FBI informant, and began recording his phone calls and meetings with Libman. 

In the recordings, Libman allegedly described traveling to Israel to meet with a hacker named “Ben” from Black Cube — an intelligence firm that, in its own words, “helps you win when no one else can.” Black Cube has been involved in a raft of scandals over the last decade, including for its work on behalf of Harvey Weinstein to smear and intimidate victims, and journalists, from reporting sexual abuse. 

The hacker allegedly requested information on the two targets from Libman and Paradis, including mobile phone numbers, electronic addresses, names of family members, addresses, social media information and information about their cars, including the model. 

The bill for services, they learned, would be $70,000. The same month Libman decided to invite the hacker for a meeting in the U.S., the FBI executed a search warrant on his home. 

In a statement sent to the Daily Journal newspaper, Libman’s attorneys said their client “vehemently” denies the charges. 

“The State Bar's allegations are completely meritless and do not constitute misconduct or acts of moral torpitude even if they were true," they said.

The case provides a brief glimpse into the hack-for-hire industry, which has taken off over the last decade and wreaked havoc globally.

While Black Cube engages in all manners of espionage, including by creating elaborate fake personas and using hidden cameras, it has been accused of hacking on numerous occasions. Two of its agents were arrested in 2016 for hacking and spying on Romania’s anti-corruption czar.

Black Cube did not respond to a request for comment.