White Collar

  • August 28, 2024

    Calif. Debt Relief Firm Ran Criminal Enterprise, Judge Says

    A California bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday that the defunct Orange County debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group operated a "criminal enterprise" and possibly a Ponzi scheme, a finding that representatives for the firm's court-appointed bankruptcy trustee say they will use to claw money back from investors.

  • August 28, 2024

    Atlanta's Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years For 'Triple-Dipping' In Coffers

    Atlanta's former chief financial officer became the latest city hall official to head to prison on corruption charges Tuesday, after getting hit with a three-year prison sentence for what prosecutors called a "triple-dipping" scheme into city coffers to pay for swanky vacations and illegal firearms.

  • August 28, 2024

    Conn. Dental Practices Settle False Claims Case For $1.7M

    Three dental practices in Connecticut and their owners have paid a $1.7 million settlement after federal and state authorities accused them of using an illegal patient recruiting tactic and paying kickbacks that ripped off Medicaid.

  • August 28, 2024

    Pa. Ex-Cop Faces Feb. Trial On Trimmed Jan. 6 Charges

    A D.C. federal judge set a February date for Joseph Fischer's Jan. 6 Capitol attack trial, clearing the way for the former Pennsylvania cop to be tried by prosecutors after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the obstruction of Congress charge in his case.

  • August 28, 2024

    AI Software Co. Must Face SEC's $108M Pyramid Scheme Suit

    A Florida federal judge has refused to toss a suit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against the owners of a multilevel marketing company, accusing them of running a fraudulent and unregistered securities offering that raised roughly $108 million from claims that they are using artificial intelligence to develop software, saying the SEC has sufficiently pleaded the existence of a scheme, among other things.

  • August 28, 2024

    Tenn. High Court Says Pot Smell A Factor In Probable Cause

    Tennessee's highest court has ruled that notwithstanding the federal legalization of hemp, which smells like marijuana, a drug-sniffing police dog's signal that cannabis odor is present can still be a factor in giving law enforcement probable cause for a vehicle search.

  • August 27, 2024

    Exec To Pay SEC $190K Over Macquarie Insider Trading Claim

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says a New York man who used inside information he learned as a Macquarie Group investor relations executive to profit from a then-pending deal to sell its airport services business to KKR & Co. has agreed to pay nearly $190,000 to settle the agency's claims that he violated securities laws. ​

  • August 27, 2024

    'Big Baby' Asks To Wrap Documentary Before Going To Prison

    Former Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis asked a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday to delay the start of his 40-month prison sentence for his role in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to an NBA healthcare plan in order to finish filming a documentary about his life.

  • August 27, 2024

    Navy Shipbuilder Pleads Guilty To Accounting Fraud

    A shipbuilder that contracts with the U.S. Navy pled guilty Tuesday to accounting fraud as part of a settlement to resolve criminal and civil investigations.

  • August 27, 2024

    Boston Cop's Family Sues Girlfriend, Bars For Wrongful Death

    The family of John "J.J." O'Keefe, the Boston police officer allegedly killed by his girlfriend Karen Read, filed a wrongful death suit against her and two local bars where the couple were seen before his death.

  • August 27, 2024

    Rescheduling Pot Unlikely To Fix Banking Issues, Report Says

    A pending proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana is unlikely, on its own, to make it easier for state-regulated cannabis businesses to access financial services available to other industries, according to a recent report published by Capitol Hill's policy research arm.

  • August 27, 2024

    NY Fines Nordea Bank $35M In Panama Papers-Linked Action

    New York's Department of Financial Services announced Tuesday that Nordea Bank Abp will pay $35 million to settle allegations of "significant" anti-money laundering compliance failures, including helping customers set up offshore accounts for tax-sheltered companies tied to the Panama Papers.

  • August 27, 2024

    New Jersey Man Gets 3 Years In Prison For Forex Fraud

    A New Jersey man deemed a "modern day snake oil salesman" by Philadelphia's top federal prosecutor has been sentenced to just over three years in prison for defrauding hundreds of investors out of more than $500,000.

  • August 27, 2024

    Admiral Seeks Bribery Trial Separate From Contractors

    A retired U.S. Navy admiral  accused of accepting bribes from two contractors is pushing a Washington, D.C., federal court to sever his trial from theirs, saying the pair appeared poised to pin any alleged misconduct on him.

  • August 27, 2024

    DC Grand Jury Returns New Trump Indictment In Jan. 6 Case

    A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday returned a superseding indictment accusing Donald Trump of conspiring to subvert the results of the 2020 election, maintaining the same four criminal counts contained in the original indictment after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents possess immunity from prosecution related to official acts.

  • August 27, 2024

    Return Of Venezuela Sanctions Reignites Criminal Probes

    Criminal investigations into Venezuela-related sanctions violations appear to be ramping back up since the U.S. government reimposed crushing trade penalties on the South American country's oil and gas sectors in response to an allegedly sham presidential election, according to experts.

  • August 27, 2024

    Disbarred Atty Tom Girardi Convicted Of Defrauding Clients

    A California federal jury on Tuesday convicted disbarred attorney Tom Girardi on all four counts of wire fraud, finding that the former titan of the plaintiffs bar misappropriated $15 million of his clients' settlement funds.

  • August 27, 2024

    Biz Owner Gets 22 Months For Keeping $2.5M In Payroll Tax

    A man who ran construction companies was sentenced to nearly two years in prison and ordered to pay about $2.5 million in restitution to the federal government after admitting he didn't pay employment taxes, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said Tuesday.

  • August 27, 2024

    Ex-Trooper Asks To Delay Prison In OT Scam Amid Appeal

    A former Massachusetts state trooper asked to stay his five-year prison sentence for stealing overtime pay, lying on his taxes and cheating to get student aid for his son — a request prosecutors said was "yet another attempt to delay justice in this case."

  • August 27, 2024

    US Arrests Hungarian Suspected Of Sending Radios To Russia

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against a Hungarian national suspected to have run a multinational procurement network designed to help Russia obtain U.S. military-grade communications technology.

  • August 26, 2024

    Feds Say Trump Docs Dismissal Contradicts 'Long Tradition'

    Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday lodged the government's opening brief in its Eleventh Circuit appeal of the dismissal of the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, arguing that the lower court's finding is contrary to "precedent and history" and the "long tradition of special-counsel appointments by the attorney general."

  • August 26, 2024

    SEC Inks $946K Settlement In Unregistered Broker Case

    A trust and its co-owners have agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil penalties totaling $946,000 to resolve allegations they operated as unregistered broker-dealers when helping to facilitate more than $1.2 billion in securities transactions by penny stock issuers. 

  • August 26, 2024

    Businessmen Say Feds' Ky. Tower Seizure Suit Can't Proceed

    Two Miami businessmen have objected to a federal magistrate judge's recommendation opposing their attempt to toss litigation by the U.S. government as it looks to seize about $9.1 million from the sale of a Kentucky office tower, saying the United States can't prove its case.

  • August 26, 2024

    Girardi Lied 'Over And Over,' Jury Told As Fraud Trial Wraps

    A federal prosecutor told a California federal jury during closing arguments in Tom Girardi's criminal fraud trial Monday that the now-disbarred attorney lied to his clients "over and over and over again" in order to misappropriate millions of their settlement money as part of a yearslong Ponzi scheme.

  • August 26, 2024

    SEC Fines Sound Point $1.8M Over Nonpublic Info Oversight

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that private fund adviser Sound Point Capital Management LP will pay $1.8 million to settle charges that it failed to prevent the misuse of nonpublic information in certain collateralized loan trades.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

    Author Photo

    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

    Author Photo

    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • 25 Years Of OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention

    Author Photo

    Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-bribery convention has advanced legislative reforms and reshaped corporate conduct in dozens of countries amid the persistent challenges of uneven enforcement and political pressure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls

    Author Photo

    Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage

    Author Photo

    A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.

  • Playing The Odds: Probing Sports Betting Allegations

    Author Photo

    With gambling-related controversies becoming a mainstay of the athletics landscape, it's essential for in-house and outside counsel to stay abreast of best practices for conducting sports betting investigations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

    Author Photo

    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • What FTX Case Taught Us About Digital Asset Recoverability

    Author Photo

    FTX's Chapter 11 plan has drawn lots of attention, but the focus should be on the anticipated outcome for investors, which counters several myths about digital currencies, innovation and recoverability, says Kyla Curley at StoneTurn.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

    Author Photo

    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Opinion

    Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

    Author Photo

    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • A Timeline Of Antisemitism Legislation And What It Means

    Author Photo

    What began as hearings in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce has expanded to a House-wide effort to combat antisemitism and related issues, with wide-ranging implications for education, finance and nonprofit entities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors

    Author Photo

    Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the White Collar archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!