White Collar

  • December 11, 2024

    SEC Must Revisit $23M Demand In Collectibles Fraud Case

    A New Jersey federal judge has ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to recalculate its $23 million bid for disgorgement in a long-running suit against a sports memorabilia merchant found liable at trial last year for ripping off investors, in part by lying about the value of two contracts signed by baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ex-Telecom CEO Charged With Insider Trading On His Own Firing

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that former Comtech Telecommunications Corp. CEO Ken Peterman has been charged with insider trading after he used nonpublic information about the company and his own impending termination to profit from the sale of tens of thousands of dollars' worth of Comtech stock.

  • December 11, 2024

    Pot Farmer Opposes Sanctions In Suit Over Mistaken Raid

    An Oklahoma medical marijuana cultivator whose property was destroyed when state drug enforcers mistakenly raided his legal farm is pushing back on efforts to hit him with sanctions for allegedly being belligerent during a deposition, telling a federal court that he's offered to sit down for a second round of questioning.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ex-Rep. TJ Cox Reaches Plea Deal On Fraud Charges

    Former U.S. Rep. T.J. Cox reached a deal with California federal prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two charges and pay up to a $3.5 million fine over allegations he stole from his companies and took illegal campaign contributions, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday. 

  • December 11, 2024

    CFTC Wraps With Last Defendant In IcomTech Crypto Ponzi

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's litigation over the IcomTech cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme has come to a close now that a fifth defendant has been ordered to pay restitution for his role in the $3.5 million scheme.

  • December 11, 2024

    NRA Ordered To Reform Policies After NY Misconduct Verdict

    A New York judge ordered changes to the National Rifle Association's board structure and organizational policies Wednesday to "prevent future violations of law," following a jury verdict that found widespread financial misconduct and whistleblower retaliation within the gun group.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ill. Atty Convicted Of Tax Fraud, Scripting Witness Testimony

    An Illinois attorney has been convicted of tax fraud, witness tampering and contempt in a federal court retrial on charges that he filed false tax returns, alongside added charges that he tried to script an employee's testimony and violated court orders, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

  • December 11, 2024

    SEC Sues Disbarred Calif. Atty And Son For Securities Fraud

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a suit against a father-son duo and a broker for allegedly running a Ponzi-like scheme disguised as an investment company for a start-up content streaming app, raising over $17 million from at least 40 investors.

  • December 11, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Haynes Boone's Daniel Geyser

    Daniel L. Geyser of Haynes and Boone LLP is an unconventional U.S. Supreme Court advocate in every respect, from the path he forged to become one of the high court's frequent arguers to the way he runs his current practice from more than half a country away from the nation's capital.

  • December 11, 2024

    Feds Say TD Bank Worker Helped Launder Drug Money

    A former employee of TD Bank NA who worked in Florida has been arrested and charged with assisting in a money laundering scheme that used the Toronto-based financial institution to illicitly send millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds from the United States to Colombia, according to documents filed in federal court.

  • December 11, 2024

    Law Firm Manager Gets Prison For Bribes In No-Fault Scam

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday hit a former law firm manager with a five-year prison sentence for paying $800,000 in bribes that fueled a $70 million no-fault automobile insurance fraud racket, saying his lawbreaking "was massive in scope."

  • December 11, 2024

    Doctors Group Asks DC Circ. To Pause Pot Hearings

    A group of doctors who advise their patients on medical cannabis is asking the D.C. Circuit to put a stay on hearings set for January over whether to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, saying they were unfairly denied the chance to participate in those hearings.

  • December 11, 2024

    Black Realtor, Client Cuffed During House Showing Can Sue

    The Sixth Circuit has partially reinstated a lawsuit filed by a Black real estate agent and his client who were arrested while touring a Michigan house for sale after a neighbor called the police, reviving an unlawful detention claim against one of the officers.

  • December 11, 2024

    Nigerians Impersonated US Brokers For $3M Scam, Feds Say

    Three Nigerian nationals were charged on Wednesday with running a nearly $3 million internet investment fraud scheme in which they impersonated legitimate securities brokers and investment advisers, misappropriated the seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and stole from at least 28 investors.

  • December 11, 2024

    Temp Agency Owner Gets Prison For $2M Tax Scheme

    A temp agency owner was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty in Massachusetts federal court to paying employees under-the-table wages to avoid $2.1 million in taxes.

  • December 11, 2024

    Cross-Border Criminal Antitrust Trial Will Stay In Houston

    A case against a group of defendants accused of using violence to monopolize the cross-border sale of used cars from the U.S. into Central America must stay in Houston, a federal judge ruled this week.

  • December 11, 2024

    Former ESPN Radio Host Gets Prison For $5M Ticket Scheme

    A Florida federal judge has sentenced a former ESPN Radio host to almost four years in prison for tricking investors into sending him $5.1 million for a sham ticket reselling business.

  • December 11, 2024

    WilmerHale's Bharara Named To Steer NJ Traffic Stop Probe

    The New Jersey attorney general has named Preet Bharara, a partner at WilmerHale and a former U.S. attorney, to head a criminal investigation into a significant drop in speeding and drunken driving tickets written by the State Police.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ozy Media Ex-CEO's Atty Seeks More Time Or OK To Quit

    An attorney for former Ozy Media Inc. CEO Carlos Watson asked a New York federal judge Wednesday for permission to withdraw from Watson's fraud and identity theft case unless he and other defense counsel can have more time to prepare for sentencing proceedings set to begin Friday.

  • December 11, 2024

    Former SEC Unit Chief Joins Gibson Dunn In NY

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP said Monday that a veteran of more than 14 years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is joining its New York office.

  • December 11, 2024

    FBI Director Wray To Resign Before Trump's Inauguration

    FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday he will resign in January at the end of President Joe Biden's term, averting what was expected to be his dismissal when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

  • December 11, 2024

    Antitrust Bar's 'Leading Light,' Ex-Morgan Lewis Chair Dies

    John Shenefield, a former chair of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP who also served as an assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, died Monday at 85, according to a statement released by Morgan Lewis on Wednesday.

  • December 10, 2024

    Md. Jury Convicts Ex-Biotech Execs On Some Fraud Counts

    Two former biotech executives were convicted on some counts Monday following a monthlong Maryland federal court trial in a case alleging they juiced CytoDyn Inc.'s share price by lying to investors about the development of a drug to treat HIV and COVID-19.

  • December 10, 2024

    OneTaste Execs Want Sexually Explicit Evidence Out Of Trial

    Former OneTaste executives on Tuesday asked a New York federal judge to block prosecutors from showing jurors sexually explicit evidence at their upcoming forced labor conspiracy trial, saying the government is trying to put the sexual wellness company and "orgasmic meditation" on trial.

  • December 10, 2024

    Wash. Woman Accused Of Smuggling Oil, Gas Parts To Russia

    A Washington-based regional manager of a freight forwarding company is accused of helping Russians evade U.S. export controls and sanctions issued after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine by illegally shipping industrial oil and gas equipment to Russia through intermediary countries like China, New York federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Parsing FY 2024 DOJ Criminal Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

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    While the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division's strike force on healthcare fraud enforcement action shows an impressive doubling of criminal indictments, a closer look at the data offers important clues about underlying trends, including the comparably modest, accompanying increase in associated intended loss, say Roderick Thomas and Kathleen Cooperstein at Wiley.

  • FTC Drives Crackdown On Connected Cars' Data Privacy Risk

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    After the Federal Trade Commission's warning to automakers about data privacy, which continues to emerge as a national concern, automakers must carefully examine their data collection, use and retention practices, say Catherine Castaldo and Michael Rubayo at Reed Smith.

  • Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Lessons From Recent SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions

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    The recent guidance by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance is helpful to any company facing a cybersecurity threat, but just as instructive are the warnings raised by the SEC's recent enforcement actions against SolarWinds, R.R. Donnelley and Intercontinental Exchange, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail

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    The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • 2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances

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    Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Inside OCC's Retail Nondeposit Investment Products Refresh

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    In addition to clarifying safe and sound risk management practices generally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's revised booklet on retail nondeposit investment products updates its guidance around certain sales practices in light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 5 Defense Lessons From Prosecutors' Recent Evidence Flubs

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    The recent dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges, and the filing of an ethics complaint against a former D.C. prosecutor, both provide takeaways for white collar defense counsel who suspect that prosecutors may be withholding or misrepresenting evidence, say Anden Chow at MoloLamken and Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Why The SEC Is Targeting Short-And-Distort Schemes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent crackdown on the illegal practice of short-and-distort trades highlights the urgent need for public companies to adopt proactive measures, including pursuing private rights of action, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror

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    Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.

  • DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win

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    After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases

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    The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.

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