White Collar

  • July 29, 2024

    Ariz. Man Avoids Jail In Fraud Involving 'Housewives' Star

    A Manhattan federal judge on Monday allowed an Arizona businessman who helped operate large-scale telemarketing scams to avoid time behind bars, citing his cooperation in an investigation that ultimately saw "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah sentenced to prison.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ex-Volunteer Hit With $30M Judgment For Filming Minor

    A former youth swim team volunteer currently serving 25 years in federal prison for creating and distributing child pornography must pay $30 million to a girl he purportedly photographed in his bathroom without her knowledge when she was underage, a Connecticut state judge has ruled.

  • July 29, 2024

    Hunter Biden Attys Say They Didn't Mislead Judge In Tax Case

    Hunter Biden's attorneys told a Los Angeles federal judge that while several statements in their motion to dismiss tax charges against the president's son were worded "perhaps inartfully," they never intended to mislead the court in a way that would merit sanctions.

  • July 29, 2024

    NRA Avoids Compliance Monitor In NY AG Case

    A Manhattan judge on Monday rejected the New York attorney general's request for a compliance monitor to oversee the National Rifle Association, saying such relief would "result in a long, awkward and potentially speech-chilling government involvement in a political organization."

  • July 29, 2024

    Mich. AG Drops Remaining Case Against Carhartt Heiress Atty

    Prosecutors will not retry a Michigan attorney they claim stole from his wealthy client, the late Carhartt company heiress Gretchen Valade, and have agreed to toss similar embezzlement charges in a separate case. 

  • July 29, 2024

    Ga. Prosecutors Fight DQ Bid Over Secret Meeting In YSL Trial

    Georgia prosecutors said Friday it would be "egregious abuse" of the court's discretion to grant Atlanta rapper Young Thug's request to have them disqualified from the racketeering trial because of a secret meeting with the judge and a witness, arguing that this is an unwarranted request that seeks to delay the already longest trial in Peach State history.

  • July 29, 2024

    White Collar Update: 4 Developments To Watch

    White-collar lawyers are on the lookout for U.S. Department of Justice actions targeting artificial intelligence "snake oil," aggressive pandemic-relief fraud prosecutions, and carrots for corporations and whistleblowers who expose misconduct. Here's a look at some key developments to watch in the second half of 2024.

  • July 29, 2024

    Teller Pens Deal With Wells Fargo In AML Whistleblower Case

    Wells Fargo has reached a settlement in principle with a former teller who claimed she was fired after raising concerns about the bank's "streamlined" account opening process that allowed customers to open accounts if they'd failed anti-money laundering screenings previously.

  • July 29, 2024

    'Survivor' Winner Says He's Vulnerable In $3M Tax Battle

    The winner of the first "Survivor" television season told a Rhode Island federal court Monday that the government was unfairly painting him as flouting nearly $3.3 million in federal tax liabilities stemming from his $1 million cash prize, saying he was "ill-equipped to battle prosecutors."

  • July 29, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec Seeks Leniency After SEC Contempt Plea

    A former pharmaceutical executive is hoping to avoid jail after his use of an alias to circumvent a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban on finance work landed him a criminal contempt conviction, while Boston federal prosecutors are seeking up to 10 months in prison.

  • July 26, 2024

    DOJ Whistleblower Pilot On Deck As Cos. Boost Compliance

    Corporations are making their compliance programs more proactive amid an ongoing push from the Biden administration for firms to come forward with information as the U.S. Department of Justice prepares to roll out a pilot program to reward whistleblowers who alert prosecutors to significant corporate misconduct.

  • July 26, 2024

    Apple Commits To White House Guidelines For Responsible AI

    Apple Inc. has signed onto the Biden administration's voluntary guidelines for "responsible" artificial intelligence innovation, joining the likes of Amazon.com Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft Corp. and a dozen other leading tech companies, the White House announced Friday.

  • July 26, 2024

    State Street Inks $7.5M Deal Over Russia Sanctions Violations

    Financial services giant State Street has agreed to pay nearly $7.5 million to resolve apparent violations by its investment management solution subsidiary Charles River Systems Inc. of Obama-era sanctions targeting Russian actions against Ukraine, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Friday.

  • July 26, 2024

    SEC Sues Banker And Ex-Prosecutor Alleging $1.6M Fraud

    A Georgia banker fraudulently bilked approximately $1.6 million from unsuspecting investors for "furs and furniture" and other expenses while a former Florida prosecutor ignored several red flags when holding on to the investments, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Georgia federal court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Mich. High Court Tossing Too Many Convictions, Justice Says

    A Michigan Supreme Court justice criticized his colleagues Thursday for what he described as a "campaign" of unraveling convictions and undermining prosecutors, in an impassioned dissent from the court's decision to grant a new trial to a parent convicted of killing her infant daughter.

  • July 26, 2024

    FTX's Ryan Salame Asks To Delay Prison After Dog Attack

    Former FTX executive Ryan Salame on Friday asked a New York federal judge to delay his prison surrender date because he was recently mauled by a German shepherd and must undergo "urgent and necessary medical treatment and surgery."

  • July 26, 2024

    Girardi Can't Show Ex-CFO's Spending Habits In Fraud Trial

    Jurors in Tom Girardi's upcoming fraud trial won't hear details about the spending habits of Girardi Keese's former CFO, who's accused of a "side fraud" that bilked millions without Girardi's knowledge, after a California federal judge agreed with prosecutors Friday that the evidence appears more prejudicial than probative.

  • July 26, 2024

    3 Ex-Seton Hall Law Workers Cop To 13-Year Embezzlement

    A former assistant dean and two other former employees of Seton Hall University School of Law pled guilty this week to defrauding their former employer of more than $1.3 million in a scheme spanning 13 years.

  • July 26, 2024

    Franklin Says DOJ, SEC Probing Western Asset Management

    Western Asset Management, a global fixed-income manager, is facing parallel investigations from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over some of its past trade allocations, its parent Franklin Resources Inc. said Friday.

  • July 26, 2024

    'Worthless' Insurance Scam Gets Telemarketing CEO 25 Years

    An Illinois federal judge has sentenced the owner of a telemarketing company to 25 years in federal prison for scheming with another former executive to sell consumers health insurance plans with low coverage caps.

  • July 26, 2024

    RTX Earmarks $1.2B For Anticipated Deals With DOJ, SEC

    RTX Corp., formerly known as Raytheon, said it has set aside more than $1.2 billion for anticipated deferred prosecution agreements and other deals with U.S. regulators stemming from investigations that include allegations of improper payments tied to contracts in the Middle East.

  • July 26, 2024

    Biz Groups Call Corp. Transparency Act Unconstitutional

    The U.S. government has failed to show how the Corporate Transparency Act meets narrow exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's search warrant requirements, a group of small businesses told a Michigan federal court Friday in contending that the statute is unconstitutional.  

  • July 26, 2024

    One Prosecutor's Quest To Carve Up Crypto's 'Pig Butchers'

    A Silicon Valley-based prosecutor who's made it her mission to fight what are known as pig butchering cryptocurrency scams says it is time to start taking a closer look at the role financial institutions and social platforms should play in identifying and blocking bad actors.

  • July 26, 2024

    Feds Want Mogul To Forfeit $1.5M In NC Bribery Case

    Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg should forfeit nearly $1.5 million he allegedly used to bribe North Carolina's insurance regulation chief in exchange for more friendly oversight of his companies, the U.S. government told a North Carolina federal court Friday.

  • July 26, 2024

    'Terrible Decisions': Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Gets 5 Years

    McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer was sentenced Friday in a New Jersey state court to five years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission

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    The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs’ apparent practice of issuing press releases when someone is indicted or convicted, but not when a defendant prevails, undermines its stated mission to disseminate “current, complete and accurate” information, and has negative real-world ramifications, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Reducing Risk While DOJ Plans New Whistleblower Rewards

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    In light of the Department of Justice's newly announced plan to create a comprehensive whistleblower reward program to fill the gaps in the current patchwork of federal incentives, companies should mitigate their risk of external claims now by implementing internal systems where employees can confidently and anonymously report concerns, say Caleb Hayes-Deats and Walter Hawes at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • DOJ's Safe Harbor Policy May Quietly Favor M&A Enforcement

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    In a change that has received little attention, the U.S. Justice Department's recently codified safe harbor policy essentially reads the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement out of the policy entirely, and now appears to favor merger enforcement in antitrust, rather than criminal enforcement, as originally intended, say Daniel Oakes and James Attridge at Axinn.

  • Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report

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    Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.

  • Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial

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    Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Why Individual Officers Are BSA-AML Enforcement Targets

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    Banking compliance professionals should use recent enforcement actions against individual officers at both Sterling Bank and the New York State Employees Credit Union to assess whether they are equipped with the tools and authority necessary to avert deficient Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, says Sam Finkelstein at Volkov Group.

  • 5 Issues To Consider When Liquidating Through An ABC

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    Assignments for the benefit of creditors continue to grow in popularity as a tool for an orderly wind-down, and companies should be considering a number of issues before effectuating the assignment, including in which state it should occur, obtaining tail coverage and preparing a board creditor mailing list, says Evelyn Meltzer at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice

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    With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.

  • 2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.

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    The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • NY Bond, Enforcement Options As Trump Judgment Looms

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    In light of former President Donald Trump's court filing this week indicating that he can't secure a bond for the New York attorney general's nearly $465 million judgment against him, Neil Pedersen of Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency and Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen explore New York state judgment enforcement options and the mechanics of securing and collateralizing an appellate bond.

  • Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference

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    Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.

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