In today’s world of cyber threats, many companies have fallen victim to ransomware attacks. Corporate boards and senior executives face serious issues when their companies are attacked. The payment of ransom is not only...more
6/1/2023
/ Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Hackers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Russia
The Justice Department certainly has altered the landscape of enforcement, compliance priorities, and ultimately corporate decisions surrounding voluntary disclosure. It has become a little bit more complicated to sort out...more
To restate the obvious – DOJ has prioritized prosecution of national security crimes. For the business world, every company touches the international economy. Even a domestic company might sell products or services outside...more
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division has suffered setbacks in its precedent-setting criminal prosecution of no-poach agreements in labor markets. The latest and perhaps most surprising defeat occurred when the...more
5/4/2023
/ Aerospace ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
No-Poaching ,
Popular
The Justice Department warned companies that sanctions enforcement is the “new FCPA.” DOJ just delivered its first salvo to back up its message....more
5/2/2023
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement Agreements
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge by Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, to its criminal prosecution for anti-money laundering violations and evasion of Iran Sanctions. In a 7-2 decision, authored by Justice...more
If there ever is an example of a rotten corporate culture, Wells Fargo sits at the head of the class. Since Wells Fargo’s sales pressure scandal, Wells Fargo has continued to suffer from a string of scandals and misconduct. ...more
3/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Code of Conduct ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Fines ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
OCC ,
Performance Incentives ,
Popular ,
Tone At The Top ,
Wells Fargo
The Justice Department has been pushing its voluntary self-disclosure program and changes to its Corporate Enforcement Policy, in an attempt to increase FCPA enforcement cooperation. The Golden Ring for every company facing...more
3/23/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The end of the road for Roger Ng, the Goldman Sachs Investment Banker, who played a critical role in the Goldman Sachs 1 MDB Malaysia scandal, was not a pretty one. District Judge Margo Brodie gave Ng a severe sentence of...more
3/16/2023
/ 1MDB ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Malaysia ,
Money Laundering ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
White Collar Crimes
This is not your typical FCPA enforcement action Lessons Learned column. Instead, Ericsson’s breach of its DPA presents a laundry list of internal investigation errors – as a practitioner in this area, this is the nightmare...more
3/9/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Document Management ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson’s breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement reads like an internal investigation horror show. It is every investigator’s nightmare scenario – failure to discover evidence that was available to inform and...more
3/8/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Iraq ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company, based in Sweden, settled its breach of its 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement, agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $206 million penalty. In 2019, Ericsson entered...more
3/7/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Iraq ,
ISIS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
White Collar Crimes
I am sticking with my 2023 prediction – DOJ is committed to aggressive enforcement of the Russia sanctions. Most of its efforts to date have been directed against Russian Oligarchs and significant evaders who are moving...more
3/1/2023
/ Civil Forfeiture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Indictments ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the U.S. Justice Department a victory in reversing an “out-of-whack” trial judge’s dismissal of two separate criminal indictments that were consolidated on...more
2/22/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
In its first enforcement action of 2023, the Justice Department charged a Connecticut man and a foreign national with FCPA bribery and money laundering charges stemming from a bribery scheme to secure contracts with Petrobras...more
2/21/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrobras ,
Popular ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department has a long-record of criminal prosecutions of companies for manufacturing food products under unsanitary conditions. In recent years, DOJ has prosecuted Blue Bell Ice Cream, Chipotle, ConAgra Grocery,...more
2/17/2023
/ Compliance ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Recalls ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Kellogg Company ,
Public Health ,
Retail Market ,
Salmonella
In an ironic twist (or you just can’t make this up moment, whichever you prefer), the Justice Department announced the arrest of Charles McGonigal, the former Special Agent in Charge (“SAC”) of the FBI’s Counterintelligence...more
2/1/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Falsified Documents ,
FBI ,
Foreign Policy ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
On Wednesday, January 18, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York charging Russian-national Anatoly Legkodymov, a senior executive at Bitzlato Ltd....more
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission bounced back in 2022 to restore their records for aggressive FCPA enforcement. At the same time, DOJ announced significant new compliance program...more
1/10/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark, agreed to plead guilty to fraud and paid $2 billion to settle long-standing anti-money laundering and fraud violations stemming from its banking operations in Estonia. Danske Bank...more
1/9/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Fraud ,
Banks ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Danske Bank ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Estonia ,
Financial Institutions ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering
In conjunction with the DOJ’s criminal indictment, the SEC brought civil charges against SBF. The SEC charged SBF with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in the FTX exchange (FTX Trading Ltd.). The SEC...more
Following FTX’s stunning collapse, federal prosecutors have quickly taken steps to hold FTX’s founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”) accountable. On December 13, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a criminal...more
12/19/2022
/ Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indictments ,
Misappropriation ,
Trading Platforms ,
White Collar Crimes
The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair...more
12/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Piling-On ,
South Africa ,
White Collar Crimes
Each FCPA case provides valuable lessons in the mechanics of bribery schemes and the common techniques used by violators to secure funds and make illegal payments to foreign government officials. Criminal violators often act...more
11/22/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Ghana ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Indictments ,
White Collar Crimes
Talk about a reminder of the past, Asante Berko, a former Executive Director in Goldman Sachs, recently was arrested in London on criminal FCPA charges arising from his involvement in a bribery scheme in Ghana....more
11/21/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Ghana ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Indictments ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes