In yet another indication of the renewed, aggressive antitrust enforcement program, the Justice Department recently announced the first attempted criminal monopolization case in decades — Nathan Nephi Zito, the president of a...more
The old adage — if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn’t — still rings true when it comes to MoviePass, which ultimately resulted in a criminal indictment charging two former executives with securities fraud....more
11/10/2022
/ Business Profits ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indictments ,
Investment ,
Market Manipulation ,
Marketing ,
Misrepresentation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stock Prices ,
Subscription Services ,
Wire Fraud
The Justice Department is continuing to use criminal enforcement as an important tool in the fight against healthcare fraud. While the False Claims Act continues its important place in the fight against healthcare fraud, DOJ...more
9/16/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Indictments ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare
The proper balance in corporate prosecutions remains a tricky issue. On the one hand, many argue that large fines and penalties against corporations are needed to deter criminal conduct, while others contend that...more
The Justice Department announced the indictment in New York of Cary Yan, a Chinese entrepreneur, and Gina Zhou, his assistant, on FCPA and money laundering charges relating to a scheme to secure control of an atoll owned by...more
9/6/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Marshall Islands ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice continues to respond to the compliance community’s concerns about the new certification requirement adopted as part of the Glencore FCPA enforcement action. DOJ has adopted this new requirement to...more
6/28/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Certification Requirements ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Statutory Violations
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) charged Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich with violating U.S. export controls by exporting U.S.-origin aircraft to Russia. In a precedent setting action,...more
6/23/2022
/ Asset Seizure ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Military Conflict ,
Russia ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has had a rough year in the criminal arena. While the Antitrust Division has aggressively blocked several proposed mergers, it has lost several significant criminal cases. ...more
6/16/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
Price-Fixing ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Sherman Act
The Justice Department has resumed FCPA enforcement with a bang. The new enforcement approach has been unveiled and the message for CCOs and corporate business leaders is clear — anti-corruption compliance should be a...more
6/6/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
White Collar Crimes
Glencore’s settlement with DOJ and the CFTC revealed a plethora of manipulative, deceptive and corrupt conduct, which spanned from at least 2007 to 2018 and occurred in the United States and global oil markets, including...more
6/3/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Market Manipulation ,
Oil & Gas ,
White Collar Crimes
In a long-anticipated and major enforcement action, the Justice Department and the Commodities and Futures Exchange Commission resolved a sprawling investigation with Glencore International A.G. and Glencore Ltd, a...more
5/27/2022
/ Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mining ,
White Collar Crimes
In a blockbuster settlement, DOJ unleashed its full power against Allianz Global and key portfolio managers responsible for a massive, long running fraud scheme involving a series of private investment funds managed by...more
5/25/2022
/ Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Indictments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Settlement Agreements ,
White Collar Crimes
Prosecuting white collar crimes is a “mind game” in more ways than one. This is another in my long series of profound grasps of the obvious. -
As a former federal prosecutor, the difference between a crime and compliant...more
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has suffered setbacks in recent months. Prior to these recent cases, DOJ’s Antitrust Division secured some significant trial victories, including Bumble Bee’s former CEO Chris...more
4/20/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bumble Bee Foods ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Price-Fixing ,
Wage-Fixing ,
White Collar Crimes
On the top of its record of success, DOJ won two big and highly-contested cases. The first against Elizabeth Holmes and the second against Roger Ng. In perhaps one of its most significant failures, DOJ was handed a quick...more
4/20/2022
/ 1MDB ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Boeing ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Investment Fraud ,
Theranos ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
Federal prosecutors know that their job – to represent the United States – is the highlight of their legal career. Speaking from experience, federal prosecutors are a privileged lot – they can announce in court they represent...more
The Antitrust Division’s Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter promised a new era in antitrust enforcement. He won bi-partisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. Across the antitrust field, he promised...more
Well, we all know the familiar repetitive life experiences from the movie Groundhog Day, or as I like to say it, Déjà vu All Over Again. DOJ emphasizes over and over the importance of prosecuting individuals for criminal...more
The Justice Department announced the arrest and indictment of Charles Hunter Hobson for violating the FCPA, money laundering and receiving kickbacks arising from a bribery scheme to pay government officials in Egypt in...more
4/5/2022
/ Bribery ,
Coal Industry ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Indictments ,
Kickbacks ,
Money Laundering ,
Wire Fraud
The Department of Justice criminal prosecution of Mark Forkner, chief technical pilot at Boeing responsible for the 737 Max, ended in quick acquittal. DOJ prosecutors suffered an embarrassing loss in an attempt to hold...more
3/29/2022
/ Acquittals ,
Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Aviation Industry ,
Boeing ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Jury Trial ,
Wire Fraud
The Justice Department continues to prosecute Russian-related crimes. Since the Ukraine Crisis, DOJ has steadily been announcing criminal charges against defendants connected to Russia. ...more
In another action targeting Russian actors and connections, the Justice Department indicted Elena Branson, a dual United States-Russian national with criminal evasion of Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) registration...more
3/17/2022
/ Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evasion ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Indictments ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbyists ,
National Security ,
Russia ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern Direct of New York recently announced the indictment of Jack Hanick, a United States citizen, of violating the U.S. sanctions against Russia and false statements in connection with...more
3/8/2022
/ Cable Television Providers ,
Crimea ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extradition ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List
The Justice Department trumpeted its criminal prosecutions against defendants charged with Libor-rigging. It had a right to toot its own horn. But many of these convictions have not withstood the scrutiny of appellate...more
2/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Lack of Evidence ,
Libor ,
Mail Fraud ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud ,
Wrongful Conviction
Chief compliance officers have plenty of things to do and risks to manage. CCOs have a unique remit and a set of skills that should be applied whenever needed. While I am not trying to increase CCO workload (and forgive me...more
2/2/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cartels ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sherman Act ,
White Collar Crimes