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
DOJ is poised for a big year in the enforcement of Russian Sanctions and seizure of assets connected to Russian Oligarchs. It has been nearly a year since the U.S., its allies and partners have unleashed robust sanctions...more
In a significant action, DOJ’s Antitrust Division filed a complex complaint against Google charging it with a long-time scheme over 15 years to monopolize the digital advertising market. DOJ was joined by Attorneys General of...more
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
Trade compliance is the new hot field. Companies are catching up with trade compliance in response to the global sanctions regimes put in place to cripple Russia. The United States, its allies and partners have implemented...more
1/24/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
Ukraine ,
US Trade Policies
OFAC closed out 2022 with a late-night $4.3 million settlement with Danfoss A/S, a Danish manufacturer of refrigeration and cooling products for violations of the Iran, Syria and Sudan sanctions programs. OFAC has had a...more
DOJ closed out its FCPA enforcement year in 2022 with two significant settlements, the ABB and Honeywell cases. Aside from these two big settlements, there was a flurry of other actions in the last quarter of 2022....more
1/13/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
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
The Honeywell FCPA settlement underscored a number of important issues – lessons learned for compliance professionals. Every FCPA case carries important lessons learned, but some more than others....more
The facts surrounding Honeywell’s bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria are fairly straightforward. In Brazil, the facts underscore the significant risks of bribery when companies participate in large, valuable project...more
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had a strong FCPA enforcement year. However, there is certainly more to come and it is easy to predict that 2023 will be even a bigger year....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
Contrary to the often-repeated narrative, the Justice Department is transparent about its enforcement plans and compliance expectations. Since the issuance of the FCPA Guidance in 2012, DOJ has continued to provide guidance...more
12/12/2022
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Russia ,
Uber ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
Cryptocurrency companies are in trouble. Regulators are bearing down on crypto companies with the Eye of Sauron – pulling the crypto companies into their jurisdiction, prosecuting fraud cases, and aggressively prosecuting...more
12/9/2022
/ Corruption ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Virtual Currency
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
The Justice Department’s new Corporate Enforcement Policy and the heightened enforcement and compliance expectations were put to the test in its announcement of a $315 million settlement of bribery charges with ABB, a...more
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division continues its aggressive pursuit of enforcement and recently succeeded in blocking a controversial acquisition in the book selling market. After a string of losses in the merger...more
11/28/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Books ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Market Power ,
Merger Controls ,
Popular ,
Publishers
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
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security promised aggressive enforcement of export controls. BIS’s promise extended beyond the Russian-Belarus export controls. BIS has kept its promise....more
The Justice Department continues to pile up healthcare enforcement actions — false claims, anti-kickback, and fraud. DOJ is on its way to a record year....more
11/16/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Health Record Incentives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law
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