Last month, the Department of Justice put trade, customs, and tariff fraud squarely in the spotlight. This isn’t just another line item on the compliance checklist, it’s a loud-and-clear signal that import-related enforcement...more
6/10/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Customs ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Imports ,
Manufacturers ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
White Collar Crimes
In less than 100 days, the Trump administration has implemented a dizzying array of new tariffs, significantly increasing costs and complexity for U.S. importers. The administration is keenly aware that companies operating in...more
3/26/2025
/ China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Smuggling ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On August 1, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, first announced earlier this year. Through the pilot program, the DOJ may issue awards to whistleblowers who...more
10/30/2024
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The demise of Chevron opens up new potential defenses in False Claims Act (FCA) cases.
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, put an end to Chevron deference to agency interpretation...more
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) annual False Claims Act (FCA) press release revealed that it increased self-initiated investigations for the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, by 1.5 times over the prior year....more
On November 16, 2023, a federal jury in Los Angeles returned guilty verdicts against two corporate executives of a consumer product distributor for conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the lawful functions...more
On July 20, 2022, HHS-OIG published a new Special Fraud Alert on arrangements with telemedicine companies, setting forth seven characteristics OIG believes could suggest a given arrangement poses a heighted risk of fraud and...more
On March 3, 2022, at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized in a keynote address the Biden Administration’s stated priority to increase corporate...more
On February 1, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued its annual release touting its latest accomplishments in the False Claims Act field, advertising another multibillion-dollar year in recoveries; $5.6 billion makes...more
On October 28, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced three changes to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to corporate criminal enforcement. Monaco announced the changes during the Keynote Address at the...more
On July 1, 2021, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded the Brand Memorandum and the Sessions Memorandum, which directed Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys to refrain from using agency guidance to bring...more
On May 17, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a new, inter-agency task force led by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to address fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 Task Force). According to DOJ’s...more
Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include:
SEC...more
4/23/2021
/ Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
Recently, the Beverly Hills Bar Association in California sponsored a panel presentation on “PPP Enforcement Trends,” whose panelists included a high-level prosecutor from the United States Attorney’s Office and other leading...more
Recently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California settled a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) fraud investigation with Slidebelts, Inc. and its owner Brigham Taylor not by arresting Mr. Taylor, but...more
Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include:
SEC...more
1/29/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
NDAA ,
Parent Corporation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published notice in the federal register that it is seeking approval from the government’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to release two new forms (Form 3509...more
11/13/2020
/ Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Liquidity ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
OMB ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Questionnaires ,
SBA
In times of crisis, there are heroes, villains, victims, and everyone in between. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, many valiant efforts are under immense time pressure—to care for the ill, to protect the vulnerable, to find and...more
Federal enforcers typically announce (formally as well as informally) work plans or focus areas for the upcoming year that can provide some guidance as to where providers might anticipate enforcement action and, where they...more
On November 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced the establishment of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). The PCSF aims to deter, detect, investigate, and prosecute antitrust crimes and...more
11/8/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Collusion ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
DCIS ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
FBI ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Inspector General ,
Price-Fixing ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
State Attorneys ,
USPS
In a memo leaked last year (the Granston Memo), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) instructed its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless whistleblower False Claims Act (FCA) cases when it is in the...more
On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a policy related to resolutions of criminal and civil corporate enforcement. The new “Policy on Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties” was issued by...more
On February 28, 2018, Ethan P. Davis, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Consumer Protection Branch, addressed the life sciences community regarding off-label promotion. In his remarks, Deputy Assistant Attorney...more
3/6/2018
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Attorney General ,
CGMP ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Life Sciences ,
Misleading Statements ,
Off-Label Promotion ,
Opioid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
REMS
The new tax law changed the deductibility of settlements with government agencies in some circumstances thereby increasing the cost to companies to settle these cases. The deduction arose from the section in the Internal...more
2/19/2018
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fines ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 162(f) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions
In a January 10, 2018 memo that leaked last week (the “Granston Memo”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) directs its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases brought by...more