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White Collar
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April 25, 2013
CORRECTED: Ex-Hevesi Aide Jailed For Investment Scheme Wins Parole
A former top aide to New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi received parole Monday after serving two years for his involvement in a pay-to-play investment scheme involving New York state's pension fund. (Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Morris was a former partner at Cozen O'Connor. Morris has never worked at Cozen O'Connor and has no affiliation with the firm.)
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April 24, 2013
Novartis Reveals Probe Of Plant Quality Issues
Novartis AG announced Wednesday that two of its units were under civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged vaccine-related quality issues at their production facilities, compounding the company’s woes after being sued by the DOJ over another matter.
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April 24, 2013
Ex-KFI Recruiter Found Guilty Of Hacking, Trade Secrets Theft
A California federal jury on Wednesday found former Korn/Ferry International corporate executive recruiter David Nosal guilty of six counts of hacking, stealing trade secrets and conspiracy in a scheme to use information from Korn/Ferry's database of executives to launch a rival recruiting business.
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April 24, 2013
GOP Pushes Bill To Let New Yorkers Tell Pols 'You're Fired'
Weighing in on initiatives to crack down on public fraud after a spate of recent bribery arrests, a Republican lawmaker in the New York State Assembly told Law360 on Wednesday that the Empire State should consider amending its constitution to let voters give elected officials a pink slip.
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April 24, 2013
Ex-Wilson Sonsini Atty Fights Record Sentence In 3rd Circ.
A former Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC attorney slapped with the longest prison term ever doled out in an insider trading scheme should not have been sentenced based on the profits reaped by his co-conspirators, the Third Circuit heard during oral arguments Wednesday.
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April 24, 2013
Rep.'s Aide Cops Plea In Fraud Plot With Traffic Court Judge
The administrative aide to a Pennsylvania state representative Wednesday pled guilty to funneling tens of thousands of state funds earmarked for community organizations to friends and associates, in a scheme that also prompted the indictment of a Traffic Court judge.
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April 24, 2013
DOJ Ignores Judicial Role In Fast And Furious Suit: Judge
A Washington federal judge seemed unlikely Wednesday to toss House Republicans' lawsuit seeking U.S. Department of Justice documents related to the controversial Fast and Furious gun-tracking program, saying the agency's arguments ignored the court's check-and-balance role among government branches.
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April 24, 2013
White & Case Faces Disqualification In $800M Price-Scam Suit
A Connecticut federal judge on Tuesday asked White & Case LLP to explain why it should not be removed from defending a case over an $800 million price inflation scheme by former Royal Ahold NV subsidiary U.S. Foodservice Inc.
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April 24, 2013
Q&A With Steptoe's Brian Heberlig
The discovery rules should require the government to produce witness statements at the outset of a criminal case — waiting until the eve of trial to turn over this critical evidence serves no purpose other than gamesmanship, says Brian Heberlig, head of Steptoe & Johnson LLP's white collar criminal defense practice group.
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April 24, 2013
Alleged LulzSec Leader Charged With Hacking Australian Site
The Australian Federal Police on Wednesday said it has arrested a self-proclaimed leader of the Anonymous-related LulzSec computer hacking group for allegedly compromising a government website in a widening investigation that has also resulted in arrests in the U.S. and the U.K.
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April 24, 2013
Baker & McKenzie Snags Sidley Austin Antitrust Expert
Baker & McKenzie LLP has beefed up its litigation practice by adding a former Sidley Austin LLP partner with expertise in complex commercial, antitrust, class action and white collar matters, it said Wednesday.
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April 23, 2013
Ex-Reuters Editor Pleads Not Guilty To Hacking Charges
A former editor with news agency Reuters and Web producer with a Tribune Co.-owned television station pled not guilty Tuesday in California federal court to charges that he helped hacker group Anonymous break into the Los Angeles Times' website and alter content.
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April 23, 2013
TD Bank Loses Bid To Keep Rothstein Suit In Bankruptcy Court
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday remanded to state court an investor suit accusing TD Bank NA of helping Scott Rothstein operate a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme after a bankruptcy judge deemed the claims not essential to the Chapter 11 proceedings of Rothstein's law firm.
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April 23, 2013
Argentina Wants Names In Ralph Lauren Bribery Case
Argentina on Tuesday said it wants the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to identify Argentine officials who took bribes from Ralph Lauren Corp. and provide proof of the scheme, after the company agreed to pay over $1.6 million to U.S. authorities for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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April 23, 2013
Convicted Diamondback Trader Can't Shield Backers' Names
A New York federal judge slated to sentence former Diamondback Capital Management LLC portfolio manager Todd Newman, convicted of insider trading in Dell Inc. stock, refused Tuesday to allow the names of people who wrote letters supporting Newman’s plea for leniency to remain redacted in court.
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April 23, 2013
Ohio Exec Cops To Scamming FBI Construction Projects
An Ohio property management executive on Tuesday pled guilty to bilking his employer and contractors involved in constructing FBI buildings out of more than $225,000, which he used in part to spruce up his vintage Corvette.
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April 23, 2013
Ex-Musicland Investor Asks 3rd Circ. To Drop $50M SEC Fines
The attorney for a former Musicland Stores Corp. investor previously convicted of insider trading asked the Third Circuit to reverse a ruling obligating him to pay $49.5 million stemming from stock profits realized after he made false regulatory filings, contending that the filings did not cause the profits.
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April 23, 2013
NY Judge Laments Anti-Recidivism Program's Likely Demise
A relatively new federal program that pairs criminals convicted of fraud and money laundering, among other offenses, with judges in hopes of reducing recidivism rates looks like it will fall victim to spending cuts before it has a chance to take flight, a senior federal judge told Law360 on Tuesday.
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April 23, 2013
Sheppard Mullin Adds 7 Kelley Drye Attys In NYC
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has expanded its New York City office with the addition of seven attorneys from Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and attorneys from Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP, bolstering the firm's employment, white collar and transactions practice areas, it said Monday.
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April 23, 2013
Q&A With Thompson Hine's John Mitchell
I am troubled by the government’s abuse of conspiracy law in its efforts to prosecute white collar offenses, says John Mitchell, a partner in Thompson Hine LLP's white collar criminal/internal investigations practice.
Expert Analysis
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FCPA Lessons From The Allianz Settlement
Although the settlement amount in the Allianz SE case is relatively small, it is the first major Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlement since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice published the FCPA guidance. As such, the case provides some insight into two issues addressed in the guide — the requirements for corporate mens rea and the elements of an effective compliance program, say attorneys with Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Inside The Latest Hong Kong Anti-Bribery Efforts
Although recent enforcement activities in Hong Kong — such as the prosecution of Sun Hung Kai Properties co-chairmen Thomas and Raymond Kwok — have raised the specter of the kind of high-level corruption charges that have not been leveled in decades, Hong Kong remains well regarded by international corruption watchdogs, and foreign investors generally see it as offering a transparent business environment, say attorneys with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
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International Sharing Of Evidence: A 2-Way Street
The U.S. is now a signatory to mutual legal assistance treaties with 56 other countries, in addition to multilateral treaties and mutual legal assistance agreements. Any evidence collected by U.S. law enforcement that touches on international issues has a very good chance of ending up in the hands of one or more foreign prosecutors, says Michael Rosensaft, a partner with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and former federal prosecutor.
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What We Learned About The UK Bribery Act In 2012
Although 2012 did not bring a major prosecution under the U.K. Bribery Act, it was not without noteworthy events. Self-reporting to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office previously was considered by some as a somewhat benign exercise, but the SFO's latest guidance emphasizes that, in determining whether or not to prosecute, the fact that a company has reported itself will be a relevant consideration, says Raymond Sweigart of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
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Takeaways From HHS Report On CMS E-Records Program
The findings of the report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ oversight of the electronic health record incentive program, in conjunction with the recent warning letter sent by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder, were intended to remind providers that they must be vigilant in policing their own billing practices, including their eligibility for EHR incentive payments, say attorneys with Perkins Coie LLP.
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Be Careful What You (Don’t) Ask For Before Sentencing
In USA v. Murray, the Fifth Circuit reversed the Southern District of Texas ruling that it could reopen three sentences it had imposed earlier to add a requirement that the defendants make restitution to the victims of their crimes. In this case, the failure to seek restitution in the presentence investigation reports resulted in an estimated 538 investors not receiving restitution through the criminal justice system and being left to seek recovery through the bankruptcy court and civil litigation, says Gretchen Zmitrovich of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
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How Caronia Could Reshape Government Investigations
The Second Circuit's recent U.S. v. Caronia decision — that the First Amendment protects truthful, off-label information — is a watershed event. Now investigations likely will focus on the distinction between truthful, nonmisleading information and that which is false or misleading, forming a new battleground between prosecutors and those under investigation, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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Government's White Collar Wish List For 2013
In 2013, economic challenges will probably continue and the government will feel fiscal pressures both to recover money lost to fraud and to prevent financial wrongdoing. Five areas of focus are likely to top the white collar enforcement agenda in 2013, say Kimberly Dunne and Patrick Kennell of Sidley Austin LLP.
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Beware Discovery In 3rd-Party Litigation Funding
With the amount of risk third-party litigation funding poses to investors, litigation funding groups perform extensive due diligence on the merits of the case, both as to liability and possible damages. Communications necessary to enable the investor to ascertain that risk, however, raise discoverability issues for eventual litigation. Three recent cases have addressed whether certain information disclosed to third-party litigation funding groups and potential investors must be produced during discovery, says Lisa Thomas of Baker Botts LLP.
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Deferred Prosecution Agreements Are Coming To The UK
The U.K.'s proposed model for deferred prosecution agreements differs from U.S. DPAs by involving earlier and greater judicial oversight. The government also intends that the U.K. model will provide more transparency than that of the U.S., say Peter Burrell and Lauren Wilks of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.