White Collar

  • April 25, 2024

    Ga. Fund Manager Stole Millions And Fled Country, SEC Says

    An Atlanta financier was hit with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit Wednesday alleging he ripped off investors in his nearly $10 million hedge fund, stealing millions to enrich himself while falsifying records of the fund's purported success.

  • April 25, 2024

    Weinstein May Be Retried After NY Court Overturns Conviction

    Harvey Weinstein seems poised to go to trial again in New York and testify in his own defense after the state's highest court overturned the movie mogul's rape conviction Thursday in a contentious, split opinion that found his first jury proceeding was unfair.

  • April 24, 2024

    Giuliani Among 18 Trump Allies Charged In Ariz. Election Case

    An Arizona grand jury has indicted 18 allies of former President Donald Trump over their alleged efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday, including former state lawmakers and several unnamed individuals who appear to be former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and disgraced attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.

  • April 24, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy GC Tells Jurors He Wanted To Be 'Helpful' To HP

    Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel conceded Wednesday in the criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that he told an HP lawyer he wanted to be as "helpful" as possible to the company as it was investigating Autonomy-related issues that popped up after the Silicon Valley giant purchased the British company, and that he was told he could face liability for his work at Autonomy.

  • April 24, 2024

    Bid To Sanction DOJ Denied In Novel Insider Trading Case

    A California federal judge on Tuesday refused to grant an indicted former healthcare CEO's bid to sanction the government in a case accusing him of a novel form of insider trading, saying the CEO failed to show that he was prejudiced by the government interviewing a potential witness without counsel present. 

  • April 24, 2024

    Kwok Jurors To Be Anonymous Amid Harassment Concerns

    Jurors who will decide the criminal fraud and racketeering case against exiled Chinese billionaire Ho Wan Kwok will be anonymous and partially sequestered, a New York federal judge said on Wednesday, ruing that if their identities are revealed they could face the same harassment that befell Kwok's bankruptcy trustee.

  • April 24, 2024

    Tax Fraud Case Skewed By Prosecutors' Spin, NC Jury Told

    Prosecutors and defense attorneys in a tax fraud trial against two lawyers and an insurance agent traded final barbs Wednesday in a North Carolina courtroom before sending the jury to deliberate, with the defendants again defending the tax plan at the center of the government's case and accusing prosecutors of making up facts.

  • April 24, 2024

    Crypto Mixer Execs Arrested Over $2B In Illicit Transactions

    New York federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they have arrested the co-founders of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet over their operation of a crypto service that authorities say executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions.

  • April 24, 2024

    DEA's Upcoming Decision On Cannabis Likely To Be Litigated

    The potential loosening of federal restrictions on marijuana is likely to be litigated for years, and the pro-legalization camp would do well to pool resources to build the most persuasive evidentiary record it can, a leading cannabis advocate said Wednesday.

  • April 24, 2024

    Backpage Execs Win Partial Acquittal In Prostitution Ad Retrial

    An Arizona federal judge has partially overturned jury retrial convictions against two former Backpage.com executives and the now-defunct classifieds website's co-founder, but she refused to acquit the trio of all charges or grant a second retrial in a sprawling criminal case alleging they facilitated Backpage's $500 million prostitution scheme.

  • April 24, 2024

    Instagram Star Gets 7 Years For Multiple Fraud Schemes

    A Brooklyn federal judge on Wednesday imposed a seven-year prison term on a former Instagram influencer who admitted to defrauding members of his Muslim community and others out of over $8 million via a bogus investment fund and Bitcoin theft, saying the crime probably should be featured on the television show "American Greed."

  • April 24, 2024

    Seagram's Heiress Can't Cut NXIVM Prison Sentence

    An heir to the Seagram's liquor fortune has been denied a reduction in her nearly seven-year prison term for her role in the alleged sex cult NXIVM.

  • April 24, 2024

    Ill. Woman Gets 18 Months For Role In $16M COVID Aid Theft

    An Illinois federal judge sentenced a woman to 18 months in prison on Wednesday for her "supporting role" in a scheme to fraudulently obtain at least $16 million in federal coronavirus-relief small business loans, saying that while she wasn't the ringleader of the fraud, she still committed a "crime of greed."

  • April 24, 2024

    Meet The Attorneys Arguing Trump's Immunity At High Court

    A Missouri solicitor general-turned-law firm founder will square off Thursday against a U.S. solicitor general's office veteran who is a member of an elite group of U.S. Supreme Court bar attorneys in a special oral argument session over former President Donald Trump's bid for immunity from federal criminal charges alleging he interfered in the 2020 presidential election.

  • April 24, 2024

    Feds File Conspiracy Charges In $1M La. 'Romance' Fraud

    U.S. prosecutors in Louisiana have charged three Atlanta-area individuals of running "romance scams" to defraud victims of more than $1 million, according to a recently unsealed indictment in Pelican State federal court.

  • April 24, 2024

    Mass. Golf Course Manager Gets 13 Months For Tax Fraud

    A Massachusetts golf course manager was sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to tax charges, following prosecutors' accusations that he manipulated contracts with a home developer to deflate their value.

  • April 24, 2024

    Forex Trader Must Pay $11.8M For Ponzi-Like Scheme

    A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday said a purported forex commodity pool operator and its agent must pay more than $11.8 million in penalties and restitution for bilking participants in a Ponzi-like scheme, after the defendants ignored a Commodity Futures Trading Commission suit.

  • April 24, 2024

    Metals Firm To Pay $66M Over Retirement Coin Scam

    A California federal judge has ordered a metals trading firm to pay $66 million and each of its owners to pay between $1 million and $3 million to settle claims that they defrauded hundreds of investors by convincing them to sell their retirement securities to buy gold and silver coins at inflated prices.

  • April 24, 2024

    Binance Founder Should Get 3 Years, Not Probation, Feds Say

    Federal prosecutors asked a Washington federal judge to sentence Binance founder Changpeng Zhao to three years over his failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program at his crypto exchange, but the founder said jail time isn't necessary since he's already paid "massive" fines and comparable cases haven't resulted in prison sentences.

  • April 24, 2024

    Bill To Repeal 'Zombie' 1864 Abortion Ban Clears Ariz. House

    Legislation that would repeal an 1864 law banning almost all abortions in Arizona narrowly cleared the state House on Wednesday after a handful of Republican lawmakers crossed party lines to help Democrats muscle the measure through following a bruising debate.

  • April 24, 2024

    Chicago Museum Accuses New York DA Of Art Seizure Overreach

    The Art Institute of Chicago has urged a New York criminal court to give back an Egon Schiele drawing seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, saying the artwork was never looted by Nazis and prosecutors have no business litigating a civil ownership dispute.

  • April 24, 2024

    Trump Considered 'Co-Conspirator' In Mich. Elector Probe

    Donald Trump and his former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis are considered unindicted co-conspirators in an alleged plot to cast Michigan's electoral votes for the former president following the 2020 election, a witness revealed Wednesday in criminal proceedings against the so-called false electors.

  • April 24, 2024

    DEA Agent Who Sold Info To Private Detective Gets 4 Years

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a suspended U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent with a four-year prison sentence Wednesday after a jury convicted him of taking bribes from a Florida private investigator in exchange for spilling secrets about criminal investigations of narcotics dealers.

  • April 24, 2024

    Student Gets 9 Mos. For Stalking China Democracy Activist

    A Boston federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese national to nine months in prison for threatening a fellow student at the Berklee College of Music who had posted a pro-democracy flier on campus, citing a desire to deter other foreigners from engaging in criminal conduct to suppress speech.

  • April 24, 2024

    Senate OKs Testimony And Evidence For Menendez Trial

    U.S. senators and current and former staff members have received approval to testify at the bribery trial of Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, which begins in federal court in New York on May 13.

Expert Analysis

  • Insurance Implications Of Trump's NY Civil Fraud Verdict

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    A New York state trial court’s $450 million judgment against former President Donald Trump and affiliated entities for valuation fraud offers several important lessons for companies seeking to obtain directors and officers insurance, including the consequences of fraudulent misrepresentations and critical areas of underwriting risk, says Kevin LaCroix at RT ProExec.

  • Opinion

    European Union Criticisms Of The FCPA Are Misguided

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    Some in the European Union have criticized U.S. enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for what they perceive as jurisdictional overreach, but this appears to overlook the crucial fact that jurisdiction is voluntary, and critics should focus instead on the lack of equivalent laws in their own region, say John Joy and YuTong Wang at FTI Law.

  • Fintech Compliance Does Not Always Equal Bank Compliance

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    Recent enforcement actions are a reminder for banks working with financial technology providers — whether as partners to extend their reach or as internal resources to support existing operations — that few areas of risk need more frequent attention than Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, says Christopher Couch at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Making The Pitch For A Civil Resolution In A Criminal Case

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    Even without the depth of visibility into prosecutorial decision making offered by special counsel Robert Hur’s recently released report, defense counsel may be able to make the case for civil resolutions of criminal investigations while minimizing a potential negative response from prosecutors to such an argument, says Bill Athanas at Bradley Arant.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule

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    Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.

  • 5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia

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    After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.

  • Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. Anderson decision earlier this week, allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on state primary ballots, alleviates uncertainty and minimizes the potential for abuse in future cases, but is difficult to square with the court’s own account of its textualist interpretive methods, says Will Havemann at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Zero-Point Offender Eligibility May Hinge On Meaning Of 'And'

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    Some white collar defendants’ eligibility for the new zero-point offender sentencing adjustment comes down to whether the word “and” really means “and” — a question the U.S. Supreme Court is set to resolve in its upcoming Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, which could affect thousands of incarcerated people, say Brandon McCarthy and Nikita Yogeshwarun at Katten.

  • Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.

  • The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet

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    After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

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