White Collar

  • May 17, 2024

    SEC Can Try To Show Jurisdiction Over German In $3M Claim

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will be allowed to pursue evidence to support its case for disgorgement of $3.3 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains from a German man whose son was implicated in a $150 million pump-and-dump scheme, a federal judge in Boston ruled on Thursday.

  • May 16, 2024

    No Double Jeopardy In Philly Execs' Embezzlement Case

    Two former Philadelphia nonprofit executives convicted for an embezzlement scheme weren't subject to double jeopardy when a judge rescheduled trial after several jurors left, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday, reasoning that the court had no other choice.

  • May 16, 2024

    Hunter Biden's Suit May Turn On If A Hard Drive Is A Computer

    A California federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's lawsuit against a former Trump White House aide for accessing data allegedly taken from a copy of Biden's laptop said Thursday that case may hinge on if a hard drive copy qualifies as a "computer" under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ex-Credit Union Worker Gets 3 Years After Copping To Fraud

    A former employee of Indiana-based Financial Center First Credit Union employee faces nearly three years in prison and owes over $2 million after pleading guilty to financial institution fraud in connection with claims he received $100,000 in kickbacks after using his position to help unidentified accomplices siphon millions away from account holders.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ointment Scheme Conned Gov't Out Of Millions, Fla. Suit Says

    Two Florida brothers and one of their former employees are accused of running a years-long fraudulent scheme billing government healthcare programs and receiving millions of dollars after paying kickbacks to generate prescriptions for ointments that were not needed, according to a False Claims Act lawsuit.

  • May 16, 2024

    Bitcoin ATM Operator Ran Illegal Money Transmitter, Jury Says

    A New York state jury has convicted the operator of a network of bitcoin kiosks that allegedly catered to criminal activity of operating an unlicensed money transmitter and tax fraud, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

  • May 16, 2024

    'That Is A Lie!' Trump Atty Assails Cohen In Fraud Trial Cross

    Donald Trump's lawyer lashed out at central prosecution witness Michael Cohen on Thursday during a second day of cross-examination in New York state's criminal fraud case, attacking his credibility and key testimony linking Trump to crimes.

  • May 16, 2024

    'Christian' Co. Scammed WWII Vet Out Of $300K, Feds Say

    Five members of an Alabama-based self-described Christian company were indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from a scheme in which they allegedly took at least $300,000 from a World War II veteran after telling him the money would pay for a vocational school.

  • May 16, 2024

    Trial Stream Failure Doesn't Violate Rights, Colo. Panel Finds

    A Colorado state appeals court ruled Thursday that a trial that was livestreamed with inadequate audio and video did not violate the defendant's right to a public trial because there were still seats available in an open courtroom.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ex-Pistons Guard Denied Bail For Healthcare Scheme Appeal

    A former Detroit Pistons point guard was denied bail Thursday while he appeals his conviction and 18-month prison sentence in a case where prosecutors accused ex-players of defrauding the NBA's healthcare plan.

  • May 16, 2024

    Carhartt Heiress's Atty Stole Millions, Jury Told

    A jury trial kicked off Thursday in a case against a Michigan lawyer accused of embezzling millions of dollars from trusts belonging to the granddaughter of Carhartt Inc.'s founder, with one of her financial managers testifying that the attorney made loans to himself without permission.

  • May 16, 2024

    Trump Says 1890 Ruling Can't Be 'Pigeonholed' By Ga. DA

    Former President Donald Trump has renewed his bid to have two of his Georgia election interference charges dropped under an 1890 U.S. Supreme Court case, arguing prosecutors are trying to "improperly pigeonhole" the ruling as irrelevant to his criminal case.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ga. Judge Cites 'Exemplary Life' In 3-Year PPP Fraud Sentence

    A Georgia woman convicted earlier this year of helping to launder the proceeds of a pandemic loan fraud scheme was hit with a three-year prison sentence on Thursday by a federal judge, who noted the woman has otherwise led an "exemplary life," warranting a sentence lower than what prosecutors had sought.

  • May 16, 2024

    Clean Energy CEO Gets 6 Years For Forgeries Netting $1.1M

    The CEO of a Pennsylvania clean energy company was sentenced to six years in federal prison for defrauding investors out of $1.1 million and falsifying documents to cover his tracks, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

  • May 16, 2024

    11th Circ. Denies Ayahuasca Church's Bid For Rehearing

    The Eleventh Circuit has refused to grant an en banc rehearing to a Florida church that wanted to use ayahuasca as a sacrament, leaving in place an appellate ruling that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration properly denied a religious exemption from federal law against the psychedelic substance.

  • May 16, 2024

    Democrats Prod Justice Thomas on RV Loan, Tax Treatment

    Two Senate Democrats have asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' attorney to respond to what they called a failure to answer their questions about the justice's $267,000 loan from a healthcare industry executive to finance a luxury recreational vehicle, saying the loan treatment could have violated federal tax laws.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec Cops To Contempt For Barred Finance Work

    A Boston federal judge on Thursday accepted a former pharmaceutical company executive's guilty plea to a criminal contempt charge for using an alias to work on a finance venture despite a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban.

  • May 16, 2024

    Convicted NC Tech Exec, Wife Accused Of Defaming Couple

    A couple facing claims they sabotaged a licensing deal that ultimately drove a North Carolina software company out of business have accused the company's co-founder and his wife of spending months slandering them online while the suit was otherwise on hold.

  • May 16, 2024

    Ex-Minn. Public Defender Gets Probation For Tax Fraud

    A former Minneapolis chief public defender who argued that he should receive a lenient sentence after resigning in disgrace amid accusations that he failed to pay taxes for years on his private law firm was sentenced to three years probation by a Minnesota federal court.

  • May 16, 2024

    Mass. Business Owner Charged In $18M Pandemic Loan Scam

    A Massachusetts man was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he fraudulently sought $18 million in pandemic relief loans for multiple companies and used some of the proceeds to purchase a luxury condo while wiring other funds overseas.

  • May 16, 2024

    Coverage Recap: Day 14 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

    Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Thursday, day 14 of the trial.

  • May 16, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Win For Big Banks In Forex-Rigging Suit

    The Second Circuit on Thursday backed a ruling in favor of a group of large banks accused of conspiring to manipulate the foreign currency exchange market in euros and dollars, agreeing with a lower court that the plaintiffs hadn't made qualifying transactions or shown how prices were distorted.

  • May 16, 2024

    Biden Admin Proposes To Loosen Restrictions On Marijuana

    President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that his administration has formally recommended relaxing restrictions on marijuana, marking the most significant federal policy shift on cannabis since the drug was criminalized more than 50 years ago.

  • May 16, 2024

    US Must Produce Emails Between IRS Managers, Docs Leaker

    The government must produce emails between Internal Revenue Service managers and a former contractor who leaked thousands of wealthy people's tax returns, a Florida federal judge has ordered, saying the materials are relevant to a billionaire's case accusing the agency of responsibility for the leak.

  • May 16, 2024

    Conn. Medicaid Fraudster Gets 27 Months Over $1.6M Scheme

    A Connecticut psychologist who pled guilty to filing $1.6 million in false claims to his state's Medicaid system has been sentenced to 27 months in prison, after the government sought 37 months and the fraudster himself had argued for no prison time at all.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • NY Bond, Enforcement Options As Trump Judgment Looms

    Author Photo

    In light of former President Donald Trump's court filing this week indicating that he can't secure a bond for the New York attorney general's nearly $465 million judgment against him, Neil Pedersen of Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency and Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen explore New York state judgment enforcement options and the mechanics of securing and collateralizing an appellate bond.

  • Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference

    Author Photo

    Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.

  • Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs

    Author Photo

    Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

    Author Photo

    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

    Author Photo

    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'

    Author Photo

    Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.

  • CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis

    Author Photo

    In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.

  • How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

    Author Photo

    Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • FARA Enforcement May Soon Be In The Halls Of Higher Ed

    Author Photo

    Given Congress’ increased attention to rising foreign influence on U.S. college campuses, the U.S. Department of Justice may soon turn the Foreign Agents Registration Act spotlight on educational institutions and groups, which will need to review their possible obligations under the statute, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

    Author Photo

    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations

    Author Photo

    Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case

    Author Photo

    Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.

  • 5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers

    Author Photo

    Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the White Collar archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!