White Collar

  • March 14, 2025

    Qatari Sheikh's Billions Invoked In $1M Scam, SEC Claims

    A purported wealth management company and its managing member face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud allegations over a pair of $1 million dollar schemes, including one involving an elaborate ruse invoking ties to the wealth of the royal family of Qatar.

  • March 14, 2025

    PE Fund Accuses Ex-CEO Of Stealing To Pay Divorce Atty

    A former private equity CEO has been sued by a Denver-based fund in Colorado state court for allegedly using its money to pay his divorce lawyer and for other personal expenses, following a settlement earlier this year with federal securities regulators over claims he improperly charged two other funds.

  • March 14, 2025

    'Pig Butchering' Crypto Site Must Pay $2.5M, Judge Says

    A purported crypto trading platform has been ordered to pay nearly $2.5 million after failing to respond to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims that it was at the heart of a so-called pig-butchering scheme — or a scam that sees victims fleeced by fictitious, chatty social media users.

  • March 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Energy Exec's Insider Trading Conviction

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas energy executive's conviction for insider trading on natural gas futures based on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations that criminalize manipulative commodity deals.

  • March 14, 2025

    Par Funding Conspirator Gets 11 Years For Fraud, Atty Assault

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has sentenced Par Funding principal James "Jimmy" LaForte to 11 years and four months in prison for helping his family run a $404 million racketeering conspiracy and violently assaulting Par Funding receivership's court-appointed counsel in a position prosecutors described as the loan company's "loyal attack dog."

  • March 14, 2025

    NC Ex-Doctor Gets 2.5 Years For Drug Test Billing Scheme

    A 72-year-old doctor in North Carolina was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison and ordered to hand over $2 million in restitution for a fraudulent billing scheme involving medically unnecessary drug tests, prosecutors said.

  • March 14, 2025

    Three Arrows Beats FTX To Get $1.5B Bankruptcy Claim

    The liquidators of failed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital have prevailed in a dispute with FTX Trading Ltd. over the allowance of a $1.53 billion bankruptcy claim, with a Delaware judge deciding to grant Three Arrows' bid to change its original claim despite FTX asserting that the move was made in bad faith.

  • March 14, 2025

    1st Circ. Asked To Look At Takeda Invoice Fraud Conviction

    The husband of a former Takeda Pharmaceuticals vice president is appealing his fraud conviction and 2½-year prison term over a $2.3 million bogus invoice scheme, according to a Friday notice filed to the First Circuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ex-Ozy Media Employee Avoids Prison After Cooperating

    A former Ozy Media employee who became a government cooperator and testified at the fraud trial of the company and its founder Carlos Watson was sentenced to time served Friday.

  • March 14, 2025

    Theft Ring Member Who Stole Warhol Paintings Gets 8 Yrs.

    A man who admitted to participating in a 20-year art and sports memorabilia theft ring targeting Andy Warhol paintings and Yogi Berra's MVP plaques across multiple states was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ex-De Blasio Admin Official Admits To Arranging ICE Arrest

    A former director in ex-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration pled guilty Friday to leveraging his law enforcement connections to arrange for a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent to make an arrest.

  • March 14, 2025

    Former SEC General Counsel Barbero Joins Venable In DC

    Venable LLP announced Friday that former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission general counsel Megan Barbero has joined the firm's Washington, D.C., office following a three-year stint at the Wall Street regulator. 

  • March 14, 2025

    Startup Investor Says Cooley Knew About Fraud Probe

    Attorneys for a dry cleaning delivery startup knew that the founder and sole director of the company had fabricated company documents and was the subject of an active securities fraud investigation in Texas as he solicited money from investors, an ex-board member said Friday in response to the law firm's bid to toss a securities fraud lawsuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    Convict Seeks Prison Delay Ahead Of Nadine Menendez Trial

    An associate of former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez who is appealing his conviction for bribing the politician with gold and cash asked a New York federal judge Friday to postpone his voluntary surrender for imprisonment as he prepares to testify in the trial of the ex-politician's wife. 

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Splits $79M Judgment In Danish Tax Fraud Case

    A New York federal judge divided a nearly $79 million judgment against four investors and their pension plans after a jury in February found them liable for participating in a tax fraud scheme against the Danish government.  

  • March 14, 2025

    Atty Gets 8½ Years For Attempted Embassy Attack

    A Florida attorney who pled guilty to damaging a San Antonio sculpture and unsuccessfully trying to detonate explosives outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 8½ years Friday, after the judge overseeing the case said the defendant's own statements at the hearing likely got him more time.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ex-Greenberg Traurig Atty Ordered To Pay $15.5M To IRS

    A former Greenberg Traurig LLP attorney who was sentenced to prison for helping a musician skirt taxes owes $15.5 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, a New York federal judge ruled.

  • March 14, 2025

    Combs Jury To Be Closely Vetted For May Trial

    A Manhattan federal judge said Friday that he plans to open Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial on sex-trafficking charges on May 12 after a lengthy jury-vetting process, laying out his plan after the jailed hip-hop icon denied charges in a superseding indictment.

  • March 14, 2025

    Off The Bench: Ex-Jet Sues Over Favre Clip, New Soccer Build

    In this week's Off The Bench, a retired football superstar claims an argument with icon Brett Favre should have never been aired on television, one trading card company gets the upper hand on another in dueling antitrust suits, and an English soccer club opts for a new stadium over a rebuild of the old one.

  • March 14, 2025

    Brooklyn Man Gets 45 Months For 'Seinfeld'-Themed Fraud

    A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced a podcaster and purported cryptocurrency guru to 45 months in prison after he pled guilty to scamming investors out of more than $2 million using fictitious businesses, including one apparently named after "Seinfeld" character George Costanza's fake prospective employer Vandelay Industries.

  • March 13, 2025

    $181K Sanctions Against Texas AG-Tied Investor Stand

    A Texas appeals court upheld around $181,000 in sanctions against the real estate developer at the center of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's failed impeachment, finding in a Thursday opinion that developer Natin Paul breached court orders when he wired money to an NBA player.

  • March 13, 2025

    NY AG James Pitches Bill To Expand Consumer Protection Law

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced legislation that would expand the state's ban on deceptive business practices to also protect against unfair and abusive practices, an idea backed by Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau heads.

  • March 13, 2025

    Stifel Owes $132.5M Over Structured Notes, FINRA Panel Says

    Broker-dealer Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. owes a family more than $132.5 million in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration stemming from allegations their accounts were overinvested in structured notes.

  • March 13, 2025

    Karen Read Loses Double Jeopardy Bid In Federal Court

    Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who stands accused of killing her boyfriend with her SUV, will not be able to avoid a retrial in state court after a federal judge on Thursday denied her bid to escape two charges that jurors supposedly rejected during deliberations.

  • March 13, 2025

    Pa. Justices Let Convicted Doctor Reapply For License

    A former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center radiologist who lost his license for unlawfully prescribing Vicodin can seek reinstatement less than 10 years after his 2019 suspension thanks to a change in state law defining a drug trafficking offense, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Practical Ways For Banks To Battle Elder Financial Abuse

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    Federal regulators' recent statement raising awareness of elder financial exploitation provides a useful catalog of techniques that banks can employ to fight fraud, particularly encouraging older account holders to establish trusted contacts and sharing timely warnings about the latest scams with customers, say attorneys at Nutter.

  • 3 Ways Civil Plaintiffs Could Fill An FCPA Enforcement Gap

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    While the Department of Justice recently announced it would deprioritize Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations into U.S. businesses without obvious ties to international crime, companies should stay alert to private plaintiffs, who could fill this enforcement void — and win significant civil damages — through several legal channels, says Eric Nitz at MoloLamken.

  • Examining Trump Meme Coin And SEC's Crypto Changes

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    While the previous U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission tended to view most crypto-assets as securities, the tide is rapidly changing, and hopefully the long-needed reevaluation of this regulatory framework is not tarnished by an arguable conflict of interest due to President Donald Trump's affiliation with the $Trump meme coin, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • Opinion

    State FCAs Should Cover Local Fund Misuse, State Tax Fraud

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    New Jersey and other states with similar False Claims Acts should amend them to cover misappropriated municipal funding, and state and local tax fraud, which would encourage more whistleblowers to come forward and increase their recoveries, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

  • New Fla. Financial Abuse Law May See Limited Buy-In

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    Florida's newly effective financial protection law comes with compliance burdens and uncertainties that could discourage financial institutions from participating, even though the law aims to shield them from liability for delaying transactions when they suspect exploitation of elderly and vulnerable account holders, say attorneys at Shutts & Bowen.

  • 7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • White Collar Archetypes: Wrangling The Shape-Shifter

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    In white collar criminal trials, certain pieces of evidence can shape-shift in the jury’s eyes, presenting both challenges and opportunities for defense counsel, says Jack Sharman at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Series

    Playing Beach Volleyball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My commitment to beach volleyball has become integral to my performance as an attorney, with the sport continually reminding me that teamwork, perseverance, professionalism and stress management are essential to both undertakings, says Amy Drushal at Trenam.

  • How GSA Lease Clauses May Affect DOGE Terminations

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    The Department of Government Efficiency has begun to cut the U.S. General Services Administration's enormous real estate portfolio, but some standard lease clauses include limits helpful to landlords that may slow progress toward the administration's cost-cutting goals, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Managing Anti-Corporate Juror Views Revealed By CEO Killing

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    After the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson laid bare deep-seated anti-corporate sentiments among the public, companies in numerous industries will have to navigate the influence of related juror biases on litigation dynamics, say Jorge Monroy and Keith Pounds at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Terraform Case May Be Bellwether For Crypto Enforcement

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    The prosecution of crypto company Terraform Labs and its CEO, Do Kwon, offers a unique test of the line between lawful and unlawful conduct in digital transactions, and the Trump administration’s posture toward the case will provide clues about its cryptocurrency enforcement agenda in the years to come, say attorneys at Brooks Pierce.

  • What's Next For Russia Sanctions After Task Force Disbanded

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    Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent disbanding of Task Force KleptoCapture, which was initially aimed at seizing Russian oligarchs’ funds and assets, is unlikely to mean the end of Russia sanctions enforcement and other economic countermeasures, as the architecture for criminal enforcement remains in place, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • How Law Firms Can Counteract The Loneliness Epidemic

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    The legal industry is facing an urgent epidemic of loneliness, affecting lawyer well-being, productivity, retention and profitability, and law firm leaders should take concrete steps to encourage the development of genuine workplace connections, says Michelle Gomez at Littler and Gwen Mellor Romans at Herald Talent.

  • What Remedies Under New Admin's SEC Could Look Like

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to substantially narrow the remedies it pursues over the next few years, driven by the mounting challenges it faces in court, as well as the views of its incoming chair and fellow Republican commissioners on injunctions, penalties and disgorgement, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • Texas Fraud Case Shows Dangers Of Faulty Crypto Reporting

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    The recent sentencing of a man who failed to properly report capital gains from bitcoin sales is a reminder that special attention must be given to the IRS' reporting requirements in order to stay out of the government's crosshairs, says Saverio Romeo at Fox Rothschild.

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