White Collar

  • September 27, 2024

    1st Circ. Drops Bribery, Reinstates Extortion In Casino Case

    The First Circuit on Friday reversed both convictions and acquittals in a high-profile bribery and extortion case involving a Rhode Island architect and a Massachusetts tribal official who had been found guilty of a quid pro quo exchange of pricey gifts related to a valuable design contract on the tribe's $1 billion casino development.

  • September 27, 2024

    Binance Founder Zhao Released From Federal Custody

    Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was released from a California correctional facility Friday after he was sentenced to four months in prison for his failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program at the global cryptocurrency exchange, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to Law360.

  • September 27, 2024

    Corporate Raider Accused Of Shirking $180M SEC Judgment

    Corporate takeover specialist Paul A. Bilzerian, accused of ducking a more than $180 million judgment owed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for decades, was indicted alongside his longtime accountant and his cannabis company on Thursday, California federal prosecutors said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    New Orleans Inspector Indicted For Bribing Top City Official

    A New Orleans resident and his home inspection company were indicted in Louisiana federal court Friday on charges that he operated a yearslong scheme of taking bribes to let unlicensed electricians work on hundreds of homes and bribing top city officials to look the other way.

  • September 27, 2024

    SEC Drops Case Against Marcum CPA After High Court Ruling

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission quietly dropped an in-house proceeding Friday against a Marcum LLP accountant whose case was called into question by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curtailed the agency's use of its administrative courts.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC Chief Quotes Taylor Swift In Tough Stance On Deepfakes

    Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vowed during a speech Friday to take a strong position on enforcing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against AI-generated robocalls and noted the FCC is considering new AI election-related disclosure regulations, quoting pop singer Taylor Swift who said, "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

  • September 27, 2024

    Constitution Permits Blocked Anti-Laundering Law, Panel Told

    The U.S. government urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reinstate the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021, arguing that the anti-money laundering law is within Congress' powers to regulate economic activity and necessary to have businesses report beneficial ownership to combat crimes like tax evasion and terrorist financing.

  • September 27, 2024

    UK Man Indicted On $4M 'Hack-To-Trade' Scheme

    New Jersey federal prosecutors announced Friday that a U.K. man has been arrested and is awaiting extradition on charges of hacking into the email accounts of several corporate executives in order to steal nonpublic information that he used to turn a profit of almost $4 million.

  • September 27, 2024

    Mango Markets Crypto Cos. Ink $700K Deal Over SEC Claims

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that the business entities behind decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Mango Markets agreed to a nearly $700,000 settlement to resolve alleged registration violations, which the regulator brought after the marketplace was bilked of more than $100 million.

  • September 27, 2024

    Musk Skirts Sanctions In Missed Twitter Deposition, For Now

    A California federal judge on Friday declined to sanction Elon Musk, for now, after he skipped a deposition over his $44 billion Twitter takeover, allowing the parties to resolve the issue and advising them to wait to see if he appears for the deposition that's been rescheduled for this coming Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Crash Victim's Estate Awarded $10M From No-Show Driver

    A Michigan state judge awarded the estate of a Michigan woman a $10 million default judgment Friday in its wrongful death suit against the alleged drunken driver who crashed into her head-on while going the wrong way down a one-way street. 

  • September 27, 2024

    Feds Subpoena NYC Mayor's Top Aide, DA Seizes Phone

    A senior aide and confidante of New York City Mayor Eric Adams had her phone and records seized by state prosecutors and was separately subpoenaed by federal agents on Friday, the same day Adams was arraigned on federal corruption charges.

  • September 27, 2024

    Feds Say Crypto 'Godfather' Bribed Cops, Dodged Taxes

    California federal prosecutors have accused a cryptocurrency startup founder nicknamed "The Godfather" of extortion, robbery and failing to pay taxes on fraudulent income that he allegedly used for personal luxuries including a Bel Air mansion rental and cosmetic surgery to make his legs longer.

  • September 27, 2024

    Head Of 'High-End Brothel' Network In Mass., Va. Pleads Guilty

    A Cambridge, Massachusetts, woman admitted Friday to running a sophisticated network of brothels in greater Boston and northern Virginia that prosecutors have said was patronized by lawyers, politicians, corporate officials and others.

  • September 27, 2024

    'Varsity Blues' Suit Flips The Script On 'Victim' USC

    The University of Southern California could be forced to reveal unseemly details of its admissions process if it can't beat or settle a $75 million suit filed by a private equity executive who blames the school for his being ensnared in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal, experts told Law360.

  • September 27, 2024

    IRS Plans Transition Rules In Basis-Shifting Regs, Atty Says

    The IRS plans to include transition rules in forthcoming proposed regulations that aim to clamp down on abusive tax avoidance practices through complex partnership transactions known as basis shifting, an agency attorney said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Off The Bench: College Sports Dominates Legal Landscape

    In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA and the athletes in the big name, image and likeness settlement try to redo the terms to satisfy the overseeing judge, Reggie Bush says his image has been exploited by his alma mater and the NCAA for years, and the Pac-12 claims that it's being strong-armed by a rival conference for coaxing away its teams.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ex-Mass. State Sen. Says Conviction By All-White Jury Unfair

    A former Massachusetts state senator has said his conviction on pandemic unemployment aid and tax fraud charges should be thrown out in part because the jury was all white.

  • September 27, 2024

    Honigman Not Conflicted Out Of $40M Detroit Embezzling Suit

    A Michigan state judge said Friday that the law firm that investigated suspected fraud at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy can also represent the organization in its civil suit against its former chief financial officer, who is accused of embezzling $40 million.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ex-Partners Blast Lin Wood's Constitutional Fight Over Fees

    Former law partners of retired Georgia attorney L. Lin Wood said Wood can't escape being on the hook for their attorney fees after he was hit with a $3.75 million defamation verdict, saying that Wood's argument calling the fees unconstitutional flies in the face of 150 years of the state's case law.

  • September 27, 2024

    NJ Atty Reprimanded For Keeping Client In Dark On Fee Hike

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has reprimanded a criminal defense attorney for failing to provide a client with a retainer or any bills for over four years until notifying the client that, due to an unannounced rate change, the client owed over $170,000.

  • September 27, 2024

    Cooley Accused Of Hiding Fraud From Startup Investors

    A former board member of a dry-cleaning delivery startup has alleged in New Jersey federal court that Cooley LLP and its attorneys deliberately kept investors in the dark about fraud claims against the startup's chief executive.

  • September 27, 2024

    Feds Charge 3 Iranians In Trump Campaign Hack

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday unsealed an indictment accusing three Iranian citizens of hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign as part of a "wide-ranging" cyber scheme that sought to sow distrust in U.S. elections.

  • September 27, 2024

    NY Man Convicted In Father-Son Crypto Caper

    A Long Island man was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury of conspiring with his son to scam investors out of millions by claiming to invest their cryptocurrency and instead pocketing the funds.

  • September 27, 2024

    TelexFree Victims Say Payment Processor Lost Key Emails

    Victims of the multibillion-dollar TelexFree Ponzi scheme said a payment processor's loss of critical emails and other files related to the ploy amounts to a "blatant coverup" to hide evidence that would have otherwise bolstered their case against the company.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Lessons From Consulting Firm's Successful DOJ Disclosure

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    The Boston Consulting Group recently received a rare declination of prosecution from the U.S. Department of Justice after self-disclosing a foreign bribery scheme, and the firm’s series of savvy steps after discovering the misconduct provides useful data points for white collar defense attorneys, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • 7 Takeaways For Investment Advisers From FinCEN AML Rule

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    With a new FinCEN rule that will require covered investment advisers to implement anti-money laundering programs and comply with extra recordkeeping requirements by 2026, companies should begin planning necessary updates to their policies and procedures by focusing on seven of the rule’s key requirements, identified by attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends

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    The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • 5 Ways To Confront Courtroom Technology Challenges

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    Recent cybersecurity incidents highlight the vulnerabilities of our reliance on digital infrastructure, meaning attorneys must be prepared to navigate technological obstacles inside the courtroom, including those related to data security, presentation hardware, video playback and more, says Adam Bloomberg at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Sierra Club v. National Marine Fisheries Service, vacating key Endangered Species Act analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, may create a gap in guidance that could expose operators to enforcement risk and even criminal liability, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Navigating New Enforcement Scrutiny Of 'AI Washing'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against Joonko Diversity, its first public AI-focused enforcement action against a private company, underscores the importance of applying the same internal legal and compliance rigor to AI-related claims as other market-facing statements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • 'Pig Butchering': The Scam That Exploits Crypto Confusion

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    Certain red flags can tip off banks to possible "pig-butchering," and with the scam's increasing popularity, financial institutions need to take action to monitor entry points into the crypto space, detect suspicious activity and provide a necessary backstop to protect customers, say Brandon Essig and Mary Parrish McCracken at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Opinion

    Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation

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    The increased regulatory scrutiny on corporate victims of cyberattacks — exemplified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against SolarWinds — should be replaced with a new model that provides adequate incentives for companies to come forward proactively and collaborate with law enforcement, say attorneys at McDermott.

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