White Collar

  • December 03, 2024

    Fla.'s 'Mother Teresa' Gets 20 Years For Ponzi Scheme

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday accused the U.S. attorney's office of "abdicating its responsibility" by agreeing to a maximum of 20 years in prison for Johanna Garcia, the former MJ Capital CEO known as "Mother Teresa" who pled guilty to running a $190 million Ponzi scheme.

  • December 03, 2024

    Trump Argues Immunity Extends To Local Prosecutions

    President-elect Donald Trump told the New York state judge presiding over his hush money case that the criminal charges and guilty verdict should be thrown out, arguing in an expansive motion released Tuesday that allowing a local prosecution to proceed would upset the republic's balance of power.

  • December 03, 2024

    'Bitcoin Jesus' Calls $48M Tax Dodging Case Unconstitutional

    An early Bitcoin investor known as Bitcoin Jesus asked a California federal judge Tuesday to dismiss charges that he dodged approximately $48 million in taxes by filing false tax returns and concealing how much cryptocurrency he owned, arguing that the charges are unconstitutional.

  • December 03, 2024

    Harvey Weinstein Gets March Trial Date In LA Civil Rape Suit

    A California judge on Tuesday set a March trial date for a civil lawsuit brought by a woman whom Harvey Weinstein was convicted of raping, saying the disgraced movie producer's age and poor medical condition outweigh the plaintiff's desire to pause proceedings until a criminal appeal concludes.

  • December 03, 2024

    Celsius Founder Cops To Fraud That Sunk $25B Crypto Lender

    Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky told a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday that he lied when he told the public that the fallen $25 billion crypto lender's tokens were a safe investment, pleading guilty to fraud charges ahead of a January criminal trial.

  • December 03, 2024

    Former OFAC Official Joins Hughes Hubbard In DC

    Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP has announced that a former lead sanctions investigator and analyst at the Office of Foreign Assets Control has joined the firm's Washington, D.C., office as a partner in its sanctions, export controls and anti-money laundering practice.

  • December 03, 2024

    McGuireWoods Grows DC Office With White Collar Duo

    McGuireWoods LLP said Tuesday that it has hired the leader of litigation boutique McCool Law PLLC, marking the seventh partner with a history at the U.S. Department of Justice to join the firm this year.

  • December 03, 2024

    OneTaste Execs Say Former Member's Journals Fabricated

    Two former OneTaste executives facing forced labor conspiracy charges claim a former employee's journals were fabricated for a Netflix documentary about the sexual wellness company and were further edited by an FBI agent before being produced to the defense in discovery.

  • December 03, 2024

    Tax, Insurance Cos. Owner Gets 3 Years For $1M Tax Evasion

    The owner of a tax business who also ran an insurance company the government says provided fraudulent vehicle registrations for unauthorized immigrants was sentenced to three years in prison for failing to pay more than $1 million in taxes, federal authorities in North Carolina announced Tuesday.

  • December 03, 2024

    Veterans Group Challenges Exclusion From DEA Pot Hearing

    A veterans group is challenging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's decision to deny it a spot among 25 participants in hearings exploring whether to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, saying veterans have been deprived of an advocate for a conclusion that would best suit their needs.

  • December 02, 2024

    Girardi Won't Get New Fraud Trial Despite Memory Claims

    A California federal judge on Monday denied Tom Girardi's bid for a new trial after a jury found he misappropriated $15 million worth of client settlement funds, standing by a prior assessment that the disbarred attorney was "exaggerating" symptoms of mild cognitive impairment.

  • December 02, 2024

    BIA Aims To Exclude Evidence In Assault Liability Case

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs is looking to throw out an array of evidence in a Montana federal court dispute over whether the agency is liable for a former officer's sexual assault of a Northern Cheyenne woman, arguing most of the information is based on hearsay, undisclosed opinion and privileged testimony.

  • December 02, 2024

    Government Mole Faces Tough Cross From Madigan's Atty

    An attorney for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan got his chance Monday to question the ex-Chicago alderman who recorded his client while cooperating with the government, pushing him to admit that Madigan never explicitly conditioned his support on legal business for his law firm or told the alderman to vote against developers who didn't hire him for tax work.

  • December 02, 2024

    SEC Crypto Cases To Face Review Under Trump

    President-elect Donald Trump's promises of a friendlier approach to the digital asset industry means a review is coming for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto suits, but experts agreed that this doesn't mean enforcement actions in the space will grind to a halt.

  • December 02, 2024

    Ga. DNA Testing Law Hinders Death Row Inmates, Suit Says

    A Georgia law governing DNA testing used in capital crime cases is unconstitutional because it allows courts to decide whether death row inmates are using bids to reopen evidence as a means to delay their execution, according to a federal lawsuit.

  • December 02, 2024

    Biden's Pardon Is Another Blow To Special Counsel Probes

    President Joe Biden's pardon of his son over the weekend marks the latest example of a special counsel investigation fizzling and raises doubts over the future use of such probes, which can drag on for years and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

  • December 02, 2024

    Top Promoter Of $58M IcomTech Crypto Ponzi Gets 10 Years

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a Florida cryptocurrency salesman on Monday with a 10-year prison sentence for his role in promoting the $58 million IcomTech Ponzi scheme, saying he victimized others in a "get rich quick" scam and may do so again.

  • December 02, 2024

    Remediation Co. Says Anadarko Can't Support Coverage Bid

    An environmental remediation company urged a Texas federal court to deny Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s bid for an early win in a dispute over coverage for a decade-old Louisiana kickback suit, saying the oil producer failed to show that it's entitled to a defense and indemnity.

  • December 02, 2024

    Ex-Soccer Boss Fears He'll Die While Fighting Conviction

    The ailing former president of the Brazilian soccer federation urged a New York federal judge to rule on his petition to have his FIFA bribery conviction overturned, telling the court Monday that he could die before a scheduled January hearing on the issue.

  • December 02, 2024

    Funds Get $30M Payout From SEC's Fight With Fugitive Trader

    A Connecticut federal judge has approved a receiver's plan to distribute $30 million to four Oak Management Corp. funds that were among the victims of a former in-house trader who spent a decade defrauding investors and misappropriating $67 million, court records show.

  • December 02, 2024

    NY Doctor To Admit Role In Brain Scan Kickback Scheme

    A New York doctor has agreed to plead guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme that allegedly billed insurers approximately $1 million for unnecessary brain scans, Massachusetts federal prosecutors said Monday.

  • December 02, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Who Killed Wife Faces Depo Over Settlement

    Former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, who is serving a prison sentence for killing his wife, is set to be deposed as soon as Tuesday as part of the legal battle in Georgia state court over who is entitled to the settlement of the wrongful death suit brought by his wife's estate.

  • December 02, 2024

    DEA Asserts Its Role As Proponent Of Pot Rescheduling Plan

    The Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday affirmed it was acting as the proponent of a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, and the administrative law judge said supporters of rescheduling would not get an opportunity to cross-examine DEA witnesses.

  • December 02, 2024

    Attorney Disbarred In NJ For Stealing $170K From Father

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has disbarred a Pennsylvania attorney following her conviction in Pennsylvania for stealing nearly $170,000 from her father, according to a recently filed order.

  • December 02, 2024

    Miss America CEO Files $500M Suit Alleging Bankruptcy Fraud

    The producer of the Miss America pageant and its related entities have filed a $500 million racketeering suit in Florida accusing developer Glenn Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • Congress Quietly Amends FEPA: What Cos. Should Do Now

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    Last week, Congress revised the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act — passed last year to criminalize demand-side foreign bribery — to address inconsistencies and better harmonize the law with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and companies should review their compliance programs accordingly, say Mark Mendelsohn and Benjamin Klein at Paul Weiss.

  • NYSE Delisting May Be The Cost Of FCPA Compliance

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    ABB’s recent decision to delist its U.S. depository receipts from the New York Stock Exchange, coupled with having settled three Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions, begs the question of whether the cost of FCPA compliance should factor into a company's decision to remain listed in the U.S., says John Joy at FTI Law.

  • CFTC Action Highlights Necessity Of Whistleblower Carveouts

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's novel settlement with a trading firm over allegations of manipulating the market and failing to create contract carveouts for employees to freely communicate with investigators serves as a beacon for further enforcement activity from the CFTC and other regulators, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

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    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

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    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • 25 Years Of OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention

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    Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-bribery convention has advanced legislative reforms and reshaped corporate conduct in dozens of countries amid the persistent challenges of uneven enforcement and political pressure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls

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    Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage

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    A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.

  • Playing The Odds: Probing Sports Betting Allegations

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    With gambling-related controversies becoming a mainstay of the athletics landscape, it's essential for in-house and outside counsel to stay abreast of best practices for conducting sports betting investigations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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