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White Collar
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July 24, 2024
Ex-US Army Worker Gets 15 Years For $109M Fraud Scheme
A former U.S. Army civilian employee will spend 15 years in prison for stealing nearly $109 million from a grant program meant for military dependents and their families to buy a fleet of luxury vehicles, jewelry and houses, federal prosecutors announced.
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July 24, 2024
Pawnshop Co. Says Military Law Doesn't Back CFPB's Suit
National pawnshop company FirstCash says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should drop certain claims in a suit accusing it of subjecting military families to predatory lending, arguing that the bureau has admitted it has no authority to bring certain claims under the law undergirding the allegations.
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July 24, 2024
Watchdog Clears DOJ In 'Unusual' Roger Stone Sentencing
The Justice Department did not bow to political pressure to push for a more lenient sentence for former President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone, but the way in which the department handled the sentencing was "highly unusual" and the result of a U.S. attorney's poor leadership, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-Atlanta Official Asks 11th Circ. To Toss Bribery Conviction
A former Atlanta city commissioner sentenced to 4½ years in prison for taking bribes from a local contractor in exchange for steering millions of dollars to the contractor's company told the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday that her conviction must be reversed given the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Snyder v. U.S.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-AT&T Exec Wants Madigan Bribery Charges Dropped
A former AT&T executive who's accused of scheming to illegally influence former Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan's policy decisions argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent bribery ruling warrants chopping a conspiracy and bribery charge from his case.
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July 24, 2024
Digital Info Not Covered By Smuggling Law, Ky. Court Holds
A Kentucky federal judge has ruled that digital information isn't covered by the federal smuggling statute and dismissed a charge against a magnetics manufacturer and two executives accused of emailing magnet schematics to Chinese companies.
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July 24, 2024
Nonprofit Sues Former CFO Over Alleged $40M Embezzlement
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy on Wednesday sued its former CFO William Anthony Smith and his wife, mother and sister over their purported involvement in a scheme to steal almost $40 million from the nonprofit, claiming they used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and buy plane tickets for professional athletes.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-McElroy Deutsch Exec Says Ch. 11 Doesn't Pause Claims
A former McElroy Deutsch executive told a New Jersey state court that just because her husband — former McElroy Deutsch chief financial officer John Dunlea — has filed for bankruptcy does not mean she needs to pause her claims against the firm for discrimination and retaliation.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Gets Jail For Insider Trading On Kodak Loan
A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a former pharmaceutical executive from South Carolina to three months in prison Wednesday for taking over $500,000 of illegal trading profit based on his advance knowledge that Kodak would get a massive pandemic-era government loan.
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July 24, 2024
Ozy Media Ends Trade Secrets Suit After Ex-CEO's Conviction
News startup Ozy Media has dropped its trade secrets theft suit against Buzzfeed, its former editor-in-chief Ben Smith and the media company he co-founded, Semafor Inc., about a week after Ozy and its former CEO were convicted of lying to banks and investors to secure tens of millions of dollars to fund the multimedia business.
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July 24, 2024
Former AUSA Joins Venable's White Collar Team In Chicago
Venable LLP announced that a longtime former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois joined the firm's investigations and white collar practice as a Chicago-based partner.
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July 24, 2024
Priest Loses Fee Bid After 'Split Baby' SEC Verdict
A Greek Orthodox priest and hedge fund founder who largely beat a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit is not entitled to recoup $1.7 million in legal fees because the commission was justified in bringing the case, a Boston federal judge ruled Tuesday.
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July 24, 2024
Hemp Cos. Get Stay Of DEA Subpoenas Seeking Records
A Texas federal judge on Wednesday stayed enforcement of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration subpoenas seeking financial and other records from a group of hemp and vape sellers, who had argued earlier this week that the subpoenas were overbroad and unlinked to any federal investigation.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-Ohio Zoo CEO Pleads Guilty Just Before $2.3M Theft Trial
The former chief executive officer of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium pled guilty to 15 felonies just two weeks before he was to face an Ohio jury on charges he participated in a scheme to take $2.3 million in public funds from the organization, state Attorney General Dave Yost announced.
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July 23, 2024
Rudy Giuliani Says MyPillow CEO Covered His RNC Travel
Rudy Giuliani clarified Tuesday that his travel to and from the Republican National Convention was covered by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's conservative media outlet FrankSpeech, according to a filing in New York federal bankruptcy court.
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July 23, 2024
'Not Doing Enough': Banks Grilled Over Zelle Fraud, Scams
Senate Democrats on Tuesday confronted bank executives over a new staff report that found three of the nation's largest banks have declined to reimburse customers in recent years for close to $900 million in payments reported as fraudulent or scam-related that were sent on Zelle, the largest U.S. peer-to-peer payment platform.
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July 23, 2024
Cooperator In Cannabis Bank Fraud Case Dodges Prison
A U.K. national who testified against two businessmen accused of fooling banks into processing federally illicit transactions worth $150 million for California cannabis delivery company Eaze Technologies Inc. on Tuesday was spared from serving any time in prison.
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July 23, 2024
Cannabis Industry Stakeholders Weigh In On Rescheduling
As the period for public comment on the Biden administration's proposal to reclassify marijuana came to a close Monday, anti-legalization activists, marijuana industry advocates and state cannabis regulators each submitted their thoughts on the potential policy shift.
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July 23, 2024
Kickback Risk Remains For Gene Therapy Fertility Programs
Federal health officials this week declined to relieve two companies of potential liability under the Anti-Kickback Statute concerning their fertility support programs for patients receiving gene therapies.
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July 23, 2024
Ex-Allied World Exec To Change Plea In $1.5M Fraud Case
Allied World National Insurance's former executive, who pled not guilty to wire fraud charges earlier this year stemming from a $1 million embezzlement scheme, will change his plea next week in Connecticut federal court, according to a minute entry order entered Tuesday.
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July 23, 2024
Prosecutor Turned Witness: 'Rust' Case Shows Rare Dilemma
The botched "Rust" trial of Alec Baldwin and Donald Trump's election interference case in Georgia have offered scarce examples of prosecutors taking the stand, demonstrating how ethics scandals can snowball and make government attorneys choose between protecting themselves or their cases.
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July 23, 2024
Indonesian National Admits To $23M Ponzi Scheme
An Indonesian national pled guilty in New York federal court on Tuesday to conspiring to defraud a group of investors out of $23 million through a Ponzi scheme, ultimately spending the money on luxury goods and real estate.
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July 23, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Project Veritas Search Tied To Stolen Diary
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a district court's rejection of claims of journalistic privilege by Project Veritas' founder and two others at the activist group as they sought to shield documents seized under search warrants in connection with the stolen diary of President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden.
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July 23, 2024
Bros. Want New Trial For Concrete Price-Fixing Convictions
Two brothers convicted earlier this month of involvement in a ready-made concrete bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme asked a Georgia federal judge Monday for another shot at trial, arguing that repeated testimony about purported law-breaking tipped the scales in favor of federal prosecutors.
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July 23, 2024
Tax Foreclosure Kickback Suit Too Late, Mich. County Says
A Wayne County, Michigan, treasurer has argued in Michigan federal court that a putative class action accusing the county and other parties of engaging in a tax foreclosure and kickbacks scheme is time-barred.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Series
After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC
The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal
In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Roundup
After Chevron
In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Proposed Customer ID Rule Could Cost Investment Advisers
A rule recently proposed by FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make financial advisers collect more customer information parallels an anti-money laundering and counterterrorism rule proposed this spring, but firms may face new compliance costs when implementing these screening programs, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Perspectives
High Court Ruling Leaves Chance For Civil Forfeiture Reform
Though advocates for civil forfeiture reform did not prevail in Culley v. Marshall last month, concerns voiced by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices potentially leave the door open to consider stricter limits in future cases, say attorneys at Dykema.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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In Biz Account Breaches, Look Beyond The Payment Platform
A business's legal path to recovering funds after bad actors access a payment platform account and engage in unauthorized transactions can lead into murky legal territory where liability is unclear, and pursuing the payment platform itself will be an uphill, if not insurmountable, struggle, say Edward Marshall and Morgan Harrison at Arnall Golden.
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Justices' 'Blind Mule' Ruling Won't Change Defense Strategy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Diaz v. U.S., holding that expert witnesses can testify broadly about the mental state of “most people” in a group, simply affirms the status quo for the majority of defendants, and is unlikely to change defense counsel’s strategy at trial, says Walter Gonçalves at the Arizona Federal Public Defender's Office.