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White Collar
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July 24, 2024
PE Firm Ran $37M Ponzi-Like Cannabis Scheme, SEC Says
A California private equity fund ran a Ponzi-like scheme, using much of $37 million raised from investors to pay other shareholders instead of putting the money into cannabis companies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a California federal court this week.
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July 24, 2024
Atty Who Put Settlement In Spouse's Account Loses Appeal
A Texas appellate court ruled Wednesday against an attorney seeking to overturn a ruling from a trial court barring him from practicing law for 18 months, saying the man clearly breached his ethical obligations by moving settlement funds through his spouse's personal bank account.
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July 24, 2024
NC Man Gets Prison, $4.4M Fine For Stealing From Customers
A North Carolina businessman who admitted to stealing customers' bank and credit account information and spending their funds at casinos has been ordered to serve almost three years in prison and to pay a penalty of more than $4.4 million, prosecutors announced this week.
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July 24, 2024
Lab Owner Gets 1 Year In Prison In Medicare Bribe Case
A Florida lab owner who accepted millions in kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries for unneeded genetic tests has been sentenced to a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy.
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July 24, 2024
22% Of FINRA Member Firms Join Remote Inspection Program
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday that 741 firms have opted to participate in a new pilot program for remote inspections of broker-dealers, representing a 22% share of the regulator's member firms.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Series
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
The first quarter of 2024 saw a number of notable legal and regulatory developments that will significantly affect New York's financial services industry, including the New York Department of Financial Services' finalized novel guidance directing banks to continuously monitor the character and fitness of key personnel, say Brian Montgomery and Nathan Lewko at Pillsbury.
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Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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When Trade Secret Protection And Nat'l Security Converge
The Trump administration's anti-espionage program focused on China is over, but federal enforcement efforts to protect trade secrets and U.S. national security continue, and companies doing business in high-risk jurisdictions need to maintain their compliance programs to avoid the risk of being caught in the crosshairs of an investigation, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Calif. Verdict Showcases SEC's New 'Shadow Trading' Theory
Last week's insider trading verdict, delivered against biopharmaceutical executive Matthew Panuwat by a California federal jury, signals open season on a new area of regulatory enforcement enabled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's shadow trading theory, say Perrie Weiner and Aaron Goodman at Baker McKenzie.
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Strategies For Defense Attys To Subpoena A Nonparty Witness
Federal criminal defendants seeking to subpoena potentially exculpatory information from nonparty witnesses must satisfy a stringent standard and should consider several often overlooked arguments to assure courts they’re not engaging in a fishing expedition, says James Roberts at Schlam Stone.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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High Court's Jan. 6 Rioter Case May Have Wide Ripple Effects
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Fischer v. United States, a case that will determine whether a law enacted after the Enron scandal can be used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters, and could affect the government’s ability to charge those who impede a range of official proceedings, say Brook Dooley and Sara Fitzpatrick at Keker Van Nest.
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Bankruptcy Courts' Role In Shaping Crypto's Legal Framework
Massive financial and criminal liability has led to the recent collapse of major cryptocurrency companies and put bankruptcy courts in the spotlight, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive regulatory framework, say Tara Pakrouh and Eric Monzo at Morris James.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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Intent-Based Theory Of Liability In Hwang Creates Ambiguity
A case against Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang alleging that he participated in a securities manipulation scheme, which goes to trial next month in New York federal court, highlights the need for courts to clarify the legal standard defining "market manipulation," says Edward Imperatore at MoFo.
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How A Motion Before Justices May Help Trump Beyond Court
Even if Donald Trump loses his presidential immunity claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, the delay created by the motion may mean a trial can't be completed before the November election, says Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.
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Opinion
$175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed
The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.