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White Collar
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October 29, 2024
Oil Trader's Brother Gets Probation, Fine For Brazilian Bribes
An ailing Connecticut man who admitted to helping his brother pull off a scheme to bribe officials at Brazil's state-owned oil company has been sentenced to probation, a fine and asset forfeiture, federal court records showed Tuesday.
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October 29, 2024
NJ Judge Exits Disbarred Atty's Suits Over Ties To State Bar
A disbarred New Jersey civil rights attorney persuaded a New Jersey federal judge to recuse herself from cases he has pending before her due to the "slim, but conceivable chance" of an appearance of impropriety stemming in part from her time as president of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
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October 29, 2024
2nd Circ. Says FBI Agents Immune From Suit Over No-Fly List
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision finding immunity for FBI agents who were accused of placing four Muslim men on a no-fly database after they declined to become informants.
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October 29, 2024
Ex-Jones Day Litigator Joins Honigman In Detroit
Honigman LLP has brought on a former Jones Day business and tort litigation associate as a business litigation practice group partner.
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October 29, 2024
Navy Reservist Gets 30 Months For Visa Letter Bribe Scheme
A Navy reserve commander was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of taking bribes from Afghan nationals in exchange for recommendation letters for visa applications.
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October 28, 2024
Crypto Co. Operator Faces Money Laundering, Tax Charges
Federal prosecutors accused an Indiana property owner of laundering the proceeds of a crypto money transmitter — AurumXchange — that they say should have been licensed and of failing to file tax returns despite realizing six figure gains from investing the proceeds.
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October 28, 2024
Ontrak Founder Can't Wipe Novel Insider Trading Verdict
A California federal judge has upheld Ontrak founder Terren Peizer's first-of-its-kind insider trading conviction, holding that jurors had "more than enough evidence" to determine he based a $20 million share sale on nonpublic information that the health tech company was about to lose its biggest client.
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October 28, 2024
Ex-Atty Charged With $9.2M Commodities Ponzi Scheme
Federal prosecutors have charged a former New Orleans-based attorney with operating a Ponzi scheme, saying he promised dozens of individuals that he would invest their $9.2 million in low-risk commodities when he was really using the funds to gamble and to pay off personal expenses.
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October 28, 2024
Ex-'Bob's Burgers' Actor Gets 1 Year And 1 Day For Jan. 6 Riot
A D.C. federal judge on Monday sentenced former "Bob's Burgers" actor Jay James Johnston to a year and a day in prison after he pled guilty to a single felony count of obstructing officers during civil disorder for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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October 28, 2024
Investment Firm's Head Indicted For Alleged Ponzi Scheme
Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment accusing a Utah man of carrying out a Ponzi scheme to embezzle millions of dollars from private investors who believed they were contributing to restaurant ventures.
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October 28, 2024
Leader Of Bankers' Group Calls For Anti-Fraud Watchdogs
The head of the nation's largest banking trade group on Monday called on Congress and the White House to establish a federal office of scam and fraud prevention to counteract the rising tide of fraud costing the U.S. tens of billions annually.
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October 28, 2024
Creditors Get Ponzi Finding In Wash. Bankruptcy Trial
A Washington state bankruptcy judge has found that real estate investment firm iCap Enterprises Inc. had operated as a Ponzi scheme, opening up the door for creditors to bring lawsuits and deduct some part of the losses from their taxes, attorneys for the official committee of iCap's unsecured creditors said Monday.
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October 28, 2024
Boston Pizzeria Owner Gets Over 8 Years In Forced Labor Row
A Massachusetts federal judge sentenced the owner of a Boston pizzeria to 8½ years in prison after a jury in June convicted him for using physical abuse and threats of violence and deportation to control hourly foreign workers who lacked work authorization.
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October 28, 2024
Columbus Zoo's Ex-Marketing Head Gets 5 Years Behind Bars
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that the former head of marketing at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium who pled guilty to his part in a $2.3 million fraud scheme involving public funds was sentenced to five years in prison.
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October 28, 2024
Feds Defend DEI Monitor Provision In Boeing Plea Deal
The U.S. Department of Justice said it will consider diversity and inclusion when it picks an independent compliance monitor for The Boeing Co. under a proposed plea agreement in the company's criminal conspiracy case, reassuring a Texas federal judge that the selection process will be rigorous.
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October 28, 2024
Metals Co. Owner Convicted Of Tax Fraud In $58M Theft Case
A Delaware federal jury convicted the owner of a gold and silver depository of tax fraud and other crimes tied to the government's accusations that he stole $58 million in precious metals from his customers, according to court filings.
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October 28, 2024
Mass. Court's Wiretap Ruling May Be Bad Omen For Plaintiffs
A ruling by the Massachusetts high court rejecting wiretap claims over website operators' use of tracking software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics shows the steep climb plaintiffs may continue to face as they try to apply older laws to modern technologies, experts told Law360.
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October 28, 2024
Ozy Media CEO Wants Conviction Nixed Over Judge's Assets
The New York federal judge who presided over the fraud and identity theft trial of former Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson should be disqualified from the case because he failed to disclose that he had investments in four of the companies victimized by Watson, according to the onetime executive, who is trying to get his conviction overturned.
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October 28, 2024
Report Says To Allow Bulk Of Software Investor Suit
A U.S. magistrate judge has recommended against dismissing the bulk of an investor's suit alleging Decentral Life Inc. and a group of its licensees, including a cannabis social media site, misled him into investing more than $1.7 million by boasting bogus user counts.
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October 28, 2024
Cleary Adds Northern Calif. Deputy Criminal Chief As Partner
The deputy chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California has joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's Bay Area office as a partner in the Americas litigation practice, the firm said Monday.
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October 25, 2024
Chicago Rapper Lil Durk Accused Of Ordering Rival's Murder
Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Durk was charged with orchestrating the attempted murder of a rival rapper, which led to a shooting near a Los Angeles shopping mall that left one person dead, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
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October 25, 2024
Crypto Rapidly Transforming IRS Criminal Cases, Agent Says
Cryptocurrency is altering the size of many criminal cases that federal law enforcement agencies are handling, an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator told the UCLA Tax Controversy Conference, commenting that over the past three years the agency broke its record for asset seizures three times.
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October 25, 2024
9th Circ. Backs 7-Year Sentence Over Chip Exports To China
The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld the seven-year prison sentence imposed on a former University of California, Los Angeles, electrical engineering professor convicted of illegally exporting high-powered semiconductor chips to China, saying the district court did not err in holding that the conduct amounted to an evasion of national security controls.
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October 25, 2024
Shoplifter's Probation Pot Ban Upheld By Mich. Appeals Court
A Michigan appeals court on Thursday ruled that, notwithstanding the state's legalization of recreational cannabis, a woman who pled guilty to shoplifting violated the terms of her probation by smoking marijuana while it remains federally illegal.
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October 25, 2024
FTX Reaches $228M Deal With Crypto Co. Bybit
The FTX bankruptcy estate reached a deal worth about $228 million to resolve its lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Bybit and the firm's investment arm, Mirana Corp., that alleged they unfairly jumped the line to withdraw funds during FTX's meltdown in late 2022 and held the estate's own funds hostage.
Expert Analysis
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To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations
A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.
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With Esmark Case, SEC Returns Focus To Tender Offer Rules
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Esmark in connection with its failed bid to acquire U.S. Steel indicates the SEC's renewed attention under Rule 14e‑8 of the Exchange Act on offerors' financial resources as a measure of the veracity of their tender offer communications, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Fla. Ruling May Undermine FCA Whistleblowers' Authority
A Florida federal court's decision in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates last month will deprive relators of their ability to bring suits under the False Claims Act, limiting their capability to expose and rectify wrongdoings and potentially affecting billions in FCA recoveries, say Matthew Nielsen and Lily Johnson at Bracewell.
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What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals
Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure
Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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11th Circ. Kickback Ruling May Widen Hearsay Exception
In a $400 million fraud case, U.S. v. Holland, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a conspiracy need not have an unlawful object to introduce co-conspirator statements under federal evidence rules, potentially broadening the application of the so-called co-conspirator hearsay exception, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races
This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.
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Opinion
Barrett Is Right: Immunity Is Wrong Framework In Trump Case
Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concurrence in Trump v. U.S., where the majority opinion immunized former presidents almost entirely from criminal prosecution for official actions, rests on a firmer constitutional foundation than the majority’s immunity framework, says Matthew Brogdon at Utah Valley University.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Open Questions In Unsettled Geofence Warrant Landscape
The Fourth and Fifth Circuits recently reached radically divergent conclusions about the constitutionality of geofence warrants, creating an uncertain landscape in which defendants should assert and preserve the full range of conventional Fourth Amendment challenges, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Primer On Chinese Trade Secret Disputes For US Practitioners
Increasing cross-border disputes over trade secret misappropriation between U.S. and Chinese entities emphasize the need for U.S. practitioners to navigate China's legal landscape following recent reforms that enhance the viability of litigation in Chinese courts, say attorneys at Jones Day.