The War on Judicial Sentencing Discretion
May 07, 2004
The face of federal sentencing law, policy and practice has changed dramatically over the past year ' not just for individual criminal defendants, but for corporations as well. Sentencing laws that were stiff before have now become even more onerous, and the opportunities for leniency under the new regime are scarce. This article discusses the legislative and policy changes that specifically impact sentencing for corporations.
In the Courts
May 07, 2004
Important rulings of interest to you and your practice.
Tougher Penalties, More Prosecutions
May 07, 2004
Although the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act took effect almost 18 months ago, little attention has been paid to changes it made in the enforcement of federal campaign finance law, including big penalties for violations and sentencing guidelines that mandate incarceration for most criminal convictions. Notably, the Act ' Campaign P.L. 107-155, officially called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) ' has increased the risk of criminal prosecution as well as the penalties.
Can You? Should You? Must You?
April 01, 2004
As general counsel of a small public company, you discover that, for 2 years, a department head approved sending false invoices to customers, resulting in profits of at least $2 million. Although it stopped a year ago and is well concealed, the practice was intentional, and a half-dozen current employees were involved. You fear that the false invoices constitute at least mail and wire fraud. Moreover, if the victims find out, they might sue. What do you do?
In The Courts
April 01, 2004
The latest on what's happening in the courts.
Prosecuting Energy Trading Fraud under the CEA
April 01, 2004
In the aftermath of Enron's collapse, attention turned to the accounting and other practices of energy companies. Numerous investigations and suits have been brought against traders and energy companies involved with supplying power to California and elsewhere during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. The government has focused on such practices as "round-trip trades," in which energy companies entered into pre-arranged transactions, lacking market risk, to inflate reported trading volumes. Federal prosecutors in California and Texas have charged individuals with causing inaccurate or fictitious trades to be reported to trade journals.
Internal Controls: Cure-all or Snake Oil?
April 01, 2004
Internal controls" have been touted for years as the cure-all for corporate ills. Why, then, are we bombarded with daily revelations of abuses crippling corporations around the globe?
Inferring Dishonesty: The Fifth Amendment and Fidelity Coverage
April 01, 2004
Dishonest employees always have posed a problem for businesses. The average business may lose 6% of its annual revenues to employee fraud, and cumulatively the impact of employee theft on the economy is estimated to be $600 billion annually. <i>See</i> Association of Certified Fraud Examiners ("ACFE"), 2002 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, at ii, 4 (2002), available at <i>www.cfenet.com/publications/rttn.asp.</i> Although the average loss through employee embezzlement is $25,000, where computerized financial records or transactions are involved, the average loss increases nearly twentyfold. <i>See</i> National White Collar Crime Center, <i>WCC Issue: Embezzlement/Employee Theft,</i> at 2 (2002), available at <i>http://nw3c.org/downloads/Computer_Crime_Weapon.pdf.</i>
