The Continuing Evolution of the False Claims Act
January 01, 2017
The number of lawsuits brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) continues to increase. In 2015 alone, relators filed over 600 qui tam complaints — and courts awarded over $3.5 billion — under the FCA.
Corporate Guilt and Individual Innocence in Financial Fraud
January 01, 2017
Comparing the success of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in extracting guilty pleas from companies for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) with the DOJ's notable trial failures in FCPA matters brought against individuals is particularly instructive when we are discussing individual versus corporate criminal accountability, as we did in the first part of this article.<br><i><b>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i>
Fallout from the 'Panama Papers'
January 01, 2017
Among the first things we learn as defense attorneys is to keep informed and alert about events that may spawn or affect actions taken by prosecutors. This article sets forth an example of how one stays sensitive to what may be happening in the closed venues of prosecutors' offices.
Criminal Allegations Threaten Merger
January 01, 2017
Abbott Laboratories' $5.8 billion proposed purchase of Alere, a Massachusetts medical testing company, is in trouble now that multiple criminal allegations have been leveled against Alere.
In the Courts
January 01, 2017
A jury in the Southern District of Texas awarded over $92 million in damages to the United States in a case against mortgage lenders who fraudulently granted and underwrote loans insured by the Federal Housing Authority and then reaped massive payouts when those loans went into default.
Business Crimes Hotline
January 01, 2017
On Nov. 17, 2016, JPMorgan APAC, a Hong Kong subsidiary of JP Mor¬gan Chase & Co., agreed to pay $72 million for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Talk Is Cheap: The Misuse of 'Speaking' Indictments
November 01, 2016
In white collar fraud, public corruption and other high-profile cases, DOJ prosecutors sometimes go well beyond the“notice” principle and draft thick indictments laying out in conclusory language the regulatory schema surrounding the challenged conduct; public policy rationales for the laws and regulation said to be violated; alleged motives of defendants; and the government's inferences from alleged facts (“connecting the dots”) — all under section headings or captions advocating the government's view.
Mexico's New Anti-Corruption Framework
November 01, 2016
On July 18, 2016, Mexico published a comprehensive body of new anti-corruption legislation implementing its 2015 Constitutional reform on this area of the law. The new legislation has received significant attention, and for good reason. However, it has long been plagued with a reputation for corruption, both at the federal and local levels.
