This week, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice released guidelines on cooperation credit in False Claims Act cases. The guidelines strongly emphasize voluntary disclosure, but also provide insight into other actions that could give rise to cooperation credit.… Continue Reading
Anti-corruption has been a hot topic in Russia for some time. But recently, the Russian government has begun to take creative approaches in the fight against corruption. These initiatives are aimed at raising public awareness of corruption among the general public. What appears to be missing in this outreach is compliance guidance to companies in … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court today held the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies to the states. A wide variety of groups from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States supported the result.… Continue Reading
Fascination continues about the identity of Country A in Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference. An unidentified corporation is a witness in the investigation and is owned by Country A. Recent developments provide clues in the unredacted portions of unsealed court rulings and party filings. Based on linguistic analysis of court rulings and pleadings, Kristina … Continue Reading
In 2018, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued many important policy updates and rollouts that will have far-reaching impact. Our firm’s Alert provides an easily navigated yet detailed summary of developments. Policy Shifts at the Department of Justice – 2018 in Review focuses on government investigations and white collar prosecutions. The Alert covers:… Continue Reading
The case against Leonid Teyf, a Russian citizen, in a federal court in North Carolina has enough juicy facts for an international crime novel. The U.S. prosecutors need evidence to convict Teyf and his accomplices of the central charges, stemming from an alleged kickback scheme in Russia. Will Russia provide missing links?… Continue Reading
Resolving corruption problems found during international mergers and acquisitions should be more certain in the New Year. Potential problems under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) can be handled in light of guidance provided by the Department of Justice (the DOJ). … Continue Reading
The federal government’s recoveries for false claims during FY2018 topped $2.8 billion. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released this and other statistics for its civil False Claims Act recoveries since 1986. Although the most numerous and lucrative recoveries occurred in the health care industry, the DOJ reported 35 new qui tam cases involving the Department … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has softened its policy known as the “Yates Memo.” That policy required companies to produce all relevant information on individuals involved in misconduct in order to be eligible to receive any cooperation credit with DOJ attorneys. Rather than the prior “all or nothing” approach, the new policy requires the … Continue Reading
Several interesting cases this year involve waiver and privilege jurisprudence. Perhaps none more sharply underscores the importance of a well-written proffer agreement when making disclosures to the government than a decision by the Fourth Circuit. The court’s analysis depends in part on the operation of Fed. R. Evid. 502.… Continue Reading
The Second Circuit issued its judgment on the case we have been monitoring, U.S. v. Hoskins. The court held that the “government may not expand the extraterritorial reach of the FCPA by recourse to the conspiracy and complicity statutes.”… Continue Reading
This month, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who served from 2009 to 2018 as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, pleaded not guilty to three new money-laundering charges related to the alleged multibillion-dollar looting of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a Kuala Lumpur-based strategic development company that is wholly owned by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance. The … Continue Reading
A recent landmark change to Singapore’s criminal justice system providing for Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPAs”), or voluntary alternatives to adjudication, should increase corporate accountability for acts of bribery, corruption, and money laundering.… Continue Reading
Many conclude that a C plea means a Corporate Plea. Used infrequently, a C plea restricts discretion of a federal district judge to sentence a criminal defendant. By expressing his concerns about a proposed C plea for a company, one federal judge changed the result. In an article published by the American Health Lawyers Association, … Continue Reading
The Department of Justice released new Enforcement Policy for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The revisions include a new provision that many believe impairs the use of instant messaging software and other third-party messaging apps by employees. In order to receive a declination and full credit for cooperating with investigators under the Enforcement Policy, U.S. companies … Continue Reading
In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court protected cell site location data. Now “the Government must generally obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before acquiring such records.” Read here about the decision and its implications for organizations, particularly technology providers. The article is written by Squire Patton Boggs attorneys Tara Swaminatha, Robin Campbell, … Continue Reading
At the end of June, Attorney General Sessions revealed the largest number of defendants ever charged for healthcare fraud. Read here for a summary of the number of individuals, the types of charges, and the agencies involved.… Continue Reading
Having looked comparatively at the approaches of certain authorities around the world to addressing and mitigating the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, our attentions now turn to the emerging position of regulators in the U.S., which is often considered the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency market. In the first two parts of this three-part post, we examined “cryptocompliance” … Continue Reading
Buried on page 2,201 of the 2,232-page 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill, the CLOUD Act was signed into law on March 23, 2018. The bill allows U.S. law enforcement to obtain U.S. citizens’ private data from servers anywhere in the world, provided that an agreement exists with that country on data sharing. However, the CLOUD Act … Continue Reading
On February 27, 2018, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that will affect the security of data stored in the cloud. At issue in United States v. Microsoft is whether a U.S. based digital communications provider must comply with a warrant for user data stored on servers located outside of the U.S. … Continue Reading
The 2017 Year in Review of the Department of Justice reveals a Data Analytics Team (the “Team”) for tracking healthcare fraud. The Healthcare Fraud Unit launched the Team in order to provide data mining expertise that efficiently detects healthcare fraud. This development demonstrates that data analytics is the future of enforcement. A fuller description of the Team … Continue Reading
A recent blog post summarized an opinion in which a district court catalogued his reasons for rejecting a corporate “C” plea involving a pharmaceutical company. Several developments have occurred since the court’s opinion including a plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for January 30, 2018. … Continue Reading
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pledged an enforcement environment in which businesses can thrive. In keynote remarks at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, he emphasized the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) commitment to “avoiding unnecessary interference in law-abiding enterprises.” Rosenstein also promoted the benefits of corporate compliance and self-reporting. Although allegedly offering “no breaking news” about DOJ policies, … Continue Reading
Summary of Compliance Guideline The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) has released guidance on how the DOJ will determine the effectiveness of a company’s corporate compliance program. The guidance, entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs[1] (the “Compliance Guideline”), provides examples of topics and sample questions that are frequently … Continue Reading
