Last week Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will soon begin a pilot program to reward whistleblowers who alert prosecutors to significant corporate misconduct. The goal of...more
3/15/2024
/ CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a new department-wide Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy that protects acquiring companies that self-disclose criminal misconduct discovered at an...more
10/16/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Mergers ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Policy Statement ,
Remediation ,
Restitution ,
Safe Harbors ,
Voluntary Disclosure
On January 17, 2023, Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Kenneth A. Polite Jr. announced significant revisions to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”). Four months...more
1/26/2023
/ Bribery ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Remediation ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco laid out the DOJ’s first substantive changes to white-collar criminal investigations and enforcement under the Biden administration....more
9/19/2022
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Individual Accountability ,
Transparency ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
On January 12, 2021, the Eastern District of California entered into a civil settlement with a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) borrower and its CEO to resolve allegations of fraud. The settlement stemmed from a $350,000...more
1/15/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FIRREA ,
Fraud ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Qui Tam ,
Settlement
Working from home. When it started back in March, it was a novel experience. Dry cleaning bills went to zero, we could reallocate commuting time to catching up on Netflix, and we knew we’d be home for family dinner....more
On Wednesday, July 22, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued Emergency Executive Order 20-81, “Requiring Minnesotans to Wear a Face Covering in Certain Settings to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19.” As the title foretells, EO...more
In what may be the beginning of a wave of enforcement actions, the Justice Department charged an organization and its leadership with dual healthcare and securities fraud charges. The prosecution underscores the risks facing...more
On Friday, June 5, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued Executive Order 20-74 (the “Order”), his latest order modifying workplace regulations to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among other provisions, the Order requires that...more
On Wednesday, May 13, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued Emergency Executive Order 20-56 (the “Order”), which will further loosen workplace restrictions effective Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 11:59 pm. Those looser restrictions...more
On April 23, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued a new Executive Order - Emergency Executive Order 20-40 - allowing certain “Non-Critical Exempt Businesses” to restart operations.
To date, an industrial,...more
On April 8, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued Emergency Executive Order 20-33, which extended the current stay-at-home order until Sunday, May 3 at 11:59 pm.
Additionally, the Walz Administration issued updated guidance that...more
The United States government has an arsenal of agencies and civil and criminal statutes at its disposal to choose from in investigating and combatting healthcare fraud. A recent federal indictment discussed below exemplifies...more
12/20/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Government Investigations ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Indictments ,
Kickbacks ,
Safe Harbors ,
SDVOSB ,
Statutory Penalties ,
Treble Damages ,
Veterans Administration
So, your organization is about to resolve a criminal matter with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), including agreement as to the appropriate monetary penalty, but it cannot pay that fine or penalty without shutting its...more
The United States Department of Justice this month released a revised and consolidated set of guidelines for determining cooperation credit for organizations facing exposure under the False Claims Act. The consolidated...more
For most individuals and organizations, it does not get much worse than the threat of a criminal conviction. But for recipients of Federal funds—whether providers, grantees, or contractors—a federal criminal conviction is...more
9/25/2018
/ Collateral Estoppel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Estoppel ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Plea Agreements ,
SBIRs ,
STTR ,
Suspensions & Debarments ,
Wire Fraud
In recent years the buzz in organizational criminal liability has come from so-called “individual liability” for acts of corporate wrongdoing—the idea that managers and employees are not immune from individual prosecution for...more
In recent weeks, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued two memoranda that might change the calculus of False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases. The memoranda at a minimum provide organizations with new—or at least...more
Institutions and organizations are increasingly expected to conduct a thorough, neutral investigation of allegations of impropriety, misuse of authority, and sexual harassment, among many other issues. No organization, public...more
Under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(1)(A) it is a felony for a physician to solicit or receive a kickback “in return for referring” a Medicaid or Medicare patient to another medical provider. But as a recent decision by the Eighth...more
In a unanimous decision on June 16, 2016, the Supreme Court charted a middle course between competing interpretations of the scope of False Claims Act. Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, Case No....more
Both houses of Congress have now approved a bill (the Defend Trade Secrets Act) that would create a federal civil cause of action for trade secrets misappropriation—a sea change for claims previously subject only to state...more
4/29/2016
/ Asset Seizure ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Ex Parte ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Remedies ,
State Law Claims ,
Trade Secrets ,
Uniform Trade Secrets Acts
Last week the Supreme Court in Luis v. United States, No. 14-419, 578 U.S. __ (2016) limited the government’s reach to freeze a criminal defendant’s assets before trial or other judicial proceedings. Justice Breyer, writing...more
Organizations routinely seek the advice of counsel in complying with the complex, evolving Federal regulatory scheme. But a recent Federal prosecution for government-contracting fraud illuminates the stark difference between...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has brought its first-ever enforcement action against a company for using language in confidentiality agreements that prohibits employees from speaking with the SEC without prior...more