Earlier this month, a federal judge vacated two convictions related to the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) investigation into corruption in international soccer, widely known as the “FIFA Case.” Despite the jury’s findings...more
On May 11, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued decisions in two significant cases that will further define the future of mail and wire prosecutions, particularly in the context of public corruption: United States v. Ciminelli...more
Two facially unrelated decisions, issued last week by the First Circuit and the Supreme Court, continued a recent theme of courts pushing back against potential prosecutorial overreach in the application of fraud...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided three cases against the United States, with the Court rejecting the government’s attempt to prosecute or penalize private citizens under what the Court deemed to be overly expansive...more
The Supreme Court yet again unanimously overturned bribery convictions based on prosecutorial overreach via the honest services wire fraud statute. The steady stream of reversals fundamentally challenges the DOJ’s approach in...more
In a pair of criminal cases , the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a one-two punch to the Justice Department’s prosecution of corruption cases based on violations of the criminal wire fraud statute. In Ciminelli v. U.S., and...more
The First Circuit applied a narrow definition of “bribery” for honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1346. Payments made to the purportedly harmed party in the alleged bribery scheme—here, the universities—cannot...more
On May 11, 2023, in Percoco v. United States, 598 U.S. ___ (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court once again reined in an expansive public corruption prosecution brought by the Department of Justice by overturning a wire fraud...more
In United States v. Napout, the Second Circuit (Sack, Hall and Bianco) affirmed the 2017 convictions of Juan Ángel Napout and José Maria Marin in the Eastern District of New York on charges arising out of commercial bribery...more
I report herein on 2018’s parade of reprobates, rapscallions and others generally lacking in moral hygiene. We reflect on a mother’s love, corruption in Venezuela, a disloyal employee, stealing from friends, a disgraced...more
The Second Circuit (Winter, Raggi, Hellerstein by designation)yesterday, vacated by summary order the convictions of former New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam Skelos. Dean and Adam Skelos were...more
When you look outside the FCPA arena and examine DOJ criminal prosecutions in healthcare, antitrust, tax, fraud, and other white-collar areas, there is no shortage of cases against individual violators. I am perplexed, to say...more
Governor McDonnell’s attorneys put it this way: The Governor’s acts weren’t “official” because “none were any more remarkable than acts that governors unthinkingly take hundreds of times weekly for countless constituents,...more