Mail and Wire Fraud Claims - RICO Report Podcast
Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries- Canadian Man Sentenced for Operating $175 Million Psychic Mass-Mailing Fraud Scheme - On April 15, Patrice Runner, a Canadian and French...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Consumer Protection Branch works with other branches and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute civil and criminal violations of the nation’s consumer protection...more
The Justice Department trumpeted its criminal prosecutions against defendants charged with Libor-rigging. It had a right to toot its own horn. But many of these convictions have not withstood the scrutiny of appellate...more
“The investigative work of 2021 has all the makings of a made for TV movie – embezzlement of funds from a nonprofit, a family fraud ring that stole millions in COVID-relief funds and a $1 billion Ponzi scheme used to buy...more
Report on Research Compliance 18, no. 10 (October, 2021) - An audit by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) pre-award risk assessment process concluded that...more
On September 15, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina imposed significant penalties on a defendant who defrauded thousands of trademark registration holders. The imposition of such...more
The Department of Justice recently indicted four men—two of whom are located in Canada and two in New York—for a mass-mailing scheme that bilked thousands of senior citizens out of tens of millions of dollars....more
“Front” Seafood Businesses Allegedly Hid the Proceeds From Smuggled Shark Fins and Marijuana Distribution - Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia unsealed an indictment returned in July,...more
FCPA cases can arise in un usual situations. DOJ has focused two separate prosecutions on bribery and fraud involving adoptions from Uganda and Poland. At the heart, the defendants bribed Ugandan and Polish authorities to...more
Although U.S.-China bilateral tensions eased to a degree earlier this year with the signing of an interim trade agreement, fundamental differences remained. These differences — such as the role that China’s industrial policy...more
Two recent rulings in separate foreign bribery cases highlight the continued impact of individual prosecutions on the interpretation of various provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In United States v....more
Recently, a Mississippi federal judge provided a heartening reminder that, while it may seem all too often ignored, fraud in the mass tort context can carry serious—indeed, criminal—consequences. As we discuss below, victims...more
On May 2, 2019, Nathaniel Lorenz was sentenced to 18 months in prison following his November 8, 2018 conviction on eight counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud for defrauding the government in connection with a...more
Proactive Steps for Higher Education Institutions as Admissions Scandal Intensifies- On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, Felicity Huffman, best known for playing Lynette Scavo on the popular television series Desperate Housewives,...more
In United States v. Rutigliano, No. 16-3754 et al., the Second Circuit (Jacobs, Raggi, Droney) refused to endorse the reduction of a restitution order against defendants who had conspired to submit fraudulent disability...more
Once again we look back at the continuing cavalcade of crooks, criminals, miscreants and, to put it kindly, morons the less intellectually gifted, who met justice face-to-face in 2017. This year’s class includes a preacher,...more
In United States v. Scully, 16-3073-cr (Pooler, Lynch, Cogan[1]), the Second Circuit vacated the defendant’s conviction for various offenses, including mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, the sale of...more
On October 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the conviction of a “land man” for the crimes of conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors he enticed...more
On September 18, 2017, in United States v. Caltabiano, No. 16-1275-cr, the Second Circuit (Walker, Lynch, and Lohier, Js.) clarified the jurisdictional scope of a Notice of Appeal. The Court confirmed its authority to...more
The Chicklets and Runts vending machine at your local car repair shop last decade may have been one piece of a fraudulent enterprise that ensnarled roughly 7,000 victims. As CEO of Vendstar, Defendant Edward (“Ned”) Weaver...more
Last month the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“the Office”) announced its cooperation in a Department of Justice investigation into a trademark scam perpetrated by two California men that defrauded about 4,446...more
Copyrighting their names, “signing” with red thumbprints – we’ve seen some unusual court filings from unique individuals. But one person has apparently gone too far. It can be incredibly frustrating for a lender when a...more
Two federal appellate decisions highlight the potential criminal liability for rogue agents. First, in United States v. Binday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld mail and wire fraud convictions of three individuals...more
Two real estate investors pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia. The guilty pleas, entered on Monday, January 4, are the 11th...more
Why it matters - The operators of a scam that processed more than $5.2 million in payments from consumers for payday loans that were not owed to the operators are now banned from the debt collection business, the...more