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“A Very Large Handful” of White House E-Mail Accounts
The latest twist in the ongoing saga of the firing of the eight U.S. Attorneys is the revelation that a number of White House aides had e-mail accounts through the Republican National Committee for "political" work, and some of the traffic through those addresses may have involved discussions of the firings. Perhaps more ominously is…
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The Decline in FBI White Collar Crime Investigations
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a set of interesting articles (available here) on the decline in white collar crime investigations by the FBI as a result of the shift of agents to counter-terrorism duty in the wake of the September 11 attacks. According to a study of FBI investigative and case referral statistics, the effect of…
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Second Circuit Reverses Lawyer’s Conviction for Insurance Fraud
The Second Circuit overturned the insurance fraud conviction of personal injury lawyer Solomon Kaplan due to evidentiary error by the district court. Kaplan was convicted on a seven-count indictment for his role in an insurance scam involving faked accidents and victims with exaggerated injuries in which he served as the plaintiff’s counsel. In addition to…
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Girls Gone Wild Producer Charged with Tax Evasion
Joe Francis, the producer of the ever-popular "Girls Gone Wild" videos and those incessant infomercials that plague the late-night airways, was charged in a two-count indictment with tax evasion for his 2001 and 2002 tax returns. According to the indictment (here) returned in the District of Nevada, Francis had the company that produces the films,…
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Nacchio Prosecution Heads to the Jury
The prosecution of former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio heads into its final phase, at least for the guilt portion of the proceedings, as the jury will receive the case and begin its deliberations on the 42 counts of insider trading. The defense put on only three witness, adjuring having Nacchio testify or presenting any evidence…
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Plea Results in Probation in Export Related Case
It started as a major conspiracy case, but ended with the defendant receiving probation after a plea to a charge of lying to a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. s 1001. The accused had been the subject of a FISA warrant and the charges in the SDNY were initially violating the International Emergency Economic Powers…
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Armstrong Hit with a Maximum Sentence
Former currency trader Martin Armstrong received the maximum five-year sentence for his plea to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and commodities fraud. Armstrong could not receive a longer sentence because the conspiracy statute at the time of the offense limited the prison term to five years. Armstrong was accused of defrauding a number…
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Their Oughta Be a Law Against That
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is riding a wave of publicity over conflicts of interest in the student loan arena as more ties between lenders and university financial aid officers come to the surface. An AP article (here) quotes Cuomo stating, "This is like peeling an onion . . . It seems to be…
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Corruption Conviction Overturned at the End of Oral Argument
Television programs occasionally show an appellate court freeing the wrongly-convicted defendant, and we lawyers laugh at the cheap theatrics, knowing that a court of appeals acts quite deliberately and never orders an acquittal during its session. Then again, reality mimics television every once in a while, as shown by the Seventh Circuit when the panel…
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AG Appoints New Information Person
DOJ issued a news release today stating that Attorney General Gonzales had appointed a new Director of the Office of Information and Privacy (OIP). The release outlines the new person’s responsibilities, stating that she will "manage[ ] the Department’s responsibilities related to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which include developing policy guidance and ensuring…
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