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That’s What a Subpoena Is For
Every once in a while a line in a company’s discussion of a government investigation catches your eye when it appears to miss the point. Beazer Homes USA is facing a government investigation of its mortgage lending practices, as discussed in a prior post (here). On March 29, the company filed an 8-K(here) about the…
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What Sampson Remembered
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys and dodged any potential perjury trap (see earlier post here) by not recalling too much detail. As recounted in a Washington Post story (here), Sampson responded to a number of questions by…
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Dell’s Accounting Woes Mount
Dell Inc. issued a press release that it will not be able to file its annual financials because of a continuing internal investigation of account problems, and its cryptic press release hints that the issues may involve violations of the federal securities laws. The press release (here) states, "The Audit Committee’s investigation has identified a…
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Jenkens & Gilchrist Enters Non-Prosecution Agreement and Shuts Down
Dallas-based law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist settled the government’s long-running investigation of its role in tax shelter sales by agreeing to pay the IRS a $76 million penalty and entering into a non-prosecution agreement (available below) with federal prosecutors. While the firm avoided criminal charges, it announced that it was shutting its doors because of…
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Scrushy’s Yacht Trip Under Scrutiny
Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy’s little jaunt on a yacht from Palm Beach to Miami when, according to the government, he was supposed to be in Orlando with his family visiting Disney World, has gotten him in some hot water. Since his conviction on corruption charges, he has been on bail while awaiting sentencing and…
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Is the Senate Judiciary Committee Setting a Perjury Trap?
A Wall Street Journal editorial (here) asserts that the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the removal of eight U.S. Attorneys is really a "perjury trap" designed to set up the aides to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales subpoenaed to testify. The editorial argues that Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy and other Democrats should not be surprised "if…
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Time to Pick on Enron’s Lawyers
After plowing through the upper levels of Enron’s management, the SEC is now targeting two former in-house lawyers for the company by charging them with securities fraud in a civil action. The Commission filed the complaint (here) against Jordan H. Mintz, former general counsel of Enron’s Global Finance group (EGF) and Rex R. Rogers, a…
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New Criminal Law Review
University of California Press Journals + Digital Publishing is proud to announce that commencing with Volume 10, Issue 1, it will assume publication of New Criminal Law Review: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal. The journal, formerly known as Buffalo Criminal Law Review, is focused on examinations of crime and punishment in domestic, transnational, and international…
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Tough Times at Beazer Homes
As if the meltdown in residential real estate is not enough, homebuilder Beazer Homes USA is facing a federal probe of its lending practices. A BusinessWeek Online report (here) notes that the FBI, HUD, and IRS are conducting an investigation of its mortgage lending to low-income borrowers that comes with federal loan guarantees. Like others…
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Former CFO Charged for Options Backdating
The former CFO at defense contractor Engineered Support Systems, Inc. was charged for his role in options backdating at the company. A ten-count indictment obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri charges Gary Gerhardt with making false statements to the SEC, books and records violations, mail and wire fraud, and…
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