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Winning the Bake-Off by Cooking the Books
Federal prosecutors charged former Aspen Technology, Inc. CEO David L. McQuillin with securities fraud in a criminal information alleging various accounting violations. The violations occurred in 2001 and 2002, when McQuillin, then Aspen’s co-chief operating officer, was involved in a "bake-off" with the other COO competing to succeed Lawrence Evans as CEO of the company. …
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New Face in White House Counsel Office
With Harriet Miers stepping down as White House counsel (see here), the question was who would offer the expertise needed to handle any possible upcoming investigations. The answer: Fred F. Fielding. According to Fox News, he has it all, having served under both Nixon and Reagan. And when serving Reagan, he had as an assistant…
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Judge in Stein Case Defends his Ruling
Yesterday, the Hon Lewis A. Kaplan, filed a "Response to a Rule 21(b)(4) Invitation." Download kaplan20stein20memo20to20second20circuit20jan208202006.pdf In essence, the judge filed a response defending the fact that he issued an opinion in Stein et. al, the case of the individual defendants related to KPMG. In that case, the court was asked to resolve issues related…
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Two Miami Lawyers Get to Keep Attorney Fees
David Oscar Markus at the Southern District of Florida Blog, tells that two Miami attorneys have been told by the government that they can retain their $757,000 in legal fees. In an article in the Daily Business Review it notes that the government had initially taken the position that the money was tainted. (esp)
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The Reversal of the Convictions of the Westar Executives: Wrap-up
This Blogs Coverage of the reversal of the Westar Executives’ Convictions – Is the Lake (Westar) Reversal Big? More on the Westar Related Case Convictions of Former Westar Executives Overturned Blogsphere Coverage – How Appealing – here Houston Clear Thinkers – here Sentencing Law & Policy – here Wall Street Jrl Law Blog – here…
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This Week – Expect A Motion for Acquittal in AOL Execs Case
The prosecution completed their case in chief against two former AOL executives. (see here). And as one might expect, there will be a defense motion for acquittal this coming week. The prosecution may have had issues pre-trial because of the statute of limitations (see here). The trial against the two mid-level executives has been a…
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Dealing With Coke’s Trade Secrets
Although two individuals plead guilty in the Coke trade secret case, a third remains for trial. The defendants were charged with trying to sell trade secrets to Pepsi for 1.5 million dollars (for background see here). The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AP) reports on an issue that has surfaced in the trial of the remaining defendant…
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Is the Lake (Westar) Reversal Big?
The reversal of the convictions against two former Westar executives may wind up being one of the most talked about white collar decisions of the year. A discussion of the case is here, and commentary is here. And there is no doubt that many white collar defense attorneys are scrutinizing their fraud cases to see…
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More on the Westar Related Case
Judge Hartz’s decision in the Lake case (Westar executives) provides a comprehensive analysis of the "legally compelled mailing" doctrine, a doctrine that seldom comes into play in the mail and wire fraud context. As quoted in this court opinion, the Supreme Court in United States v. Parr held that "[W]e think it cannot be said…
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Convictions of Former Westar Executives Overturned
The convictions of former Westar executives David Wittig and Douglas Lake were overturned by the Tenth Circuit in what can only be described as a stinging rebuke to the government’s theory that they committed fraud. The opinion in United States v. Lake (here) states that the alleged "far-reaching scheme to milk the company for all…
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