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A Rose by Any Other Name
The preferred manner of settling corporate criminal investigations these days is to enter into an agreement that does not result in a criminal conviction, which can have devastating results for companies in heavily regulated industries, such as health care, insurance, and financial services. The usual vehicle is a deferred prosecution agreement, in which the government…
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H-P Lawyer at the Ethical Edge
A series of e-mails involving Hewlett-Packard’s general counsel’s office have come to light that shows the important role played by the company’s lawyers, particularly its chief ethics counsel, Kevin Hunsaker. Hunsaker appears to have been responsible for oversight of the internal investigation of leaks at the company that included "pretexting" to obtain private information about…
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Can Blowing a Couple Billion Dollars in One Week Not Be a Crime?
The revelation by the large hedge fund Amaranth Advisors that a series of risky bets by a natural gas trader have resulted in losses estimated at anywhere from $2 billion to $5 billion — the "b" is correct — in only a few weeks raises a question whether there has been any criminal conduct. A…
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Not Guilty for Trader
The Wall Street Jrl reports here of a trader who was acquitted of securities fraud. This is the second acquittal in a case related to Van der Moolen (see here). As previously noted on this blog, if the jury had found him guilty, he could have faced 20 years in prison. Other individuals connected to…
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KPMG Not Happy With the Stein Decision
KPMG signed a deferred prosecution agreement with the government that called for cooperation. In the Stein case (as discussed here, here, here and here) the court held that the Thompson Memo discouraged corporations from adhering to their practice of paying employee attorney fees. Since that decision, KPMG has joined sides with the government in saying…
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Bristol-Myers Deferred Prosecution Under Scrutiny
The NYTimes has an article here that examines the Bristol-Myers Deferred Prosecution Agreement, including the role of the monitor. Co-blogger Peter Henning is quoted in this article stating "I am not comfortable,” . . . “with the U.S. attorney at a board meeting where they are considering basic corporate policy. The government is saying this…
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Another Enron Cooperator Gets Sentenced
Enron cooperators clearly benefit from their guilty pleas and later cooperation with government investigations. The Houston Chronicle reports here that David Delainey received a sentence of 2 1/2 years for his netting $4.2 million in illegal trading. The bottom line is that the government was satisfied with a lenient sentence because this individual testified in…
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Election Fraud Held Not to Be Mail Fraud
The mail fraud statute was amended by Congress after the the case of United States v. McNally to add a new definition statute, section 1346, that permitted a prosecution that deprived one of the "intangible right to honest services." But what constitutes "honest services," and how extensive the statute will be, remains problematic to this…
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The Latest on HP
One hardly has to look very far to find newspaper discussions giving the latest news on the HP "matter." The NYTimes reports here on the extensiveness of the alleged "illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists." The Wall Street Jrl notes here the leak may have continued for…
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Options Scandal
The Workplace LawProf Blog has co-blogger Peter Henning featured here (including his picture), discussing Professor Henning’s comments in Corporate Counsel here. The discussion focuses on the criminal charges against a corporate legal chief. (esp)
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