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Abramoff Related Matters
The Washington Times (AP) reports here that David Safavian, a former chief of staff in the GSA’s (General Services Administration) Office of Inspector General, admitted to some conduct but denied that he tried to conceal his conduct from government investigators. He is charged with making false statements and obstructing an investigation by the GSA’s (General…
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Supreme Court Imposes Stricter Proximate Cause Requirement for Civil RICO
The Supreme Court reemphasized that private RICO claims must meet a fairly high standard of proximate causation if they will survive a motion to dismiss in its decision in Anza v. Ideal Steel (here). The civil cause of action granted under RICO is unique in federal law by providing private parties a means to recover…
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The Cost of a White Collar Crime Trial
The Wall Street Journal reports here that Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco, has filed an action concerning whether there is insurance coverage for his legal bills. What is perhaps the most telling aspect here is that Kozlowski’s claim is for "nearly $17.8 million." Seeing this amount, it is no wonder that the government secures…
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Evaluating Enron Related Prosecutions
A fascinating story in the NY Times here titled, "The Enron Case That Almost Wasn’t" sums up the prosecution case against Ken Lay – "Mr. Lay was a liar." Larry Ribstein on Ideoblog raises some important questions about the government approach here. The Conglomerate Blog here, held an online symposium on Enron that covered significant…
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Jamie Olis Case Up for Hearing This Week
This coming week may shed more light on the Jamie Olis case, as experts will present evidence on what the court should use as the loss factor in determining the sentence. Olis, was employed at Dynergy. He was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy. His initial sentence of over 24 years…
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White Collar Sentencing
Professor Doug Berman in his wonderful sentencing blog describes here a recent decision of District Judge Jed Rakoff. He states that "a corporate president who faced a life sentence under the guidelines after a fraud conviction ‘because shareholder value fell by more than $260 million [SEE BELOW] after the fraud scheme was disclosed,’ received an…
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Quattrone Mounts Another Hurdle
Former technology investment banker Frank Quattrone ended 2005 as a convicted felon waiting for the Second Circuit to rule on the appeal of his conviction on three counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering; he had also been barred by the NASD from the securities industry. Things have gotten better since then. First, the…
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What Does the Speech or Debate Clause Protect?
One product of the contretemps arising from the search of Louisiana Representative William Jefferson’s office is the question about what protection the Constitution provides in Article I, Sec. 6, the Speech or Debate Clause. The protection is different from most any other afforded an individual in a criminal prosecution, and this case may well renew…
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Judge Denies Most of Libby’s Document Requests
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton issued an opinion and order (available below) denying for the most part the requests for production of documents by I. Lewis Libby. The court did order the government to turn over any documents related to efforts by Libby to rebut the charges leveled by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, including "any…
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Vinson & Elkins Pays the Piper $30 Million
Houston-based law firm Vinson & Elkins agreed to pay $30 million to settle claims filed by its former client Enron over the firm’s legal advice on various transactions that later turned out to a bit problematic when they came to light, causing the company to declare bankruptcy. The firm achieved significant notoriety after Enron’s collapse…
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