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Former Biogen General Counsel Settles SEC Insider Trading Case
Thomas Bucknum, the former general counsel for Biogen Idec Inc., settled an SEC insider trading action by agreeing to disgorge $1,938,465, pay pre-judgment interest of $102,005, and a civil penalty of $969,232, a total of a little more than $3 million (complaint here). Bucknum’s case is another in a series of transactions involving sales before…
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Home Depot Subject of SEC Informal Investigation
The Home Depot Inc. disclosed that it is the subject of an SEC informal investigation into its accounting for vendor rebates on returned goods. The probe concerns refunds paid by suppliers for goods damaged in shipping, an area in which a retailer can inflate its returns to increase revenue and income. Home Depot issued a…
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We Mourn the Death of Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson, long-time member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and one of Alaska’s "best known criminal defense lawyers" died on Tuesday of this week. (see here) In addition to being a former member of the Board of Directors of NACDL, a long-time NACDL activist, and Life Member of this organization, Bill…
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Former Legislative Assistant to Louisiana Congressman Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charges
Just to show that corruption is not limited to the Republican side of the aisle in Congress, Brent Pfeffer, a former legislative assistant to Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to bribery and conspiracy charges (criminal information here) related to secret agreements to…
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Where Did This Mink Jacket With Fox Trim Come From?
The press blog of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland describes the indictment of Bryn Phillips for defrauding her employer, Old Mutual Financial Network (OMFN), and a group of banks of over $800,000 in the past three years. The blog (here) recites two schemes allegedly perpetrated by Phillips that leaves me wondering…
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New FTC Website to Fight Cybercrime
The Federal Trade Commission has set up a website, OnGuardOnline (here), to help consumers in dealing with the various types of cybercrime we all run into every day. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t receive a notice from "PayPal" or some bank that my account information needs to be updated, or an urgent…
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The Underside of Hollywood
While some claim there is nothing more vicious than faculty politics, in Hollywood they play for keeps by using some less-than-legal means to gather dirt on one another, something that is no doubt in almost endless supply. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced two plea agreements in its long-running investigation…
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Lobbyists Sure Can Be A Problem for Politicians
The jury in the case of former Governor Ryan of Illinois, on trial for charges of racketeering and fraud, heard from a former "girlfriend" of a lobbyist. The Chicago Tribune reports here that the lobbyist’s girlfriend was recipient of the lavish expeditures of lobbyist Arthur "Ron" Swanson, but she did not know if the former…
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The Latest on Patrick Fitzgerald’s Investigation
Perhaps the most noticeable thing about Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s website is that the last entry was October 28, 2005 (see here). But just when you think that nothing is happening with the investigation of who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, the Washington Post puts out an article here to remind us all that…
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From Abramoff to Delay
The Houston Chronicle (AP) here, discusses a connection between Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Obviously, a key question will be whether any of the conduct between these two individuals, and others, is illegal? There are several criminal statutes that prosecutors might consider in examining this fact situation. Most notably prosecutors…
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