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Republican Congressman Enters Guilty Plea to Bribery Conspiracy and Tax Evasion
San Diego-area Republican Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham entered a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to conspiracy and tax evasion charges related to approximately $2.4 million in bribes and benefits he received for steering contracts to two defense contractors from his position on the Defense Subcommittee of the…
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Certiorari Granted In Civil RICO Case
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Anza v. Ideal Steel Supply Corp., a Second Circuit case. The question presented is: "Is a competitor ‘injured in his business or property by reason of a violation’ of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act when the alleged predicate acts of racketeering activity were mail fraud but the…
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Not Quite What Was Wished For
The Atlanta Jrl Constitution reports here of a plea to bank fraud and identity theft by an individual who used a scheme to take money from a reputable foundation that assisted children. The foundation detected the fraud and reported it to authorities. (see post here) But the big question is "why"? What makes someone take…
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Another Reporter to Testify in the Plame Investigation
An AP story (here) reports that a second Time reporter, Viveca Novak, will testify before the grand jury regarding her conversations with Robert Luskin, Karl Rove’s attorney during the investigation. It is unclear whether Novak’s testimony relates at all to the recent revelation by Bob Woodward that a senior administration official leaked information about Valerie…
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Prosecuting Campaign Contributions as Bribes
The recent conspiracy charge involving Michael Scanlon focuses on the interactions of Jack Abramoff ("Lobbyist A") and Representative Bob Ney ("Representative #1") that involve a number of campaign contributions and gifts in exchange for legislative acts, including placing an item in the Congressional Record. Recent media reports assert that other Congressional officials, including Senator Conrad…
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Charles Walker Set For Sentencing Today
Charles Walker, a former Senate Majority leader in Georgia, and someone who the Atlanta Jrl Constitution (see here) calls "once the most powerful African-American politician in Georgia", is set for sentencing today after being convicted on 127 counts. (see post here). Over a 100 of the counts were for mail fraud. Like Richard Scrushy’s trial,…
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Ohio – Politics As Usual?
The Ohio Republicans seem to be having their issues lately. As reported here by the Washington Post – – it has been everything from the bizarre investments of rare coins to Tom Noe’s indictment for allegedly violating campaign laws. (see prior posts here and here). And we haven’t even gotten to a discussion of Ney…
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White Collar Sentencing
A recent article on white collar sentencing in the Chicago Tribune here does an excellent job in pointing out that white collar sentences have risen as a result of the sentencing guidelines. The article is titled, "Disparity Grows in Penalties for Execs." Immediately under this title, however, is this subtitle, "Changes in sentencing rules spark…
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Building in Massachusetts
The construction industry has always had its fair share of complaints. The Boston Globe here talks of an alleged immigrant labor scheme that is under investigation by the AG in Massachusetts. This extensive article, including a diagram, sheds light on how individuals might be paid off the books. With this extensive press one has to…
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Lord Black Will Be Arraigned on Nov. 30
Lord Conrad Black, former CEO of media holding company Hollinger International Inc., will appear in Chicago on Nov. 30 to be arraigned on fraud charges related to alleged looting of $80 million from Hollinger. Black is not a U.S. citizen, and his home is Toronto; Hollinger operated out of both Toronto and Chicago. Two other…
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