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Whither KPMG?
Joseph Nocera has an interesting column in the New York Times (here) asking whether KPMG will be spared an indictment because the destruction of the firm that a criminal conviction would likely cause would have too great an effect on the public accounting industry. In a twist on the old "too big to fail" theory…
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Lawyer Accused of Taking Kickbacks from Plaintiffs Class Action Counsel
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the indictment of Seymour Lazar, a 78 year-old lawyer in Palm Springs, for allegedly taking approximately $2.4 million in secret kickbacks from lawyers for plaintiffs in class actions in exchange for serving and causing his family members to serve as named plaintiffs in more…
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Ambulance Chasing 101
Gene Burd is (or now more likely was) a lawyer who had a personal injury practice in Houston that specialized in cases involving auto accident victims — do you see where this is going? A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas (here) provides the following sordid tale…
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Former IRS CID Agent Acquitted on Tax Charges
Former IRS Criminal Investigation Division Agent Joseph Banister was found not guilty of assisting taxpayers in filing false tax returns. Banister is well-known in the tax protester movement for his statements that the tax laws are unenforceable. The charges relate to so-called "protest returns" filed by Banister’s clients, which dispute whether any tax is owed. …
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Fraud Statutes
The fraud statutes, particularly the mail and wire fraud statutes, have an elasticity that allows them to be used irrespective of the specific form of fraud. It is, therefore, always interesting to see how different parts of the country use the statutes. In a post of the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of…
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White Collar Strategy
It is common knowledge that many prosecutors and investigators use a strategy of working up the ladder in pursuing criminal conduct. Start with low level figures and work up to the bigger player. Thus, in Scrushy’s trial we saw a parade of managers testifying against the top man in the company. The success for the…
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The Kozlowski Letter
It is hard to imagine that Dennis Kozlowski would have thought that the letter he wrote against someone facing sentencing, would one day be used to evaluate his sentence. The letter, according to CNN here, was written 10 years ago and recommended that a former assistant controller at Tyco, who was being sentenced at that…
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Things Are Hot in Dallas Right Now
The Dallas Morning News here reports on how an FBI investigation into possible corruption at city hall is affecting the city council. This is understandable as investigations into city or state corruption can be very disruptive. For one, investigations of this nature usually include search warrants and/or requests for documents. Individual employees may need to…
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Did He Not Hear the Sentences in White Collar Cases?
Doug Berman’s Sentencing Blog has some wonderful posts here, here, and here on AG Gonzales’ recent "prepared remarks" on the need to reactivate mandatory guidelines with a "minimum guideline" system. (see here). The one ( see addedum below) A reference to white collar cases is found in the AG’s statement that: "In a case involving…
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What Happens Next in the Scrushy Trial
Now that the jury, in the trial of Richard Scrushy, has to resume deliberations "anew" because of the replacement of a juror with an alternate – – what happens next? The NY Times here, Wall Street Jrl here, and Birmingham, Alabama News here, all talk of the long process that has accompanied the deliberations. The…
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