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Ignoring Legal Advice at AIG
One item turned up in the internal investigation at American International Group is an accounting problem related to workers compensation policies sold by the company. According to a Wall Street Journal article (here), AIG may have treated shifted premiums from the workers comp policies, which would be subject to a 1% New York state tax…
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The Defense Begins in the Tyco Trial
The prosecution of former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and former CFO Mark Schwartz begins today after the prosecution rested its case. This case has largely flown underneath the radar because it’s a retrial and there were no new revelations. The prosecution honed its case this time through, not focusing so much on the salacious aspects,…
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Does a Corporation’s Former Lawyer Have a Conflict of Interest in Representing Former Executives in a Criminal Prosecution?
An interesting article in The Business Journal of Kansas City (here) discusses the U.S Attorney’s attempt to disqualify an attorney in the prosecution of former Westar CEO David Wittig and executive vice president Douglas Lake. The charges involve alleged misconduct by the defendants in misusing corporate assets and structuring transactions to benefit themselves. The first…
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Possible Expansion of Criminal Investigation of L-3 Communications
A previously disclosed criminal investigation of Interstate Electronics, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., the large defense contractor, may be expanding into new areas. A Wall Street Journal story (here) discusses an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (Los Angeles) involving defective parts for military radios that may…
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Pasquantino – For the Government – 5-4
In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court issued an extremely narrow decision favorable to the government in the case of Pasquantino v. United States. Justice Thomas, delivering the opinion of the Court, held that there was no violation of the common law revenue rule when the government prosecutes a wire fraud (18 U.S.C.…
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No Booker “Sea Change” Exception to Broad Waivers of Right to Appeal Sentence
One of the ways in which the government seeks to ensure that a plea bargain is the end of a case is to demand a broad waiver of the right to appeal the sentence so long as it meets certain criteria, one of which is that the sentence be within the Guidelines range or below…
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Deloitte & Touche Settle Two SEC Cases Involving Improper Audits
Deloitte & Touche settled two SEC investigations by agreeing to settlements related to the firm’s audits of Adelphia Communications and Just for Feet, Inc. The Adelphia case is the far larger one in which Deloitte agreed to pay $50 million into a settlement fund for Adelphia investors related to its audits of the company before…
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More Hot Water for AIG
The internal investigation of American International Group Inc. keeps turning up more problems, according to a New York Times article (here). Although the internal investigation is not yet complete, and the regulators and prosecutors are far from wrapping up their many probes, there is evidence that AIG’s internal controls were easily evaded, and the company…
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NACDL Survey on the Erosion of the Attorney-Client Privilege
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) recently conducted a survey that demonstrates that the attorney-client is definitely under attack. The results of the survey can be found on the NACDL website here. The results are shocking to say the least. For example, one revelation of this survey is that " 87 percent of…
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Immunity/No Immunity
An attorney has contacted this blog looking for input on this topic: Have you had a case where the government gave federal "use" immunity to a witness, who happens to be an attorney, and then proceeded to turn the testimony of the witness over to a bar disciplinary committee? Is it fair play? 1. Should…
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