The White Collar Defense Report® provides updates on cases, policy developments and trends in the white collar area, including federal criminal matters as well as civil cases such as qui tam cases and SEC enforcement actions. If you would like to receive future...
PPP Prosecutions a DOJ Priority The Department of Justice has wasted no time in commencing prosecutions for alleged COVID-19 related fraud, specifically the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Here is a sampling of prosecutions that have already been announced: A Seattle doctor was taken into custody on allegations that he fraudulently sought…
In Part One of this series, I shared information about the federal government’s vigorous response to coronavirus-related fraud. The Department of Justice has allocated $850 million to prioritize fraud investigation and prosecutions across the board – from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) scams to price-gouging. The following forms of fraud are currently a top priority for investigation: Business owners over-stating payroll, expenses &…
I have been a practicing white collar defense lawyer for more than 35 years and I have never seen the government respond as swiftly or vigorously to fraud as they are right now. Within weeks of the first COVID-19 cases in the United States, federal and state governments were already issuing fraud warnings and building a prosecution infrastructure to pursue cases. It…
Corporate executives often mistakenly assume corporate counsel will represent their interests in the event of a federal investigation or lawsuit. However, the reality is that corporate counsel represents only the corporation and not the executives. Typically, corporations will try to blame individual executives to escape or mitigate corporate exposure when serious trouble with the federal government arises. This article isn’t…
Government will be on ‘high alert for fraud,’ says Dallas’ Dan Guthrie. Owners of companies that plan to apply for financial assistance through the recently enacted Paycheck Protection Program should err on the side of caution, advises white-collar criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Dan Guthrie. The $349 billion program to help small businesses that have been negatively impacted by…
“You lied, cheated and stole.” It is Apr. 7, 2014 and according to the New Haven Independent, an attorney is directing this statement at Joseph Levitin. The lawyer pointing out Levitin’s misdeeds was not a prosecutor, but his own defense attorney. “I got blinded by greed and went with it,” says Levitin. Some white collar criminal charges stem from an…
Federal agents have expressed their interest in prosecuting investment fraud. A Texas federal judge recently ordered a 25-year prison sentence for a defendant involved in an $11 million investment fraud scheme. The judge additionally mandated that the defendant pay $6.5 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2013, after only six minutes of deliberation, a jury…
Federal officials have arrested over 200 people in the largest crackdown on Medicare fraud in U.S. history. Dozens of Texans among those charged with defrauding Medicare The federal government has announced charges against 243 people who are suspected of defrauding Medicare, according to the Wall Street Journal. The massive crackdown-the largest in history-is just the latest example of how federal…
The Department of Justice has indicated that it will be focusing more on prosecuting individuals for corporate crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled that it will shift its approach in how it pursues and prosecutes companies and individuals who are accused of corporate wrongdoing, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a recently released memo, Deputy Attorney…