Dr. Neelesh Patel, DC through his lawyers, Steven A. Miller and Denise M. Ware of Reed Smith, LLP, announced today that a Deferred Prosecution Agreement has been entered between Dr. Patel and the United States Attorneys’ Office — effectively ending his criminal prosecution more than two years after charges were brought against him. On August … Continue Reading
This post was also written by James C. Martin. Recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the relator’s False Claims Act (FCA) complaint against Omnicare in United States ex rel. Rostholder v. Omnicare, Inc., a decision having significant repercussions for the pharmaceutical industry and broader FCA jurisprudence. … Continue Reading
The Isle of Man is an unusual place. Constitutionally it is a dependency of the British Crown and depends on Britain in matters of defence and foreign affairs. But it isn’t part of the United Kingdom and has a separate legal system. The island has made the most of its differences by creating an … Continue Reading
The top story in the UK media today is about alleged corruption in English football. Someone said to be a “fixer” for betting syndicates was secretly recorded boasting that the results of English lower-league matches and even international matches could be bought, once the price was right. Six people, including three players, have been arrested … Continue Reading
In a recent speech, David Green, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) stated that the agency would adopt a “sweep” approach, focusing on specific industries, to identify businesses which might be breaking the law. The SFO has made it clear that its anti-bribery investigations are focused on the construction and energy industries. Most … Continue Reading
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office is gradually lengthening the role of prosecutions for overseas corruption with an important new prosecution, and clear indications that more are in the pipeline. The new case involves Smith & Ouzman, a printing company, and four individuals connected with it. The company and some of its officers are accused of … Continue Reading
New enforcement actions and media allegations have been brought in China’s ongoing regulatory crackdown on the life sciences industry. Reed Smith continues to monitor these developments and has prepared this update on the pharmaceutical and device sectors. For a detailed summary regarding recent developments, click here. … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Crystal Xu. China has been undergoing a significant regulatory crackdown on its life sciences industry over the past several months, primarily in the pharmaceutical and infant formula sectors. The focus of these enforcement actions may now have spread to the medical device sector. On August 15, 2013, the local … Continue Reading
Charges have been brought against four individuals in connection with a £23 million fraud at Sustainable AgroEnergy, whose parent company, Sustainable Growth Group, is in administration. The SFO has been looking at the promotion of bio fuel investment products to UK investors between April 2011 and February 2012. Sustainable AgroEnergy, a £40 million investment scheme, … Continue Reading
On August 1, 2013, the Second Circuit affirmed Samarth Agrawal’s criminal convictions for violating both the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) and the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) after he misappropriated SocGen’s high-frequency trading code at the time he was leaving the company. The Second Circuit’s decision in Agrawal is puzzling if not downright shocking to … Continue Reading
For the first time, the UK has proposed a specific and detailed sentencing regime for corporations involved in bribery, fraud and other economic crimes. Of course, individual executives who commit crimes of dishonesty can generally expect prison time. Corporates can’t be locked up, but they can be fined and/or have other penalties applied. Up to … Continue Reading
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) power to obtain documents from U.S. companies and their auditors is a key component of its mandate to protect the marketplace from fraud. But what happens when the exercise of that power conflicts with the civil and criminal laws of another country? In the case of the SEC seeking … Continue Reading
The Financial Times has reported that a review of the UK Bribery Act is set to be announced next month as the UK government seeks to reduce the cost of compliance for small- and medium-sized businesses. The main focus of the review will apparently be facilitation payments. These are small payments given to officials to … Continue Reading
In probably one the longest-awaited decrees in recent French regulation, the French Ministry of Health published on 22 May 2013, the application decree to the French Sunshine Act (dated 29 December 2011) implementing the specific ways and means that health care companies must disclose agreements with health care practitioners (“HCPs”), a term that includes medical … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Shannon Voll Poliziani. A crucial decision in most federal “white collar” criminal investigations is whether to “proffer” to the government – to engage in an off-the-record, question-and-answer session with the prosecutor and investigating agent in the hopes of getting immunity, a plea deal, or no charge at all. Because … Continue Reading
Following on from our posts in 2012 (UK Ministry of Justice Launches Consultation on Deferred Prosecution Agreements and UK Government unveils deferred prosecution agreements as a new enforcement tool), we can now report that on 25 April 2013, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (the “Act”) was passed. The Act introduces deferred prosecution agreements into … Continue Reading
On 23 April 2013, Mr Yang Li was the third individual to be convicted under the UK Bribery Act 2010 after he attempted to bribe his tutor. Mr Li, a student at the University of Bath, offered his tutor £5,000 to amend his dissertation grade, which was 3% short of a pass mark. The tutor … Continue Reading
On 19 December 2012, the French Supreme Court (‘Cour de cassation’) ruled over a case that should remind any international organization that the worldwide adoption of compliance guidelines and of a Code of Conduct is not in itself a sufficient protection against compliance breaches: everything depends on how these tools are implemented locally. The … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Christine Liu and Gordon Schatz. China’s Ministry of Health, along with five other government agencies, issued Trial Regulations on Centralized Procurement of High-Value Consumable Medical Supplies on December 17, 2012. These regulations went into effect immediately upon issuance and contain procedures for the centralized purchasing of a wide range … Continue Reading
Australian national Trent Martin agreed not to challenge a U.S. extradition order in Hong Kong’s Eastern Magistrates Court January 4, 2012. This is the second time in more than 10 years that U.S. authorities have extradited someone on insider trading charges. Please click here to read the issued Client Alert.… Continue Reading
Yesterday, November 15, the SEC issued its 2012 whistleblower report. A total of 115 (3.8%) tips were FCPA related. Additionally, 324 tips (10.8% of total) originated from overseas. The top overseas sources of tips were the UK (74, 23%), Canada (46, 14%), India (33, 10%), China (27, 8%), and Australia (21, 6%). No other single … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Francisca M. Mok. On November 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice released their long-awaited guidance titled, A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to the government’s press release, the 120-page guide “provides a detailed analysis of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices … Continue Reading
On 23 October 2012, the UK Ministry of Justice published the Government’s response to the consultation on deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”). This confirmed that DPAs will be introduced in England and Wales as an alternative to prosecution of companies for fraud, bribery and money laundering offences. The Government intends to amend the Crime and Courts … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. As we noted previously, there has been increasing attention in False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases to whistleblowers who fail to preserve relevant evidence. Now, in a recent decision in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, the government has been sanctioned for its … Continue Reading
