This post was also written by Andrew C. Bernasconi and Nathan R. Fennessy. In a troubling decision that could have significant implications for grant recipients, the Second Circuit recently held that the proper measure of damages in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case against a grant recipient is the full amount of the grant, regardless of … Continue Reading
Following on from our last blog, the SFO has published revised statements of policy on its website dealing with facilitation payments, business expenditure (i.e. hospitality and gifts) and self-reporting which take immediate effect and revoke previous guidance. The new statements of policy are blunt. Facilitation payments – the SFO has reiterated that these are illegal under … Continue Reading
This post was written by Rosanne M. Kay and Vanessa Assaiante. The SFO has removed guidance on both self-reporting and on facilitation payments and corporate hospitality from its website leaving uncertainty behind. The removal of the guidance on self-reporting is not surprising. It has been on the cards since Glyn Powell (Head of Fraud at … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew C. Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. Continuing the recent trend of decisions sanctioning whistleblowers for failing to comply with their discovery obligations (see our previous posts “Whistleblower Precluded from Relying Upon Stolen Records for False Claims Act Case” and “FCA Qui Tam Relator Sanctioned for Destroying Evidence on Company-Issued Laptop”), the … Continue Reading
Qui tam relators may have a difficult time in the future when relying upon stolen records or confidential patient information in False Claims Act (“FCA”) whistleblower actions after a recent decent by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. See Cabotage v. Ohio Hospital for Psychiatry, No. 11-cv-50 (S.D. Ohio July … Continue Reading
This post was written by Scot T. Hasselman, Andrew C. Bernasconi, Nathan Fennessy, and Gunjan Talati. In a case of first impression in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the court held in United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co., No. 11-20320 (5th Cir. July 31, 2012) … Continue Reading
This post was written by Efrem M. Grail and Kyle R. Bahr. Criminal fines against companies and individuals convicted of white collar, antitrust, environmental, health care, and other offenses can balloon into the millions or hundreds of millions of dollars. In a recent ruling that protects the Sixth Amendment rights of defendants in these high-stakes … Continue Reading
This past April, the Second Circuit narrowed federal prosecutors’ ability to charge former employees for stealing proprietary information from their companies. United States v. Aleynikov, 676 F.3d 71 (2d Cir. 2012) (overturning Aleynikov’s conviction for violating the National Stolen Property Act and the Economic Espionage Act after misappropriating trading code from Goldman Sachs). Now, the … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Efrem M. Grail, Esq. A recent Third Circuit opinion undercuts the attorney-client privilege, especially in federal grand Jury investigations of companies and individuals. Under the new precedent, there is no way to immediately challenge a court order invading the protections of the attorney-client privilege without first suffering a judicial … Continue Reading
This post was written by Rosanne M. Kay. I recently spoke at the 6th International Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress in Budapest. Jane de Lozey, Head of Fraud at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and Raymond Emson, Head of Policy at the SFO, were also scheduled to speak but unfortunately could not make it at the last … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Shariq Gilani. David Green QC has this month taken over the Directorship of the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) from Richard Alderman. Prior to joining the SFO, Mr Green had practised as a barrister specialising in serious crime for more than 25 years. Between 2004 and 2011, he served as … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Shariq Gilani. The Ministry of Justice (“MOJ”) has launched a Consultation on the introduction of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPAs”) in the UK, as a new enforcement tool in dealing with economic crime. As with the U.S. model, the proposed DPAs would allow prosecutors to enter into agreements with commercial … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Pablo Quiñones. On March 20, 2012, a New York federal judge ordered Chip Skowron to pay $10 million in restitution to Morgan Stanley as a corporate victim of his insider trading and obstruction of justice schemes. The Skowron decision is a significant victory for corporate victims of insider trading, … Continue Reading
In two decisions issued last week, the Ninth Circuit and Second Circuit interpreted three different federal statutes – the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA), and the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) – in ways that narrowed federal prosecutors’ ability to charge former employees for stealing proprietary information from their … Continue Reading
This post was written by Robert Falkner and Tom Webley. In March 2012, The Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) published the results of its thematic review into the policies and procedures that investment banks have in place to prevent their employees from paying or receiving bribes. Click here for more information on the background to this … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Pablo Quinones and Joseph Prater. On March 23, 2012, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it had entered into cooperation arrangements with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (“CIMA”) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) in its continuing effort to improve global regulation of transnational … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. In yet another reminder about the importance of maintaining evidence on company-issued laptops, BlackBerrys, or other electronic devices, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently sanctioned a qui tam relator for destroying more than 10,000 documents on his company-issued laptop. Moore … Continue Reading
This post was written by Rosanne M. Kay. Word on the street is that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) has a number of active investigations into potential offences under the Bribery Act 2010. So far, the Bribery Act has only been used in a reasonably minor prosecution of a court clerk who took bribes … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Emma Osborne. The UK Bribery Act 2010 has increased the focus placed on anti-bribery and anti-corruption not only by the Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) but also by the Financial Services Authority (‘FSA’). Anti-bribery issues fall within the FSA’s statutory objective to reduce financial crime and bribery continues to be … Continue Reading
This post was written by Matthew R. Sheldon and Alexander Y. Thomas. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing a lower court decision disqualifying a former in-house attorney from acting as a False Claims Act qui tam relator against his former employer. The relator was formerly general counsel to Unilab, a subsidiary of Quest … Continue Reading
A new rule, adopted on 29 December 2011 and published on 30 December 2011 after an unusually expedited procedure due to strong government pressure, will heavily modify the regulatory framework in which healthcare companies, but also to some extent cosmetics companies, operate in France. Besides replacing (next August, but the law has immediately been enforced) … Continue Reading
This post was written by Simon Hart. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has stepped up its attempts to persuade employees and professional advisors to blow the whistle on fraudulent or corrupt practices within the organisations they serve. The SFO has announced a new “SFO Confidential” service that allows whistleblowers to report concerns either by … Continue Reading
The Wolfsberg Group recently published its Anti-Corruption Guidance, which leads me to assume that someone, somewhere, is drafting Corruption Guidance. Perhaps those old cartoons were on to something? More evidence that when it comes to cloud computing, no one knows what to do. People do bad things on the internet? Say it ain’t so. For … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Emma Osborne. The first person to be charged under the new UK Bribery Act, a magistrates court clerk, was convicted by Southwark Crown Court on Friday, 14 October 2011. The court clerk, 22 year old Mr Munir Yakub Patel, was convicted under Section 2 of the Bribery Act for … Continue Reading
