Showing posts filed under: Crime in the Suites by Jeff Ifrah
Are Investors Lining Up Behind Another and Better Bitcoin?
We have written previously about Bitcoin, the new form of “peer-to-peer” currency whose proponents expect to be a game-changer in the world financial markets. It’s not clear yet what Bitcoin’s ultimate destination will be, as the currency has had a lot of scrutiny, and undergone a tremendous amount of volatility, lately. In a recent 24-hour period, the value of a… Read More
Treasury Department: Bitcoin Dealers Are Regulated Under Money-Laundering Laws
Timothy Lee at Forbes magazine has reported today that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a branch of the Treasury Department, has issued new guidelines on the legal status of Bitcoin under U.S. money laundering laws. Essentially, Bitcoin dealers have now been placed under the nation’s anti-money laundering regulations and must comply with those rules…. Read More
New Zealand Court Hands U.S. a Victory in Kim Dotcom Piracy Case
A year ago, we wrote about the indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia of the executives and founders of Megaupload, one of the leading file-hosting sites on the Web. The charges were copyright infringement through the facilitation of piracy of copyrighted materials, money-laundering, and conspiracy. The site was shuttered after the indictment. The case… Read More
Founding Partner Jeff Ifrah: Why the DOJ Settlement With Poker Stars is a Win-Win
When online gaming is successful, Ifrah says, players participate in all aspects of the industry – including in the casinos. This is a great development for the gaming industry and great for business and for the nation’s economy.
Jeff Ifrah Quoted on Historic Online Poker Deal in Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC, Other Venues
After the $731 milliion deal to resolve federal civil charges against Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars was announced on July 31, 2012, Ifrah Law founding partner Jeff Ifrah was quoted on the subject in a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and other sources. Here is a sampling of them. Wall Street Journal USA Today… Read More
Department of Justice Enters Historic Agreement with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that PokerStars will acquire Full Tilt Poker’s assets in a transaction that ends the DOJ’s civil forfeiture case against Full Tilt. Both Full Tilt and PokerStars ran online poker sites in the U.S., and in 2011 the DOJ charged both of them with… Read More
What Does One Need to ‘Know’ to Commit a Federal Crime?
On July 2, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit tackled an interesting question of statutory interpretation that centered on the precise usage by Congress of the word “knowingly” in a federal criminal law that prohibits luring people under 18 years old into prostitution. In United States v. Daniels, the appeals court… Read More
Appeals Court Casts Doubt on Acceptability of ‘Obey-the Law’ Injunctions
We recently blogged about the recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Goble, 2012 WL 1918819 (11th Cir. May 29, 2012). There, we discussed the appeals court’s limitation on the reach of the concept of “securities fraud” under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act… Read More
Obama Escalates ‘Fast and Furious’ Battle With Congress by Claiming Executive Privilege
On June 20, 2012, President Barack Obama escalated a battle with the GOP-controlled House of Representatives by claiming executive privilege for 1300 executive-branch documents that relate to the White House and the Justice Department’s response to subpoenas about the botched Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep…. Read More
Sentencing Panel Amends Guidelines for Mortgage Fraud
Responding to a requirement in the Dodd-Frank Act that it review, and if appropriate, amend, the federal sentencing guidelines for mortgage fraud, the U.S. Sentencing Commission set forth on April 13, 2012, two new provisions that will affect sentencing for this type of crime. Mortgage fraud became a significant issue in the recent financial crisis… Read More
