In Rare Ruling, Court Permits Discovery Into Motives Behind FTC Subpoena
When a U.S. magistrate judge in the District of Columbia issued his ruling in Federal Trade Commission v. Bisaro on July 13, 2010, permitting limited discovery of certain FTC officials regarding an agency subpoena, it had been more than three decades since the D.C. Circuit had found that “extraordinary circumstances” were present that warranted discovery…
Read MoreJeff Ifrah’s Interview for Washington Legal Foundation
Jeff Ifrah, author of this blog, was interviewed today for the Legal Pulse, an online publication of the Washington Legal Foundation. In the interview, Jeff discusses cooperation with the government, federal sentencing, health care fraud, and other current issues in white-collar crime. The interview can be found here.
Read MoreEFF Challenges Subpoenas to ISPs for Identities of Anonymous Posters
On July 14, 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a group that defends the privacy and online rights of computer and Internet users, served a motion to quash two dragnet subpoenas issued by the plaintiffs in a high-profile New York state court case to Internet service providers (ISP’s) Google and Yahoo. The subpoenas demanded the identities…
Read MoreDOJ Official Seeks to Clear Her Name After Contempt Charge
A recent filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia uncovered a sidelight to the story of the botched prosecution of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). In April 2009, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan set aside the verdict in the criminal case against Stevens and dismissed the case on the grounds of…
Read MoreDefense Wants Information on Informant in Dramatic FCPA White-Collar Sting Case
January 2010 saw the dramatic arrests of 22 individuals in the military and law enforcement equipment industry – in several companies and at various levels of responsibility – for alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations involving payments to an alleged sales agent for an unnamed African nation, later identified as Gabon. The arrests took place…
Read MoreArizona Immigration Statute: DOJ Raises Law Enforcement Issues
On July 6, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the enforcement of the controversial new anti-immigration law passed by the state of Arizona in April. See, for example, the helpful summary in the blog of Legal Times. DOJ is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prohibit the enforcement of…
Read MorePoker, as a Game of Skill, Is Beyond Reach of Gaming Laws
The highly regarded British publication The Economist has just published an interesting article that strongly makes the case that poker is a game of skill, not a game of chance. The article notes that poker is, of course, big business these days, pointing to a consultant’s estimate that the online poker market amounts to $4.9…
Read MoreFederal Criminal Charges Dropped — But Reputations Damaged
A recent Bloomberg News article points to a disturbing trend – a dramatic increase in ultimately unsupportable white-collar federal indictments. In recent years, a growing number of executives have been indicted for corporate crimes and then had the charges dropped. From 2006 to 2008, the most recent period available, U.S. prosecutors dismissed charges against 42…
Read MoreKagan Stresses Deference to Congress on Federal Sentencing
In her three-day Supreme Court confirmation hearing, nominee Elena Kagan expressed very few views on substantive issues that might give observers a clue as to how she would vote as a Justice. Criminal law and sentencing issues were no exception, as the nominee did not tip her hand much on these matters. One interesting tidbit…
Read MoreHas the FBI Gone Too Far in Investigating White-Collar Crime and Fraud?
A recent Wall Street Journal article describing the FBI’s use against suspected financial criminals of techniques normally used to hunt terrorists shows how seriously white-collar crime is being viewed these days. It also vindicates those who sounded warning bells after 9/11 when Americans were asked to trade civil liberties for the promise of national security. …
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