Last week, the Supreme Court decided in Liu v. SEC that the SEC may continue to seek disgorgement in judicial proceedings as a form of equitable relief under the Securities Exchange Act.  A ruling to the contrary would have deprived the SEC of its most significant tool, in dollar terms, for obtaining monetary relief.  Although the decision preserves the SEC’s disgorgement power, it restricts how courts may disgorge ill-gotten gains in three ways: in general,… More

Earlier this month, the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) updated its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance.  In considering enforcement actions against companies, prosecutors use the guidance to assist in evaluating (1) the form of any resolution or prosecution, (2) the amount of a monetary penalty, if any, and (3) whether to impose compliance obligations, such as a monitor or reporting requirements.  The guidance thus provides valuable insight into the factors prosecutors consider when making these decisions.… More

Following up on previous guidance, Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC Division of Enforcement (“Enforcement”), provided updated detail on Enforcement’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a virtual keynote address last month at the Securities Enforcement Forum West 2020.  (We discussed Enforcement’s prior statements here and here.)  In his remarks, Peikin affirmed that Enforcement will continue to prioritize COVID-19-related fraud – in particular,… More

The SEC recently brought an FCPA action against a former Goldman Sachs executive for an alleged bribery scheme, but decided not to charge the bank itself.

The case holds some important lessons for FCPA compliance, as Foley Hoag attorneys John Murray and Shrutih Tewarie discuss in this Law360 article. More

In the past two weeks, the federal government has charged several individuals in Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud schemes.  The allegations have ranged from applying for loans for non-operating businesses to using loan funds to buy cars and jewelry.  Charges announced this week showed a whole new level of creativity.  A Texas man, Samuel Yates, allegedly used an online name generator to make up the names of hundreds of employees in an effort to obtain a $5 million loan. … More

In yet another sign that the federal government is following through on its warnings about PPP loan fraud, the Department of Justice, according to reports from Reuters, has issued grand jury subpoenas to several Wall Street banks related to an investigation into PPP loans.  The subpoenas were reportedly issued by the DOJ’s Fraud Section.  The issuance of the subpoenas does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing by the banks. … More

Federal prosecutors continued to quickly respond to PPP loan fraud, bringing two additional cases that allege clear misuse of the funds intended for small businesses.  In one case, prosecutors in Georgia charged reality TV personality Maurice Fayne, aka “Arkansas Mo” of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” fame, with bank fraud for allegedly using $1.5 million of a $2 million PPP loan to maintain his luxury lifestyle. … More

Earlier today, the Supreme Court threw out federal program and wire fraud convictions for two former public officials who conspired to induce traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey as political retaliation in 2013.  Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni were convicted of fraud charges in 2015 for their role in diverting lanes of traffic on the George Washington Bridge to “send [Fort Lee’s Mayor Mark Sokolich] a message” after Sokolich refused to support Governor Christie’s re-election campaign in 2013. … More

On Tuesday, May 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges in the federal District Court of Rhode Island against David A. Staveley and David Butziger for conspiracy to make a false statement and conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with loan applications made under the federal government’s Payroll Protection Program (PPP).  The Complaint alleges that Staveley of Andover, Massachusetts, and Butziger of Warwick, Rhode Island,… More

The United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts is proactively seeking to find, investigate, and prosecute unlawful attempts to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic and is asking hospitals to assist.  U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling sent a letter to leaders of Massachusetts hospitals asking them to report any “individuals and companies that may have acquired vital medical supplies in excess of what they would reasonably use, or for the purpose of charging exorbitant prices.”  The Secretary of Health and Human Services has designated 15 categories of supplies as “scarce,” thereby enabling prosecutors to seek certain civil and criminal enforcement remedies against anyone accused of hoarding or gouging prices for those supplies.  … More