Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, has overseen the DOJ’s FCPA Unit since 2009. (Photo courtesy of the DOJ)The Justice Department said today that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Criminal Division and the FCPA Unit, will leave on March 1.
Last week, amid speculation about Breuer’s departure, we reviewed the FCPA enforcement record during his tenure.
The DOJ said today the Criminal Division under Breuer ‘substantially increased enforcement of the [FCPA], convicting three dozen individuals for FCPA-related offenses — a record number — and entering into more than 40 corporate resolutions involving eight of the top 10 largest FCPA penalties in history.’
The agency also noted the release last year of the joint DOJ-SEC Guidance, calling the publication ‘groundbreaking.’
Breuer was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 20, 2009. He’s ‘the longest-serving head of the Criminal Division in recent history,’ the DOJ’s release said.
The DOJ credited Breuer with taking ‘significant steps to fight corruption at home and abroad, including by developing the innovative Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to identify and forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption — ensuring that corrupt officials from other countries are prevented from hiding their ill-gotten gains in the United States.’
Attorney General Eric Holder said, ‘Lanny has led one of the most successful and aggressive Criminal Divisions in the history of the Department of Justice, accomplishing record penalties in corruption cases at home and abroad and dismantling major organized crime and health care fraud networks around the country while also protecting the integrity of our banking systems and fighting financial fraud.’
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