News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
Senior Editor
Bill Steinman
Senior Editor
Richard L. Cassin
Editor at Large
Elizabeth K. Spahn
Editor Emeritus
Cody Worthington
Contributing Editor
Julie DiMauro
Contributing Editor
Thomas Fox
Contributing Editor
Marc Alain Bohn
Contributing Editor
Bill Waite
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
Critics and supporters shower attention on the FCPA’s affirmative defenses for local law and promotional expenses. And the facilitating payments exception is a rich vein for the FCPA commentariat. Why, then, is the FCPA extortion defense mostly ignored and neglected?… Continue Reading
It made sense for Lawrence Hoskins to challenge whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could apply to him. He had worked for Alstom SA, a French company, in Paris. He carried a UK passport and said he never set foot in the United States.… Continue Reading
Privately-held Lindsey Manufacturing is the only corporation to ever face a full jury trial for alleged FCPA offenses.
It lost at trial but eventually won a dismissal because of prosecutorial misconduct.… Continue Reading
Companies often face extortionate demands from foreign police, bureaucrats, and regulators, who threaten to hold, expel, or even harm employees if ransoms aren’t paid. And there have always been questions whether those involuntary payments can violate the FCPA.… Continue Reading
aul Cosgrove and David Edmonds are preparing for trial next month in federal court in California. They face counts for conspiracy to violate the FCPA and the Travel Act, and substantive violations of those statutes.… Continue Reading
Jury selection in John O’Shea’s trial is scheduled to start on January 11.
The former ABB manager is being tried in federal court in Houston before Judge Lynn N. Hughes.
He’s charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, twelve substantive FCPA counts, four counts of international money laundering, and one count of falsifying records in a federal investigation.… Continue Reading
On his Conflict of Interest Blog, Jeff Kaplan talked this week about people from one company serving on another company’s board. He’s not always against it. But he flags COI concerns that can come up.… Continue Reading
Over on the White Collar Crime Prof Blog, Solomon L. Wisenberg posted links to FCPA-related jury instructions from some recent prosecutions.
There are complete or partial instructions for Frederic Bourke, Gerald and Patricia Green, Lindsey Manufacturing, and Pankesh Patel of the Africa sting case.… Continue Reading
Does a defendant need to know a bribe taker is a ‘foreign official’ to be guilty of an FCPA offense?
According to the DOJ, the answer is ‘yes.’
The question came up this month in U.S.… Continue Reading
What do we think of the recent ‘foreign official’ rulings in the Carson and Lindsey cases?
In 2009, in a post called We Get It, we said lawyers are trained to quibble and criminal defense lawyers do it best.… Continue Reading
Bruce Alpert of the Times-Picayune dissects the jury’s deliberations in last summer’s trial of former congressman William Jefferson. Alpert’s story confirms for the first time that the jury believed Jefferson was guilty of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.… Continue Reading
Lawyers are trained to quibble and criminal defense lawyers do it best. After all, their job is to create reasonable doubt. So it’s no surprise that when talking about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, they say it’s complicated, technically challenging and obscure, poorly drafted and badly organized.… Continue Reading