White Collar Crime

HMRC taskforce to target tax evasion by London lawyers

By Legal Week | September 18, 2012

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a taskforce to target tax evasion by London lawyers, as part of wider efforts to recover almost £20m for the public purse, reports Accountancy Age. The legal profession in London has been selected as one of five high-risk industries targeted, including groceries and retail in north and south Wales; hair and beauty in the northeast; restaurants in the southeast and Solent; and the motor industry in Scotland.Roughly £3m is expected to come from the legal industry.

1 minute read

New SFO director revamps agency to secure post-Tchenguiz survival

By Friederike Heine | September 6, 2012

Even by the standards of an organisation as regularly publicly lambasted as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the damning High Court verdict of its investigation into property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz was humiliating.

1 minute read

Kirkland bolsters London white collar team with SFO's bribery head

By Alex Newman | September 5, 2012

Kirkland & Ellis' City arm has secured a high-profile boost for its European practice after recruiting the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO's) head of bribery and corruption, Satnam Tumani. Tumani will join Kirkland as a partner in the US giant's white collar crime practice at the end of the month in what will be regarded as a key hire for the firm.

1 minute read

Ex-Mayer Brown chief information officer charged with fraud

By Legal Week | August 31, 2012

Mayer Brown's former chief information officer David Tresch has been arrested and charged with defrauding the firm of at least $850,000 (£537,000) through a series of invoices for work supposedly performed by an unidentified vendor, reports The Am Law Daily. The US attorney's office in Chicago charged Tresch, who served as Mayer Brown's CIO until June, with one count of mail fraud, according to a statement detailing the charges against him. Tresch is accused of approving payments to the vendor and pocketing "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in illicit proceeds.

1 minute read

Slaughters, Sullivan guide Standard Chartered to £217m US settlement

By Friederike Heine | August 15, 2012

Slaughter and May corporate partner Nigel Boardman and dispute resolution partner Richard Swallow helped Standard Chartered yesterday (14 August) reach a $340m (£217m) settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) over allegations that it breached US sanctions and hid transactions with Iran. The magic circle firm provided UK advice to the bank, alongside Wall Street leader Sullivan & Cromwell, where corporate and financing partner Rodgin Cohen and dispute resolution partner Samuel Seymour provided US advice. Both firms were instructed after the alleged illegal activity took place.

1 minute read

Slaughters, Sullivan advise Standard Chartered on latest banking scandal

By Suzi Ring | August 7, 2012

Slaughter and May has secured a mandate advising Standard Chartered in relation to claims by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) that the bank was involved in a $250bn (£160bn) money laundering scheme with the Iranian government. The magic circle firm is advising over allegations published by the DFS yesterday (6 August), which claim the bank violated US sanctions for almost 10 years, alleging it "schemed with the Government of Iran and hid from regulators roughly 60,000 secret transactions, involving at least $250bn (£160bn)."

1 minute read

SFO confirms criminal powers to tackle Libor manipulation offences

By Friederike Heine | July 31, 2012

Bankers involved in the Libor-rigging scandal could face jail terms after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed that existing legislation will suffice to bring criminal actions against banks and individuals. In a statement, the SFO said: "The Director of the Serious Fraud Office, David Green QC, is satisfied that existing criminal offences are capable of covering conduct in relation to the alleged manipulation of Libor and related interest rates. The investigation, announced on 6 July, involves a number of financial institutions."

1 minute read

Norton Rose signs up first white collar crime partner with Bindmans hire

By Pui-Guan Man | July 30, 2012

Norton Rose has hired its first corporate and white collar crime partner, with the addition of Bindmans criminal law chief Neil O'May. O'May, who will join the firm in October, will be part of Norton Rose's business ethics and anti-corruption group which sits within the firm's wider disputes practice.

1 minute read

LG scores role on BBA investigation into Libor fixing scandal

By Friederike Heine | July 27, 2012

LG has picked up a lead role advising the British Bankers Association (BBA) on an independent investigation into the Libor rigging scandal. The firm, which is fielding a team led by employment partner Helga Breen, was appointed last week after the BBA confirmed an investigation prompted by evidence of rate rigging gathered by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

1 minute read

Ex-Minter Ellison Adelaide CFO handed 10-year jail term for A$2.7m theft

By Pui-Guan Man | July 25, 2012

The former chief financial officer (CFO) of Minter Ellison's Adelaide arm has been sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in jail after admitting that he stole nearly A$2.7m (£1.8m) from the top-tier Australian law firm. Craig Raneberg, who was CFO of the firm's Adelaide and Darwin offices, pleaded guilty in March to 70 counts of theft between 2004 and 2011. The former CFO, who was made redundant in June 2011 after almost ten years at the firm, will face a non-parole period of six years and four months.

1 minute read

The Recorder

Manatt Hires 2 Boston Trial Lawyers, Eyeing Growth in 'New Economy' Sectors

By Jessie Yount | May 1, 2023

Joan Lukey, a two-time Massachusetts Special Assistant Attorney General, and Martin Murphy, who represented Felicity Huffman in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case, have joined the firm as partners.

4 minute read

The Recorder

Theranos Prosecutor Heads to Jones Day in Silicon Valley

By Jessie Yount | April 26, 2023

Jeff Schenk, the former chief of the San Jose branch of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, joined the firm as a white-collar partner.

2 minute read

New York Law Journal

'Sort of Like a Stock Exchange': Wire Fraud Trial Begins for Ex-Employee at NFT Marketplace

By Jane Wester | April 25, 2023

Defense counsel said that the OpenSea NFT marketplace was more like eBay, a place to buy and sell collectables.

3 minute read

New York Law Journal

'Insider Trading' Term Allowed at Federal NFT Trial in New York

By Jane Wester | April 21, 2023

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York said he is open to delivering a curative instruction reminding jurors to focus on how he describes the law and not any other understanding they may have about the term "insider trading."

3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Johnny Doc Raises 'Serious Concerns' About Ballard Spahr's Conflicts: Federal Judge

By Amanda O'Brien | April 17, 2023

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl denied a request by the convicted former union leader to dismiss embezzlement charges slated for a trial next month, but he did conclude that the allegations are enough to justify an evidentiary hearing on the firm's prior defense of bribery charges.

4 minute read

The American Lawyer

Why the Am Law 100 Is Hiring More Private Investigators

By Dan Roe | April 12, 2023

A Q&A with Dan Nardello, CEO of a global investigations firm Nardello & Co., on the business and ethics of working for law firms on highly contentious matters.

10 minute read

New York Law Journal

New DOJ and SEC Compensation Clawback Policies—Easier Said Than Done?

By Robert J. Anello and Richard F. Albert | April 12, 2023

These new programs represent a major broadening in the scope of clawback policies, but at least for publicly held companies, clawback mandates are not new. Since 2002, Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX Section 304) has directed the SEC to enforce the clawback of any bonus, incentive-based pay, or stock sale profits received by a public company's CEO or CFO that has restated its financials.

12 minute read

New York Law Journal

'We See That for What It Is': US Attorneys Break Down Cooperation Credit, Corporate Self-Disclosure

By Jane Wester | April 11, 2023

Vanessa Avery, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, said she hopes the policy will help incentivize companies to "talk to us early and often."

4 minute read

The American Lawyer

A Big Year in Disputes Helped Wilmer Boost Revenue, Profits in 2022

By Dan Roe | April 6, 2023

A number of high-profile representations, frequently against the government, helped Wilmer find growth in a year that saw flat demand in transactional practices.

5 minute read

New York Law Journal

What Recent Special Counsel Prosecutions Can Tell Us About False Statements Prosecutions

By Jonathan S. Sack and Kefira Wilderman | April 4, 2023

While Section 1001 may be a powerful tool of federal prosecutors, and can cause great harm to defendants, the results of given cases can vary greatly and are far from certain.

11 minute read