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White Collar
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August 06, 2025
Spinal Implant Co. CEO Avoids Prison After Plea Deal
The founder and CEO of Massachusetts medical device maker SpineFrontier was sentenced Wednesday to a year of supervised release, the first six months on home confinement, for directing employees to mislead the government about the nature of payments to a surgeon who was using the company's products.
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August 06, 2025
NY US Atty Faces Watchdog's Ethics Suit After Altercation
Legal ethics watchdog Campaign for Accountability on Wednesday called for an ethics probe of acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III of the Northern District of New York, alleging that he made a number of deceptive claims arising from a June altercation.
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August 06, 2025
Texas Immigration Firm Says Rival Falsely Accused It Of Fraud
A Houston immigration firm has accused a rival of falsely claiming that it encouraged clients to lie on their applications for legal status.
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August 06, 2025
Tornado Founder Gets Partial Mistrial, Convicted On 1 Count
A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm of conspiring to operate the crypto mixer as an unlicensed money transmitting business, but deadlocked on money laundering and sanctions charges.
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August 06, 2025
SEC Pursues UK Man's Assets Over $10M Stock Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a legal action in England to enforce a $350,000 U.S. court judgment against a man the agency has alleged was involved in a $10 million fraudulent trans-Atlantic microcap stock trading scheme.
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August 05, 2025
Tornado Cash Jury Still Out, SEC Leader Backs Privacy Tech
Jury deliberations in the money laundering and sanctions trial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm continued Tuesday with no verdict, one day after a top securities regulator championed the legitimacy of privacy-protecting technologies, much like defense claims about the cryptocurrency tumbler.
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August 05, 2025
Feds Charge 2 With Shipping Nvidia AI Chips To China
Two Chinese nationals residing in California were charged with using a company they founded to unlawfully export microchips used in AI applications worth "tens of millions of dollars" to China in violation of the Export Control Reform Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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August 05, 2025
2nd Circ. Nixes Madoff Feeder Fund Clawback Suits
About 300 clawback lawsuits filed by the liquidators of British Virgin Islands-based funds that invested in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities should be dismissed, a Second Circuit panel said on Tuesday, finding the deals were protected by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code's safe harbor for securities transactions.
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August 05, 2025
Ex-ComEd Lobbyist Gets 1 Year For Masking Madigan Bribes
A former lobbyist for Commonwealth Edison was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Tuesday for allowing his lobbying firm to serve as a pass-through for the utility to pay associates of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for little to no work, as it sought his support for favorable energy legislation.
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August 05, 2025
Shuttered NJ Importer Pleads Guilty To Hiding AC Fire Risks
A defunct New Jersey importer of consumer appliances pled guilty on Tuesday to one count of willfully violating the Consumer Product Safety Act for its failure to report dangerous defects in more than 33,000 portable air conditioners that have been linked to more than 40 fires and one death, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
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August 05, 2025
SEC Fines Platform Founder $10M Over Crypto-Backed Scam
The owner of a shuttered lending platform has agreed to pay over $10 million to end a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case accusing him of defrauding customers by using their money to buy millions of dollars' worth of TerraUSD before the stablecoin collapsed.
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August 05, 2025
States Push DOJ To Crack Down On Illegal Offshore Gambling
Attorneys general from several states have written a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice to target the "rampant spread" of illicit offshore online sports betting and gambling operations, which they say are harming United States citizens and depriving states of tax revenue.
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August 05, 2025
Trump-Tied SPAC Exec Rips SEC Suit After Deal Talks Fizzle
The former CEO of the special-purpose acquisition company that took President Donald Trump's social media platform public has renewed his bid to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit alleging he failed to timely alert investors to the prospective deal after settlement talks broke down.
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August 05, 2025
Ghislaine Maxwell Slams Feds' Bid To Unseal Grand Jury Docs
Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking children for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to deny the government's bid to unseal grand jury transcripts, saying release of the sealed materials could jeopardize the appeal of her 2021 conviction.
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August 05, 2025
Disbarred North Carolina Atty Admits To Wire Fraud Scheme
A disbarred lawyer in North Carolina has copped to criminal wire fraud charges stemming from the misuse of his trust account after federal prosecutors said he used escrow funds earmarked for the sale of personal protective equipment to pay back another company.
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August 05, 2025
Binance Founder Seeks Exit From FTX $1.76B Clawback Suit
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to dismiss him from a clawback suit filed by the estate of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX seeking to recover $1.76 billion it says FTX illegally transferred before its collapse two years ago, saying the transaction was outside the court's jurisdiction.
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August 05, 2025
Lottery.com SPAC Exec Wants Info From California Fraud Case
A Manhattan federal judge said Tuesday that he will weigh a request by a special purpose acquisition company CEO accused of fraud in a merger involving Lottery.com Inc. to have New York prosecutors provide discovery from a California criminal case.
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August 04, 2025
Citibank Ignored Red Flags About $45M Wire Fraud, Suit Says
Citibank failed to stop scammers from absconding with $45 million from a real estate property transaction when it processed payment orders even after it detected name mismatches between the identified transaction beneficiary and the account holder, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in California federal court.Â
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August 04, 2025
Firms Not Covered In Ford's $100M RICO Suit, Insurer Says
An insurer said it has no duty to defend or indemnify law firms and attorneys accused of running a billing scheme that defrauded Ford out of more than $100 million, telling a California federal court that the suit doesn't involve a claim arising out of the performance of legal services.
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August 04, 2025
Nurse Agrees To Repay $614K For False Claims In Conn.
A nurse who owned a medication management business and two Connecticut residential care homes agreed on Monday to settle state and federal False Claims Act allegations for $614,000, ending allegations that he billed Medicare and Medicaid impossible daily hours and for clients that were hospitalized or dead.
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August 04, 2025
DC Circ. Backs FBI Agent's Bribery Sentence
The D.C. Circuit Court has affirmed a former FBI special agent's two-year sentence for taking a bribe in connection with a property-buying scheme, finding that he accepted at least $6,500 from a real estate developer in exchange for illegally sharing information from a protected database to which the FBI subscribed.
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August 04, 2025
NY Atty Found Guilty Of Duping Lender Who Backed Lien Biz
A Manhattan federal jury on Monday convicted a former compliance lawyer of pilfering from a $20 million line of credit extended to his tax-lien business by a subsidiary of Emigrant Bank.
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August 04, 2025
Mass. Ambulance Cos. Settle State FCA Allegations For $6M
Two Massachusetts ambulance companies have agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations that they "upcoded" claims to the state's Medicaid program, MassHealth, billed it for unnecessary services, and committed other False Claims Act violations, the state attorney general's office announced Monday.
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August 04, 2025
Funeral Home Owner Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Again
For the second time, an owner of a southern Colorado funeral home pled guilty on Monday in connection to claims that her company illegally stored nearly 200 decaying bodies and committed more than $1 million in fraud.
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August 04, 2025
Plaintiff Bar Urges FINRA To Reject Industry's Arbitration Recs
The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association on Monday urged the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to reject industry recommendations to loosen its arbitration rules, calling on the brokerage industry regulator to "resist pressure from industry groups seeking to dilute hard-won safeguards."
Expert Analysis
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DOJ Could Target Journalists Under Media Policy Reversion
The U.S. Department of Justice's recently announced media policy largely mirrors policies in effect from 2014 to 2020, but ambiguities in key statutory terms could allow the administration to apply it to journalists in new ways and expand investigations beyond leaks of classified information, says Julie Edelstein at Wiggin.
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State Tort Claims May Help Deter Bribes During FCPA Pause
As the U.S. pauses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, companies that lose business due to competitors' bribery should consider using state tortious interference suits to expose corruption, deter illegal practices and obtain compensation for commercial losses, says Jason Manning at Levy Firestone.
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Series
Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.
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Oft-Forgotten Evidence Rule Can Be Powerful Trial Tool
Rule 608 may be one of the most overlooked provisions in the Federal Rules of Evidence, but as a transformative tool that allows attorneys to attack a witness's character for truthfulness through opinion or reputation testimony, its potential to reshape a case cannot be overstated, says Marian Braccia at Temple University Beasley School of Law.
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1st Circ. Ruling Widens Split Over Sentencing Enhancements
In U.S. v. Salvador-Gutierrez, the First Circuit recently switched sides in a circuit split by holding that certain sentencing enhancements apply only where the defendant used a minor in the commission of the crime, deepening a divide over the scope of role adjustments, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.
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Whistleblower Rewards May Soon Materialize In UK
Recent government and Serious Fraud Office announcements indicate that the U.K.’s long-standing aversion to rewarding whistleblowers is reversing, underlining the importance for organizations to consider managing misconduct risk and prepare for a potentially significant uptick in tipoffs, says Tom Grodecki at Cadwalader.
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DOJ Export Declination Highlights Self-Reporting Benefits
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision not to prosecute a NASA contractor, despite a former employee pleading guilty to facilitating unlicensed exports, underscores the advantages available to companies that self-report sanctions violations, cooperate with investigations and implement timely remediation, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Customs Fraud Enforcement In The Age Of Tariffs
In the wake of the Trump administration’s new approach toward tariffs, two recent Justice Department developments demonstrate aggressive customs fraud enforcement, with the DOJ emphasizing competitive harm to American businesses, and signaling that investigations will likely involve both civil and criminal enforcement tools, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz and London & Naor.
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Series
Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles
Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Fledgling Crypto ATM Regs May Be Due For A Growth Spurt
As cryptocurrency ATM use and availability become more prevalent within the U.S. financial services ecosystem, states — only a few of which currently have a crypto ATM framework — may need to consider expanding legislation and regulation to accelerate consumer fraud protection practices, says Jason Noto at Polsinelli.
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UK May Play Major Role In Corporate Misconduct Regulation
In light of the U.S.' pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has released new guidance showing it may seize the opportunity to play a heightened role in regulating corporate misconduct by U.S. companies with a global presence, particularly over the next few years, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Series
Playing Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Poker is a master class in psychology, risk management and strategic thinking, and I’m a better attorney because it has taught me to read my opponents, adapt when I’m dealt the unexpected and stay patient until I'm ready to reveal my hand, says Casey Kingsley at McCreadyLaw.
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Avoiding The Risk Of Continued AI-Washing Enforcement
A recent action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, alleging a software developer defrauded investors by lying about his app’s artificial intelligence capabilities, suggests this administration will continue to target AI washing, so companies should adopt practices to mitigate enforcement risk, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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4 Ways Slater Is Priming DOJ For Continued Antitrust Success
Just as Jonathan Kanter did during his recent tenure leading the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater is following the effective blueprint set by Thurman Arnold when he modernized the division more than 80 years ago, says Perry Apelbaum at Kressin Powers.
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DOJ Memo Raises Bar For Imposition Of Corporate Monitors
A recently released U.S. Department of Justice memo, outlining guidance on the imposition of compliance monitors in corporate criminal cases, reflects DOJ leadership’s concerns about scope creep and business costs, but the strategies for companies to avoid a monitorship haven't changed much compared to the Biden era, says James Koukios at MoFo.