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Law Enforcement in the Digital Assets Space: Department of Justice Issues Report Pursuant to White House Executive Order

By Richard Gibbon, Rebecca Worthington, Adam Klauder and Chase Goldstein on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Department of Justice, United States, US Department of Justice, US Treasury
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DoJ”) issued a report on The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets (the “Report”), which will have a significant and wide-ranging impact on the U.S. government’s ability to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt crimes involving digital assets.  The … Continue Reading

DOJ Announces New Corporate Enforcement Strategy

By Colin Jennings, Vipal Patel and Nic Gunton on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, Department of Justice, Sentencing, United States, US Department of Justice
On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced updated guidelines for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) corporate criminal enforcement in a speech at New York University Law School. Monaco previously announced in October 2021 that DOJ would take a tougher stance on white collar crime. Shortly thereafter, Monaco formed an advisory group … Continue Reading

Cybersecurity Compliance on U.S. Government Contracts and Subcontracts

By Karen Harbaugh and Richard Gibbon on Posted in cybersecurity, Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), Fraud, ransomware, United States, US Department of Justice, Whistleblowing
The U.S. Department of Justice announced late last year that it would utilize the False Claims Act, the U.S. government’s primary civil tool to redress false claims for federal funds and property, to bring actions against U.S. government contractors and subcontractors who do not meet the cybersecurity requirements of a particular contract or grant. The … Continue Reading

New DOJ KleptoCapture Task Force to Enforce Russia Sanctions

By Chase Goldstein on Posted in corruption, Cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, Department of Justice, Economic sanctions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Sanctions, United States
On March 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of the interagency Task Force KleptoCapture (the “Task Force”) to enforce the sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures against Russian officials and oligarchs in response to the conflict in Ukraine. The Task Force will consist of prosecutors and agents from numerous federal … Continue Reading

President Biden Issues Executive Order Directing Agencies to Develop Policy Recommendations on Digital Assets

By Kevin McCart, Kyle Fath and Nathan Leber on Posted in bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Department of Justice, US Treasury
President Biden has signed his long-awaited Executive Order on digital assets (“Executive Order”).  The Executive Order, titled Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, does not announce any new regulations for the digital asset industry.  Instead, the Executive Order mandates federal agencies to take a unified approach to developing specific policy recommendations for a comprehensive regulatory … Continue Reading

DOJ FCPA Opinion Encourages Corporate Disclosure

By Sanaa Bayyari and Benjamin Glassman on Posted in Department of Justice, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
On January 21, 2022, the Department of Justice issued an opinion applying the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to a Hollywood movie-like factual scenario relating to extortion and duress. The opinion is one of two FCPA opinions published within the last two years. Before those two opinions, DOJ had not published one since 2014. Publication of … Continue Reading

DOJ Ends “China Initiative” Targeting Economic Espionage

By Nic Gunton, Ally Rich and Colin Jennings on Posted in China, Department of Justice
On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the end of an initiative to prioritize suspected Chinese economic espionage. The intent of the initiative was to prevent China’s intelligence apparatus from stealing U.S. technology, specifically from research institutions and universities. However, DOJ National Security Division Chief Matthew Olsen stated the initiative “fueled … Continue Reading

Series: Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets

By Benjamin Glassman and Colin Jennings on Posted in China, corruption, Department of Justice, Government Investigation, Russia, United States, US Department of Justice
In 1996, President Clinton signed the Economic Espionage Act (the “Act”). At the time, the principal proponents of the law included business leaders from the then burgeoning Silicon Valley as well as from the aerospace industry. Proponents of the Act claimed foreign entities were actively attempting to steal trade secrets and that the existing laws … Continue Reading

DOJ Prioritizes Health Care Fraud in the Pandemic

By Chase Goldstein on Posted in bribery, Compliance Program, corruption, COVID-19, Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), Fraud, Healthcare, Industry Investigations, telemedicine
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced its largest ever health care fraud and opioid enforcement action.  In a coordinated effort, DOJ charged 345 defendants with more than $6 billion in fraud losses for submitting false and fraudulent claims to federal health care programs and private insurers.… Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency Exchange and its Executives Face Allegations of Failing to Maintain an Adequate AML Program

By Kevin McCart and Rebecca Worthington on Posted in anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Compliance Program, Cryptocurrency, Department of Justice, FinCEN, Fraud, Government Investigation, OFAC
Two U.S. authorities recently announced actions against four individuals and numerous entities associated with BitMEX, an online trading platform for futures contracts and other derivative products tied to the value of cryptocurrencies.  Both actions allege that BitMEX failed to put in place required anti-money laundering programs and procedures, and serve as a reminder that institutions … Continue Reading

Executive Responsibilities and Consequences: A Case Study of Uber’s Data Breaches

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in Anti-corruption, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Department of Justice
Every organization is at risk of a data breach, and can learn something from Uber’s data privacy missteps. In an article for Corporate Compliance Insights, Squire Patton Boggs lawyers Colin Jennings, Ericka Johnson, and Dylan Yépez offer key takeaways from the company’s high-profile data breaches and the criminal charges that followed.      … Continue Reading

Special Appearance Denied In Sanctions Criminal Case

By Kevin McCart on Posted in Department of Justice, OFAC, US Department of Justice
A New York federal judge recently held that a foreign bank could not challenge U.S. federal criminal jurisdiction prior to arraignment. US Allegation Halkbank is a Turkish majority state-owned bank. The United States alleged that Halkbank developed an illicit scheme comprised “of fraudulent transactions intended to deceive U.S. regulators and foreign banks” through which the … Continue Reading

DOJ, FTC Pledge 7-Day Evaluation of Competitor Collaborations

By Barry Pupkin on Posted in antitrust, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission
Information about an expedited procedure for obtaining guidance about the permissibility of certain collaborations between competitors, which have the effect of protecting Americans’ health and safety, was set forth in a joint statement issued March 24, 2020, by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (the Statement). The Statement … Continue Reading

DOJ Civil Division Highlights False Claims Act Priorities for 2020

By Squire Patton Boggs on Posted in Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), US Department of Justice
Joseph “Jody” Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, provided a glimpse of current civil enforcement priorities of the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Speaking at the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference on February 27, 2020, Hunt pledged that DOJ would pursue qui tam cases involving nursing homes, Medicare Advantage plans, and electronic … Continue Reading

Judge Tosses FCPA Jury Verdict

By Chase Goldstein on Posted in Anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, bribery, Department of Justice, FCPA Jurisdiction, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), US Department of Justice
On February 26, 2020, Judge Janet Bond Arterton, a federal judge for the District of Connecticut, overturned a former Alstom SA executive’s conviction under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) relating to a project to build power plants in Indonesia. Judge Arterton found that, despite a jury verdict to the contrary, prosecutors failed to prove … Continue Reading

Government Presses Extraterritoriality of Wire Fraud Statute

By Ayako Russell on Posted in Department of Justice, Fraud, US Department of Justice
In a recent brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the government argues that the federal wire fraud statute applies extraterritorially. This is yet another avenue through which federal authorities seek to acquire jurisdiction over conduct occurring outside the United States, particularly where the victims are US nationals, including corporations, or are located in … Continue Reading

2019 Year-end White Collar Updates

By Colin Jennings, Ayako Russell, Rebecca Worthington and Chase Goldstein on Posted in Anti-corruption, corporate compliance, Department of Justice
In 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal regulators continued to emphasize the importance of effective compliance programs, self-disclosure of violations of the law and cooperation with regulators during investigations. In a new client alert out this week, we shed light on some of the updated guidance from various government agencies released last year, landmark state and … Continue Reading

False Claims Act Recoveries Back On The Rise

By Chase Goldstein on Posted in Anti-corruption, Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), Fraud, US Department of Justice
After a dip in the 2018 fiscal year, False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments are back and climbing. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it had obtained more than $3.05 billion from FCA settlements and judgments for the 2019 fiscal year. 2018 may have just been an aberration after the 2010s saw … Continue Reading

New Antitrust Strike Force Focuses on Government Contracts

By Squire Patton Boggs on Posted in Department of Justice, Fraud, US Department of Justice
A new strike force of federal and state investigators is targeting antitrust violations in government procurement. The strike force consists of investigators from a variety of agencies who will receive special training in detecting and prosecuting antitrust agreements. The strike force seeks to increase both criminal and civil enforcement actions.… Continue Reading

Australia Plans to Join U.S. and U.K. in the CLOUD Act

By Squire Patton Boggs on Posted in Australia, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Data provider, Department of Justice, United Kingdom, US Department of Justice
Following its agreement with the United Kingdom, the United States announces formal negotiations are underway with Australia about joining the CLOUD Act. Although also a bi-lateral negotiation, the U.S. talks with Australia strike a more practical tone than those with the U.K.… Continue Reading
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