Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Mail and Wire Fraud Post 'Kelly v. United States'
Under the federal mail and wire fraud statutes, it is a crime to "obtain[] money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises," or to deprive someone of the "intangible right of honest services." 18 U.S.C. §§1341, 1343, 1346. The scope of these prohibitions has expanded over time. This expansion has been met with infrequent, but significant, pushback from the courts. Perhaps most prominent is the line of Supreme Court decisions which initially resisted and later narrowed the scope of "honest services" fraud. See, McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350 (1987); Skilling v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2896 (2010); McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016).
In Kelly v. United States, 140 S. Ct. 1565 (2020), the Supreme Court turned its attention to a fraud scheme premised on "obtaining money or property." Id. at 1572. In that case, the Supreme Court rejected the government's theory of "property." A unanimous court held that a scheme was not intended to "obtain property" when its objective was to misuse government officials' regulatory powers, or when monetary losses were "incidental," and not the actual object of the scheme.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.