The Money Laundering Hammer
August 27, 2008
The federal government has wielded the money laundering statutes, 18 U.S.C. '' 1956 and 1957, to great effect in various cases due to their breathtaking sweep, jury appeal, and severe sentencing enhancement under the federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Supreme Court's recent ruling in <i>United States v. Santos</i> may undermine the feds' use of this weapon.
Bringing Sentencing Sanity to Operation Malicious Mortgage
August 27, 2008
Harsh sentences can be generated by a rote application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines in mortgage fraud cases. Challenging the scope of "relevant conduct" should be defense counsel's first line of attack in many cases, because victims' losses may not have resulted from a convicted client's activities or the reasonably foreseeable acts of others in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity under ' 1B1.3.
Prosecution of Subprime-Mortgage Fraud
August 27, 2008
With the meltdown of the U.S. housing market, many players in mortgage lending now face the triple threat of criminal, civil, and administrative legal action. But the scope of federal action against questionable lending practices will depend on the answer to a key question: What funding will be made available to law enforcement agencies?
The 'Sophisticated Insured' Defense
July 30, 2008
A majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.
White-Collar Crime: Another View
July 30, 2008
In a November 2007 article, we noted the government's aggressive enforcement and broad interpretation of federal money-laundering statutes, expressing concern that prosecutorial use of the statutes had been unfairly and improperly expanded. Elkan Abramowitz and Barry A. Bohrer, 'Federal Money-Laundering Statutes: Course Correction?' New York Law Journal (Nov. 6, 2007). In the same article, we expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would take corrective action in cases then pending before it. …
The Case for Non-Discretionary Advancement Policies
July 30, 2008
Non-discretionary advancement policies provide officers and directors with the necessary resources to resist unjustified lawsuits. At the same time, they encourage highly qualified people to serve as officers and directors, 'secure in the knowledge that the corporation will absorb the costs of defending their honesty and integrity.'
Parallel Proceedings: The End of an Error?
July 30, 2008
Three years ago, two similarly minded district court decisions rocked federal regulatory agencies and the Department of Justice (DOJ) by rejecting longstanding assumptions about the proper conduct of simultaneous civil and criminal investigations, commonly known as 'parallel proceedings.' This article analyzes those decisions.
