By: Sara Kropf Since January 2010, corporations facing SEC investigations had one big advantage over individuals: they could seek a deferred prosecution agreement. DPAs allow companies that committed wrongdoing to avoid prosecution, most often by undertaking...
By: Sara Kropf A few days ago, I attended the excellent white collar conference sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in Washington, DC. During one of the panels, an interesting topic arose: should criminal defendants be entitled to...
By: Sara Kropf Trade secret cases are fascinating. They give some insight into how companies develop research; how valuable that research is; and the steps these companies take to protect research from being leaked to competitors. Trade secrets are stored on...
By: Sara Kropf Michael Mitrow, Jr. and his brother Matthew Mitrow were recently charged in a superseding indictment for a corporate kickback scheme in the Southern District of New York. The Brothers Mitrow were executives of an unnamed marketing agency. According to...
By: Sara Kropf The SEC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency both claimed that TD Bank assisted Scott Rothstein—the Florida lawyer currently serving 50 years in prison for a Ponzi scheme—with committing fraud. The OCC contended that TD Bank violated the...
By: Sara Kropf I don’t watch the TV show NCIS. But I get the premise: clean-cut agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigate crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The agents are the good guys. The bad guys . . . are, well, the other people....
By: Sara Kropf A lot of people have faced charges in the Bernie Madoff scandal over the past few years. Madoff’s accountant, David Friehling, pleaded guilty to falsifying documents. Madoff’s son Peter pleaded guilty to several criminal charges and was sentenced to ten...
By: Sara Kropf Da Mayor: Doctor. Mookie: C’mon, what? What? Da Mayor: Always do the right thing. Mookie: That’s it? Da Mayor: That’s it. Mookie: I got it. I'm gone. Do the Right Thing (1989) (yes, 1989—you are that old) Except for “not guilty,” the sweetest words for...
By: Sara Kropf There have been several high-profile insider trading cases recently. I can’t do justice to the facts of all the recent cases, but here’s a quick sampling of some of the more interesting cases. 1. Use a Facebook Friend. Badin Rungruangnavarat,...
By: Sara Kropf The Tenth Circuit recently issued an opinion affecting criminal securities cases and making it slightly harder for the government to prevail at trial. In United States v. McKye (No. 12-6108), the Tenth Circuit reversed the jury’s verdict for the...