By: Sara Kropf Several of the cases I’ve featured in my posts over the last year have had significant developments or come to a close. It’s always interesting—and moderately depressing—to see how things turned out. When an FBI Agent Is the Bad Guy First up we have...
By: Sara Kropf I promise a real post later this week (isn't the anticipation killing you?), but, meanwhile, NACDL is looking for examples of cases involving a "trial penalty." For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, a "trial penalty" is the price our...
By: Sara Kropf On September 30, 2014, Robert Lustyik entered a guilty plea in connection with alleged grand jury tampering and obstruction of justice. Mr. Lustyik has been charged with interfering with the investigation of his alleged business partner, Michael Taylor....
By: Sara Kropf For over five years years, the former Director of Financial Reporting at Celgene Corp. engaged in an insider trading scheme. The government contended that John Lazorchak passed along inside information through middlemen, distributed and received profits...
By: Sara Kropf A French citizen appeared in a Manhattan federal court on March 10, pleading guilty to obstructing a government investigation into bribes paid to secure mining rights in Guinea. Mr. Frédéric Cilins, a 51-year-old businessman, had been arrested during an...
By: Sara Kropf For years now, the calling card of a big-firm white-collar lawyer has been, “I do FCPA work.” But all the focus on foreign bribery work overlooks the domestic bribery schemes that are regularly pursued by the federal government. FCPA work may sound...
By: Sara Kropf Frank Castaldi’s story serves as a cautionary tale for anyone trying to cooperate with the government to get a better deal. In 2008, Mr. Castaldi turned himself in to government investigators, revealing his $77 million Ponzi scheme. Mr. Castaldi fully...
By: Sara Kropf Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted. I took a few weeks off for the holidays and then tried and won a defamation trial in Virginia last month, sort of. It’s back to the grindstone now, though. There were quite a few interesting white-collar...
By: Sara Kropf In certain fraud cases, defendants allegedly target groups of victims, such as the elderly or members of an ethnic or religious group (commonly known as “affinity” fraud). But, today, I bring you two cases that involve a very specialized group:...
By: Sara Kropf Ryan International Airlines has had a couple of rough years. The company had once found success flying mail for the U.S. Postal Service and providing military transport for personnel and cargo. But as military spending declined, Ryan found its revenues...