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...
By: Sara Kropf I’m taking a break today from derivatives and insider trading, I bring to you: “Rebecca—The Musical.” It is based on the Daphne du Maurier novel. (The musical, not the blog post.) Unfortunately, "Rebecca" is not ready for prime time, thanks in part to...
By: Sara Kropf A few years ago, a woman was referred to me. She thought someone had scammed her husband out of a lot of money. I wish I could tell you I was able to help her, but I wasn’t. I always remembered the name of the person who she thought had taken their...
By: Sara Kropf Henry David Thoreau said, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” According to the Department of Justice, a couple of commercial fishermen knew exactly what they were after when they broke laws...
By: Sara Kropf This is the one of my recurring posts that offer quick summaries of similar cases. Think of them as the Kay and Peele version of my blog posts, though not nearly as funny and always safe for work. The Beastie Boys bemoaned that there are “too many...