By: Sara Kropf The NewYorker recently published an interesting article, “Why the SEC Didn’t Hit Goldman Sachs Harder.” The article posits that the SEC let individual executives on Wall Street off the hook for securities fraud after the financial crisis. The article...
The Fifth Circuit handed two corporate executives at a medical device company a big win recently. I’ve posted in the past about the indictments and trial of two former executives at ArthroCare, Michael Gluk and Michael Baker. They were found guilty in June 2014 of...
By: Sara Kropf There’s no question that corporate executives enjoy certain perks. They come with the job, right? The government can’t outlaw corporate perks, but the SEC has cracked down on the proper disclosure of them. It recently sued the former CEO of...
By: Sara Kropf As a general rule, the government does not indict CEOs of big companies. No one really wants to say that out loud—at least on the government’s side of the aisle—but it’s true. It is usually difficult for the government to prove a link between a CEO...
By: Sara Kropf Definition: Spoof Noun a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody; 2. a hoax; prank. Verb to mock (something or someone) lightly and good-humoredly; kid; 4. to fool by a hoax; play a trick on,...
By: Sara Kropf How much cooperation with the government does your client have to provide to avoid prison? If portfolio manager Reema Shah is any example, the answer is…over a year. On May 21, 2014, Ms. Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and...
By: Sara Kropf I’ve written about fraud in the entertainment industry before. Last time it was Broadway, this time it’s Hollywood. The government recently indicted four employees of a California-based movie production company, Gigapix Studios Inc. (“Gigapix”), on...
By: Sara Kropf In February 2014, Chinese antitrust regulators announced that they suspected wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc. of overcharging its customers and abusing its powerful market position. According to reports, Qualcomm could face fines of up to $1...
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 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...