By Andrea L. Moseley As expected, fraud relating to the present COVID-19 pandemic is being prosecuted for the first time. These crimes of opportunity were predictable and the Department of Justice has come to the table, loaded for bear. Now, our white collar defense...
By: Sara Kropf For most crimes, the government must prove that the defendant acted intentionally. This seems like it should be a fairly high bar particularly in white-collar criminal cases but it's not. For most crimes, the government need only prove that the conduct...
By: Sara Kropf The common interest (sometimes called “joint defense”) privilege serves an invaluable strategic role in complex white-collar cases. It allows the targets of an investigation to work together, without fear that the government will discover their...
This is the kind of case that wakes up lawyers in a cold sweat at night. The Second Circuit recently granted a new trial to a defendant after the trial court found that he had waived his right to a new trial. The waiver came when his lawyers discovered the possibility...
By: Sara Kropf On June 25, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Riley v. California, holding that the government generally cannot conduct a warrantless search of a suspect’s cellphone. The decision was front-page news. Most precedent...
By: Sara Kropf Government contracting fraud has been a hot area for the Department of Justice these last few years. And who can blame it? It’s a huge amount of money being handed out by many agencies, sometimes with less oversight than is appropriate. There’s even a...
By: Sara Kropf The kind folks at White Collar Crime Prof Blog let me post over there today (thanks Ellen!). The Second Circuit issued a great opinion for white collar defendants limiting the continuing conspiracy theory. Finally, a court has reined in the government's...
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 Two Tampa businessmen, Duane Crithfield and Stephen Donaldson, Sr., were indicted for conspiracy to commit tax fraud, based on an allegedly fraudulent tax strategy for affluent clients. The defendants have not yet entered pleas. Are the "affluent...