By Porter Wright on This week, the FBI released a Public Service Announcement starring two-time Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas warning viewers of the risks of securities fraud and encouraging individuals who have information regarding insider trading to contact their local FBI Office or submit a tip on line. The PSA begins with Mr. Douglas’s iconic "greed-is-good" speech from … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, February 27, 2012, the FBI released its latest Financial Crimes Report to the Public, which provides a snapshot of the issues on which it has focused. The Bureau stated that in fiscal year 2011, corporate fraud cases resulted in 242 indictments or informations and 241 convictions. During the same period, the FBI’s securities/commodities … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on At an in Chambers hearing on February 16, 2012, Judge James Selna issued an Order in U.S. v. Carson, addressing the jury instructions regarding the terms "foreign official" and "instrumentality." In doing so, Judge Selna rejected a number of the proposed instructions submitted by the defendants, sticking closing to the list of non-exclusive factors he identified … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Another chapter ended in the series of FCPA criminal prosecutions arising out of the TSKJ Joint Venture this week, when Texas federal Judge Keith P. Ellison sentenced three men for their role in the portion of the case involving Kellogg Brown & Root. On Thursday, February 23, 2012, former KBR executive, Albert "Jack" Stanley was … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On February 17, 2012, both the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the SEC announced that they had brought charges against John Kinnucan, the President of Broadband Research Corporation, for insider trading. The criminal charges allege that he tipped clients regarding three companies, while the SEC’s civil case, which also named … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a Motion filed this morning, the Government moved to dismiss with prejudice the Superseding Indictment against the remaining defendants in the FCPA Sting Case. In doing so, the Government cited the two mistrials, as well as the acquittal of three defendants, and other rulings in the case.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Friday, February 10, 2012, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the SEC announced charges against Douglas F. Whitman, the head portfolio manager at Whitman Capital, LLC, related to alleged insider trading. It is claimed that Mr. Whitman’s friend and neighbor, Roomy Khan, provided Mr. Whitman with the same information … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Thursday, February 9 2012, prosecutors filed a motion in federal court in Texas requesting that the remaining charges against John O’Shea be dismissed. On January 16, 2012, the Court dismissed the FCPA charges against Mr. O’Shea, leaving one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA, four counts of money laundering and one count of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A story from the Blog of the Legal Times states that prosecutors "are considering whether to abandon" the charges in the FCPA Sting Case in federal court in Washington, DC. Mike Scarcella’s blog entry (available here) states that prosecutor Joey Lipton reported to Judge Richard Leon at a February 7, 2012 status conference that "Assistant … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, February 6, 2012, the SEC and DOJ resolved their respective investigations with a medical device company and its subsidiary by entering into settlements stemming from alleged bribes paid to doctors in Greece for more than a decade. The U.S. subsidiary, Smith & Nephew Inc., agreed to pay a $16.8 million fine as part … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For those readers of the blog who are litigators or follow litigation issues, today’s post from Professor Mike Koehler’s FCPA Professor Blog has a real treat: a guest post from the foreman of the recently concluded trial in the FCPA Sting Case. The foreman provides a detailed description of the issues considered by the jurors … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On January 31, 2012, Judge Richard Leon declared a mistrial in the trial of the second group of defendants in the FCPA Sting case when the jury was unable to reach a verdict as to John and Jeana Mushriqui and Mark Morales. The mistrial occurred the day after the jury returned a partial verdict, finding … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Four separate websites have reported this afternoon that two of the defendants in the FCPA Sting or "Shot Show" case have been acquitted and Judge Richard Leon has stated that he would declare a mistrial if the jury is unable to reach a verdict as to the remaining three defendants. Specifically, C. M. Matthews and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, January 23, 2012, the SEC announced that Diamondback Capital Management LLC ("Diamondback"), the Stamford, Connecticut-based hedge fund named as a defendant in the SEC’s insider trading case last week (as discussed here), has agreed to settle charges with the Commission. Diamondback will pay more than $9 million as part of the settlement, which … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today, federal prosecutors and the SEC named seven fund managers and analysts as defendants in an insider trading scheme based on nonpublic information about Dell’s quarterly earnings and similar inside information regarding Nvidia Corporation. The U.S. Attorney called the trading in Dell shares the "largest insider trading scheme involving single stock charged to date." Three of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, January 16, 2012, Judge Lynn Hughes granted defendant John O’Shea’s motion for acquittal in the FCPA case, dismissing the FCPA charges case against him. According to a Press Release from defense counsel, Judge Lynn Hughes "found that the Government’s chief witness, … could not tie Mr. O’Shea to the alleged crimes. The judge found … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, January 9, 2012, Judge Richard Leon, who had already dismissed the central conspiracy count against six defendants in the FCPA Sting Case, was faced with an interesting question: if the conspiracy count was dismissed for insufficient evidence, should the trial continue when much of the evidence the Government has offered was based on … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on According to media reports, the SEC decided last week that it will no longer allow defendants who plead guilty in criminal proceedings to settle parallel civil charges with the Commission by neither admitting or denying the allegations. At the present, the policy shift applies only in those cases where there has been an admission of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On January 3, 2012, Judge Lynn Hughes denied defendant John O’Shea’s Motion to Dismiss the Indictment against him. Mr. O’Shea’s Motion, which was filed in March 2011, argued that the Indictment failed to alleged that he bribed a "foreign official" because it only alleged that he bribed employees of a state-owned entity. Judge Hughes’ decision … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today, the Federal Securities Litigation Blog continues its with its larger-than-usual blog entry examining the Top 10 securities litigation stories that were the most intriguing in 2011. As mentioned yesterday, like any sort of Top 10 list, not everyone will agree. Other bloggers will have their own lists with different stories. But on a personal … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today and tomorrow, the Federal Securities Litigation Blog will take a break from discussing the most recent events and, with a larger-than-usual entry, examine the Top 10 securities litigation stories that were the most intriguing in 2011. Undoubtedly, others will be preparing similar lists and this is not intended to be a definitive or complete … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Thursday, December 22, 2011, Judge Richard Leon ruled on the Rule 29 Motions for Judgment of Acquittal in the FCPA Sting Case by dismissing Count 1 (on the grounds that there was not sufficient evidence to that the six defendants participated in the overarching conspiracy to violate the FCPA) as to all six defendants … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, the Department of Justice and the SEC brought charges against a group of former employees and agents of Siemens AG for FCPA violations based on an alleged decade-long scheme to bribe senior Argentine government officials to secure, implement and enforce a $1 billion contract with the Argentine government to produce … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a December 9, 2011 Opinion, the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision that the SEC was not required to produce the notes of its staff members taken during an investigation of two individuals who were subsequently Government witnesses in a criminal prosecution of another individual. The Court found that notes were privileged under … Continue Reading
