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 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 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 On December 1, 2011, Judge A. Howard Matz entered an order granting the motion to dismiss filed by Lindsey Manufacturing Company, Keith Lindsey, Steve Lee in the criminal FCPA case against them. As discussed here, the Court announced its intention to do so at a hearing on November 29, 2011. In its Order, the Court … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on At a hearing on November 29, 2011, Judge A. Howard Matz stated that he would be granting the motion to dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct filed by Lindsey Manufacturing Company (a privately-held company), its President Keith Lindsey, and its Vice President Steve Lee in the criminal FCPA case against them. Judge Matz prepared a tentative order … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, defendants Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez, former executives of Terra Telecommunications Corporation who were convicted in August 2011 for their roles in a conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit money laundering, were sentenced to 15 years and 7 years in prison, respectively. With respect to Mr. Esquenazi, a Press … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A report on Monday, October 3 from Bloomberg Markets Magazine detailed a years-long scheme by Koch Industries, Inc. to make improper payments to win contracts in six countries – payments which the company admitted "constitute violations of criminal law." The article states that the Justice Department would not confirm or deny the existence of any … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Sean McKessey, the Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower at the SEC, spoke at a panel discussion regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on Tuesday morning. Mr. McKessey commented on the efforts of his office to date and responded to questions regarding a number of issues.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On August 23, 2011, the Government filed a Motion with Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stating that it was dropping its appeal of the decision of District Court Judge George Wu to sentence Gerald and Patricia Green to only six months in prison following their conviction on FCPA charges. The Government had originally requested that … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In the FCPA Sting Case, U.S. v. Goncalves, No. 09-cr-00335 (D.D.C.), which resulted in a mistrial last month for four of the 22 defendants (as discussed here), the Court has set a new schedule for the defendants, with four separate trials scheduled to begin between September 22, 2011 now and mid-May 2012. In the mean … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Friday, August 5, 2011, a Florida jury convicted Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez, former executives of Terra Telecommunications Corporation, for their roles in a conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit money laundering. U.S. v. Esquenazi, Case No. 09-cr-21010 (S.D. Fla. Filed Dec. 4, 2009), The convictions were the latest event in Government’s aggressive … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Federal Securities Law Blog is pleased to announce its first e-Book: The "New Era" of FCPA Enforcement and How Defendants Are Fighting Back. The e-Book discusses recent developments in three FCPA cases being litigated: the Lindsey Manufacturing case, the Carson case (both pending in California) and the "Shot Show" or FCPA Sting case (tried … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The last week has seen various developments in three FCPA cases that have been closely watched in the legal community this year. The Government has previously pledged a "new era" of FCPA enforcement and not surprisingly, the Government’s aggressive tactics and theories that appear to be part of this new era have come under attack. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Thursday, July 7, 2011, D.C. Federal Judge Richard Leon declared a mistrial in a criminal case against four defendants who were accused of conspiracy and FCPA violations when the jury was unable to reach an unanimous verdict on all charges. The case represented a setback for the Government, who had brought charges against 22 … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Wednesday, May 18, Judge James Selna in California became the latest Judge to rule on the issue of whether the FCPA extended to payments made to employees of foreign state-owned companies. Judge Selna denied defendants’ motion to dismiss in U.S. v. Carson, holding that "the question of whether state-owned companies qualify as instrumentalities under … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In January 2010, the SEC announced "a series of measures to further strengthen its enforcement program by encouraging greater cooperation from individuals and companies in the agency’s investigations and enforcement actions." One of those measures included the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements ("DPA"). On Tuesday May 17, the SEC announced that it has entered into … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on UPDATED on May 16, 2011 — As mentioned previously, Lindsey Manufacturing Company (a privately-held company) was the first corporate defendant to be convicted after trial of FCPA charges (for conspiracy to violate the FCPA and five counts of FCPA violations based on payments to employees of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad ("CFE"), an electric utility company … Continue Reading
