On November 9, 2012, Anand Sekaran, President and Director of Wasson Capital, Ltd. (“Wasson”) entered a plea of guilty to charges that he engaged in a $2.3 Million fraudulent scheme to defraud Wasson’s investors. He settled civil charges with the SEC that same day. In its announcement of the guilty plea, DOJ characterized Mr. Sekaran’s… Read more »
In 1993, Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski co-authored an article for the Yale Law Journal, wherein the authors explained the term “Chutzpah.” See Alex Kozinski and Eugene Volokh, Lawsuit Shmawsuit, 103 Yale L.J. 463 (1993). Although the authors offered no formal definition for the term, as demonstrated in the opinion of a panel of the Ninth Circuit, one… Read more »
On September 24, 2012, DOJ announced the resolution of its prosecution of a subsidiary of TYCO International Ltd. (TYCO) under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In accordance with the agreement, TYCO Valves & Controls Middle East, Inc. (TVC ME) entered a plea of guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of… Read more »
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed the denial of a criminal defendant’s claim for interest on an excess payment of restitution under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), 28 U.S.C. §2465. U.S. v. Craig, No. 11-1697, slip op. (3rd Cir., September 17, 2012). Ryan James Craig was convicted on charges of… Read more »
On September 13, 2012, Laura Pendergest-Holt, the former Chief Investment Officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 36 months in prison for her role in obstructing the SEC’s investigation of the Stanford International Bank (SIB), the Antiguan off-shore bank owned by convicted financier… Read more »
The New York Times reports that the more than $3 billion in settlements that the Department of Justice has achieved with companies under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) since the passage of the act in 1977 have been primarily with foreign companies. The best-known case is that of Siemens, the German global engineering company… Read more »
On August 31, 2012, a jury convicted three former financial services executives for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in relation to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts. According to the Department of Justice, Peter Ghavami, Gary Heinz and Michael Welty participated in separate… Read more »
On August 28, 2012, the DOJ announced that Jawad Ahmad, a Detroit area resident entered a plea of guilty for his role in managing a $13.8 million psychotherapy fraud scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 28, 2012, and faces a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine…. Read more »
On August 8, 2012, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the District Court’s dismissal of an SEC claim against former Terex CFO, Joseph Apuzzo, wherein the SEC had alleged that Mr. Apuzzo aided and abetted securities law violations to his role in a fraudulent accounting scheme. Apuzzo’s employer,… Read more »
In one of the most anticipated IPOs in history, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) shares hit the market on Friday, May 18, 2012. What first appeared to be sweet success for the multi-billion dollar company quickly turned sour, as the share price rose from $38 to $42.05, then fell to $28.84 at the close of the market… Read more »