Women Criminal Defense Lawyers: What’s Happening in the White Collar Field
The world of white collar criminal defense is always fast-paced, and this week I thought I would take some time to look at recent developments in the field, and at the implications these developments may have on us as attorneys, and on our clients. Below are several events that caught my attention the last couple weeks… what are your thoughts?
Bridgestone Corporation admits guilt and agrees to a pay a $425 million dollar criminal fine. They will plead guilty to one felony count filed in the Northern District of Ohio, for conspiracy to allocate sales, rig bids, and fix prices of parts sold to major car and heavy industries companies. When the guilty plea was announced, Brent Synder, deputy assistant attorney general for the antitrust division’s criminal enforcement program, was quoted as saying, “Today’s significant fine reaffirms the division’s commitment to holding companies accountable for conduct that harms U.S. consumers.” In fact just yesterday the Government announced the Indictment of one current and two former Bridgestone executives for conspiracy to fix prices of automobile parts. I certainly think we can expect to see more antitrust criminal cases in the future.
Rajat Gupta insider trading conviction affirmed on appeal by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. This is no big surprise after the Second Circuit denied Raj Rajaratnam’s insider trading conviction last June, which included a challenge to the denial of his motion to suppress the wiretap evidence due to the Government leaving out crucial information in the wiretap application. Gupta had a parallel issue in his appeal along with many trial issues that hampered his defense. These two rulings will serve only to empower the Government’s use of “wild west” tactics in the war against insider trading. It is a new day… the “war on drugs” may be winding down, but the war on financial crime has taken its place. No doubt we will continue to see a steady flow of criminal insider trading cases.
The Dewey & LeBoeuf Indictment is a 106 count Indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance against four leaders and employees of the collapsed law firm. The defendants face charges of securities fraud, grand theft and falsifying business records. The essence of the charges is that these leaders of the law firm developed a scheme to lie about the finances of the failing law firm to cheat banks, lenders and investors. Much of the evidence in the case revolves around email communications that sound bad, to say the least. The case originated out of a parallel SEC investigation. What caught my attention as well as many in the media was the inclusion of a young attorney, Zachary Warren in the Indictment who voluntarily appeared unrepresented before the SEC believing he was a cooperating witness, only later to learn that he was in fact a target and was included in the Indictment. This case is a reminder of the dangers of a parallel civil investigation and the importance of being represented by counsel at all stages of an investigation.
The FCPA Indictment filed in the Northern District of Illinois charges Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash and five other foreign nationals with paying over 18 million dollar in bribes to government officials in India relating to the mining of titanium minerals. In the DOJ Press Release the Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the DOJ Criminal Division is quoted as saying “Fighting global corruption is part of the fabric of the Department of Justice,” and “The charges against six foreign nationals announced today send the unmistakable message that we will root out and attack foreign bribery and bring to justice those who improperly influence foreign officials, wherever we find them.” This development reveals just how aggressively our government is pursuing prosecutions, all over the globe, even regarding matters that have little or minimal connection to US businesses.
These are just a sampling of what is currently happening across the country. Without question, financial and corporate crime cases are on the rise, and I think we will only continue to see an increase in these kinds of prosecutions. As women continue to make their mark in the traditionally male dominated white collar field, let’s work together to ensure that many of these cases will feature a strong woman criminal lawyer seated at the defense table.