White Collar Crime Report: Index-Summary

CALIFORNIA

– Health care

– – Medi-Cal billing fraud, 42 defendants indicted for hiring unlicensed providers to care for disabled patients (C.D. Cal.), 479
– – Rent-a-patient scheme, recruiter of healthy patients for unnecessary surgeries pleads guilty (Cal. Super. Ct.), 135

– Identity theft, Veterans' Affairs worker sentenced for copying Social Security numbers from workplace computer (Cal. Super. Ct.), 70
– Occupational safety

– – Farm labor contractor charged in death of worker from heat illness (Cal. Super. Ct.), 315
– – Roofing firm owner sentenced for workers' falls through unprotected skylights (Cal. Super. Ct.), 324

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

– Alaska, chief of staff to former Gov. Murkowski (R) guilty of taking illegal contributions for reelection campaign, sentencing delayed (D. Alaska), 567
– Conduit contributions

– – FEC brief argues against dismissal of charges against contributor to 2004 Edwards presidential campaign (9th Cir.), 678
– – HUD official in first Bush presidency will plead guilty (D.D.C.), 95; guilty plea, 384

– Congressional Ethics Office investigations have focused on contributions, conferees told, 719
– Earmarks traded for contributions linked to lobbying firm, House ethics committee reviews claims against Democrats, 426
– Enforcement

– – DOJ and Federal Election Comm'n trying to define each agency's role, 46
– – Mo. legislators plead guilty after DOJ reopened case dismissed earlier by FEC (E.D. Mo.), 587
– – Referral from Federal Election Comm'n not required before DOJ can investigate or prosecute violations (9th Cir.), 562

– Limits on contributions violated, fundraiser/donor Hsu convicted of improperly funneling money to candidates (S.D.N.Y.), 355; sentencing, 706
– New Mexico

– – Governor Richardson (D) likely will not be charged for alleged pay-to-play scheme, 626
– – Secretary of state indicted for fraud involving federal election funds (N.M. Dist. Ct.), 581

– Puerto Rico governor and assistant acquitted of illegal campaign contributions charges (D.P.R.), 282
– Renzi (R-Ariz) indicted for embezzling funds to finance congressional campaign, evidence may violate Speech or Debate Clause (D. Ariz.), 172

CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

See NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

CHECKS

– Counterfeiting, 18 charged in scheme to pay bank tellers for sharing customer data to make fake checks (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 381

CHINA

– Defense contractors, Defense Fed. Acquisition Reg. Supp. bars sale of ammunition from China (S.D. Fla.), 245
– Environment

– – Recycling firm linked to illegal dumping in China, warehouse searched by government agents, 77
– – Wood protected by international convention, Chinese furniture firm pleads guilty to smuggling baby cribs made of (D.N.J.), 321

– Honey mislabeled to avoid import fees, 2 Chinese nationals charged (W.D. Wash.), 351

CITIZENSHIP

See ALIENS AND CITIZENSHIP

CLEAN AIR ACT

See ENVIRONMENT

CLEAN WATER ACT (CWA)

See ENVIRONMENT

COLORADO

– Mortgage fraud, real estate broker convicted (Colo. Dist. Ct.), 482; sentencing, 669
– Ponzi scheme, man indicted for defrauding investors in electronics resale business (Colo. Dist. Ct.), 410

COMMUNICATIONS

See TELECOMMUNICATIONS
– E-mail

See E-MAIL

– Internet

See INTERNET

COMPUTERS

– Cybercrime

See CYBERCRIME

– E-mail

See E-MAIL

– Electronic commerce

See ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

– Electronic filing, federal courts' systems nearly all operational, Special Report, 81
– Internet

See INTERNET

– Privacy, attorney mining of metadata in electronic documents

– – N.H. ethics opinion, 365
– – Vt. ethics opinion, 720

– Search and seizure

See SEARCH AND SEIZURE

– Spam

See SPAM

– Tax fraud, IRS contract worker charged with illegal computer access and filing false claims (S.D. Ind.), 244
– Theft of trade secrets, Goldman Sachs programmer charged with stealing computer code (S.D.N.Y.), 477

CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

– Ed. Note: A list of upcoming conferences and meetings appears at the end of selected issues.
– American Bar Ass'n

– – Annual meeting, 573
– – Criminal Justice Section, 465
– – Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 680
– – Insider trading, enforcement trends, 335
– – Intl. Law Section, 295
– – Natl. Conference on Professional Responsibility, 428
– – Natl. Inst. on Securities Fraud

– – – Attorney-client privilege, corporate waiver, 754
– – – Cooperation initiatives for individuals, 758
– – – Corporate internal investigations, 755
– – – FCPA cases, 753
– – – Sentencing issues, 753

– – Natl. Inst. on White Collar Crime, 190
– – Tax Section, 45; 718

– American Health Lawyers Ass'n, 503
– BNA, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 296; 297
– Center for Business Intelligence, Medical Device and Diagnostic Marketing Compliance Congress, 431
– Health Care Compliance Ass'n, 338; 759; 760
– KPMG, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act webcast, 76
– Natl. Ass'n of Attorneys General, 187
– Natl. Legal Malpractice Conference, 337
– OffshoreAlert Financial Due Diligence Conference, 337; 338
– Practising Law Inst.

– – Corporate Compliance and Ethics Inst., 429
– – Corporate political activities, 719

– RSA Conference, 336
– Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, 756
– Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, TARP Conference, 531

CONFIDENTIALITY

See PRIVACY

CONGRESS, U.S.

– Ed. Note: For coverage of legislation by bill number, see LEGISLATION, FEDERAL. For information on measures not yet assigned bill numbers, see relevant subject headings.
– Ethics

– – Campaign contributions linked to lobbying firm, House ethics committee reviews claims Democrats traded earmarks for, 426
– – Mortgages on favorable terms accepted by Dodd (D-Conn) and Conrad (D-ND), Senate committee finds no rules violations, 568
– – Obama Senate seat, Jackson (D-Ill) denies misconduct in probe over alleged attempt to purchase from Ill. Governor Blagojevich (D), 291; Burris (D-Ill) defends phone call with Blagojevich's brother about fundraising for governor, 393; prosecutor says Burris' statements to state legislature not perjury, 464
– – Office of Congressional Ethics

– – – Campaign contributions have been focus of probes, conferees told, 719
– – – Code of conduct adopted, 188
– – – First quarterly status report issued, 292; second status report, 500

– – Rangel (D-NY) investigation, House committee votes to resume, 152
– – Reports on activities of Senate and House committees issued, 109

– Insider trading by Congressional members and staff

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 682

– Self-incrimination, congressman cannot invoke privilege to shield records held by chief of staff (4th Cir.), 733
– Speech or Debate Clause

See SPEECH OR DEBATE CLAUSE

CONNECTICUT

– Ethics, Dodd (D-Conn) acceptance of mortgage on favorable terms, Senate committee finds no rules violations, 568
– Mortgage fraud, federal task force established to investigate and prosecute, 606
– Tax evasion, names of UBS account holders that will be released to IRS, state attorney general seeks, 646

CONSPIRACY

– Accounting fraud, United Rentals executive pleads guilty to conspiring to falsify financial results (D. Conn.), 740
– Bribery, conspiracy to commit

See BRIBERY

– Double jeopardy

– – Accountant acquitted of fraud conspiracy may be tried on substantive fraud charges (7th Cir.), 711
– – Corporate executives charged with looting company may be retried (10th Cir.), 561

– Honey mislabeled to avoid import fees, 2 Chinese nationals charged (W.D. Wash.), 351
– Identity theft, phishing scheme used to obtain personal data of U.S. bank customers, U.S. and Egyptian conspirators indicted (C.D. Cal.), 735
– Kickbacks

– – Orthopedic device firms, complaints over payments to doctors dismissed (D.N.J.), 260
– – Stock-loans, Morgan Stanley executive convicted (E.D.N.Y.), 208

– Money laundering

See MONEY LAUNDERING

– Navy subcontractor pleads guilty to fraud involving elevator equipment contracts (E.D. Va.), 387
– Overt act in furtherance of conspiracy, jurors need not agree on specific act committed (7th Cir.), 458
– Pharmacy for veterans, federal employee and staffing agency plead guilty to defrauding Veterans' Affairs and Small Bus. Admin. (N.D. Ill.), 212
– Price fixing

See ANTITRUST

– Securities

– – Insider trading, day traders and alleged co-conspirators indicted (S.D.N.Y.), 7; Lehman Brothers broker pleads guilty, 9; second broker pleads guilty, 355
– – Market-manipulation schemes, National Lampoon chief executive officer pleads guilty (E.D. Pa.), 702
– – Pump-and-dump scheme, attorney pleads guilty (E.D. Va.), 208
– – “Squawk box” scheme involving material, nonpublic information about client orders, brokers and day traders convicted (E.D.N.Y.), 317

– Tax fraud

See TAX FRAUD

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

– Attorneys

– – Ineffective assistance of counsel, nursing facility owner convicted of Medicare fraud raised cognizable claim (N.D. Cal.), 262
– – Right to counsel

See RIGHT TO COUNSEL

– Double jeopardy

See DOUBLE JEOPARDY

– Due process

See DUE PROCESS

– Ex Post Facto Clause, tax evasion defendant may be sentenced under guidelines in effect at time of sentencing (8th Cir.), 146
– Free speech

See FREEDOM OF SPEECH

– Involuntary servitude ban bars prosecution of nurses who resigned en masse (N.Y. App. Div.), 102
– Jury trial, right to, not violated by judge's use of acquitted conduct to increase federal guideline sentence (6th Cir.), 37
– Search and seizure

See SEARCH AND SEIZURE

– Self-incrimination, congressman cannot invoke privilege to shield records held by chief of staff (4th Cir.), 733
– Speech or Debate Clause

See SPEECH OR DEBATE CLAUSE

– Speedy trial, right to

See SPEEDY TRIAL

– Vagueness, lobbying disclosure rules, Natl. Ass'n of Manufacturers challenge rejected (D.C. Cir.), 637

CONSTRUCTION

See BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

CONTEMPT

– Consumer debt settlement firm owner jailed for ignoring court order to cease operations (Md. Cir. Ct.), 555
– Continued confinement of criminal defendant who refuses to comply with civil contempt order does not violate due process (3d Cir.), 711
– Grand jury record, request by Whitewater defendant to unseal 1996 contempt proceedings denied (8th Cir.), 253

CONTRACTS

See GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
– Defense contracts

See DEFENSE CONTRACTS

COPYRIGHTS

– Counterfeit software sales

– – Indictment issued (D. Ariz.), 129; defendant pleads guilty, 176
– – Sentence imposed on defendants for criminal infringement (W.D. Tex.), 14

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS

– Internal controls inadequate, executives say, KPMG annual fraud survey, 683
– Leniency decisions by DOJ, corporate officers seek more information about evaluation process, survey finds, 645
– Prosecutions likely to increase due to economic downturn, conferees told, 756
– Regulation by government, panelists urge broad programs given increase in, 429
– Role of programs in defending against liability, Analysis and Perspective, 339
– Sham promissory notes, compliance officer at broker-deal and commodity pool pleads guilty to creating (S.D.N.Y.), 520

CORRUPTION

See PUBLIC CORRUPTION

COUNTERFEITING

– Bank fraud defendant who pricked air bubbles from fake driver's license may receive enhanced sentence for “production” of counterfeit access device (1st Cir.), 15
– Checks, 18 charged in scheme to pay bank tellers for sharing customer data to make (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 381
– Copyrights, sales of fake software

– – Indictment issued (D. Ariz.), 129; defendant pleads guilty, 176
– – Sentence imposed on defendants for criminal infringement (W.D. Tex.), 14

– Currency

– – Distribution of fake bills printed overseas, conviction does not qualify for enhanced sentence (7th Cir.), 72
– – Leadership-role sentence enhancement not applicable to defendant who did not supervise other members of ring (4th Cir.), 562

– Trademarks

See TRADEMARKS

CREDIT CARDS

– Identity theft

– – Computer hackers indicted for stealing data involving 130 million accounts (D.N.J.), 582; defendant pleads guilty to charges in 2 other cases (D. Mass.), 630
– – Patient medical records, hospital employee charged with stealing for card scheme (S.D. Fla.), 380
– – Taxpayer data used to obtain cards, state employee charged (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 313

CURRENCY

– Counterfeiting

– Money laundering

See MONEY LAUNDERING

– Ponzi scheme, foreign currency investment firm owner charged with mail fraud (S.D. Fla.), 380

CWA (CLEAN WATER ACT)

See ENVIRONMENT

CYBERCRIME

– Extortion, former worker pleads guilty to threats against employer's computer system for better severance benefits (D.N.J.), 318
– Federal agencies, Rockefeller (D-WVa) seeks details on preparation for cyberattacks, 503
– Identity theft

See IDENTITY THEFT

– Malware time bomb planted in Fannie Mae systems, contract worker pleads not guilty (D. Md.), 94
– Prepaid payroll debit cards and in-transit financial dealings targeted, DOJ officials say, 336
– Security concerns for businesses, Special Report, 607