The Second Appellate District in California affirmed a judgment of conviction for a physician who committed fraud for knowingly billing Medi-Cal for use of an expensive and approved medical device when he instead used a cheaper device that was not approved for...
white collar crime
United States v. Gilchrist: Federal Embezzlement and Bank Fraud
In United States v. Gilchrist, Dwight Gilchrist filed a civil law suit against Wells Fargo Bank after they refused to recover the amount of money that was supposedly stolen from his bank account. Failure to cooperate with Wells Fargo’s investigation on his fraud claim...
Insider Trading Roundup: Wall Street on Trial
This week marks the start of the criminal trial against Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam in federal court in Manhattan. Rajaratnam is the central figure in the largest crackdown on hedge-fund insider trading in U.S. history. He is accused of making $45...
Ninth Circuit rules that “Honest Services” Mail Fraud Does Not Require Proof of Fiduciary Relationship
The Ninth Circuit Court reversed a district court order on Friday, December 3rd, that dismissed an indictment, remanding the action for further proceedings. The Court held that "honest services" mail fraud did not require proof of a fiduciary relationship nor did it...
United States v. Batson: Restitution Orders in Tax Fraud Cases Permitted by 9th Circuit
Alma Batson plead guilty to one count of IRS Code §7206 for willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns. She conceded that at least $965, 673 in refunds were given to taxpayers that they were not entitled to. Batson was sentenced to...
Antitrust Update: The Proposed Revisions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines
In April 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, “the Agencies”) released for public comment substantial proposed revisions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines. These Guidelines...
Broadcom’s former CEO wins dismissal of criminal backdating charges
Broadcom Corp's former chief executive and financial officers won dismissal of criminal charges over stock-option backdating after a federal judge found that prosecutors had intimidated three critical witnesses. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, at a hearing in...
United States Supreme Court Curtails Federal Money-Laundering Statute
On June 2, 2008 the United States Supreme Court severely limited the reach of the Money-Laundering Control Act (18 U.S.C. § 1956) in two separate decisions. In Cuellar v. United States (2008) 128 S.Ct. 1994, the Court unanimously held that in order to obtain a...

