Obstruction of justice Archives - Corruption, Crime & Compliance

30 Jun, 2022

CCOs and Execution of Compliance Certification: A Significant Risk? (Part III of III)

CCOs, by definition, are careful and deliberate. It comes with the profession. As risk managers, CCOs are skilled in identifying, assessing and acting in a risk environment. The impact of the new CCO certification requirement, however, presents serious risks that cannot be brushed off or ignored in the face of assurances that prosecutorial discretion will protect CCOs from misguided prosecutions. Frankly, CCOs recognize that there...

General

12 Apr, 2018

Supreme Court Narrows Criminal Tax Obstruction of Justice Statute

The Supreme Court ruled in a criminal tax case, Marinello v. United States, that a criminal tax obstruction of justice was overly broad. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Government must prove that the defendant was aware of a pending tax-related proceeding, such as an investigation or audit, or could reasonably foresee that such a proceeding would commence. The Supreme Court’s...

General

20 May, 2017

Obstruction of Justice – A Primer

Our political discourse these days has been focused on three key words – obstruction of justice. Whatever your politics may be, these words and the law surrounding obstruction of justice are important to understand. We do not know if the country will have to endure another impeachment process, but obstruction of justice will be a critical part of the investigation. After all, the impeachment proceedings...

General

13 Mar, 2017

ZTE Pays the Price for Circumventing Sanctions and Export Controls

Here is a real zinger – clients sometimes do not tell their lawyers the truth. I will wait a minute while you get off the floor because I know everyone is shocked and amazed that this happens. But in the recent ZTE case, which we will discuss, the client company lied several times to its in-house and outside counsel resulting in false representations to the...