In a significant action, DOJ’s Antitrust Division filed a complex complaint against Google charging it with a long-time scheme over 15 years to monopolize the digital advertising market. DOJ was joined by Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia. DOJ filed a separate antitrust case in 2020 against Google for monopolizing search and search advertising, which are...

In an ironic twist (or you just can’t make this up moment, whichever you prefer), the Justice Department announced the arrest of Charles McGonigal, the former Special Agent in Charge (“SAC”) of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York, along with Sergey Shestakov, a former Russian diplomat, in a five-count indictment for violating Russian sanctions and money laundering laws.  The charges stem from services provided...

The Department of Justice announced revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) yet again in order to promote voluntary disclosures by Companies that discover potential wrongdoing.  DOJ’s latest action demonstrated its commitment to several ideas: (1) Increasing prosecution of individual wrongdoers; (2) Offering benefits to companies to encourage self-reporting, cooperation and remediation; (3) Reducing the burdens on corporate shareholders from large fines and penalties that...

Matt Stankiewicz from The Volkov Law Group rejoins us for a posting on the recent Bitzlato, cryptocurrency scandal. Matt can be reached at [email protected]. On Wednesday, January 18, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York charging Russian-national Anatoly Legkodymov, a senior executive at Bitzlato Ltd. (“Bitzlato”), a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Hong Kong.  Legkodymov—also...

Trade compliance is the new hot field.  Companies are catching up with trade compliance in response to the global sanctions regimes put in place to cripple Russia.  The United States, its allies and partners have implemented an unprecedented and complex set of sanctions and export controls.  Global businesses were tested.  Trade compliance became the center of attention and risks. In recognition of this reality, the...

OFAC closed out 2022 with a late-night $4.3 million settlement with Danfoss A/S, a Danish manufacturer of refrigeration and cooling products for violations of the Iran, Syria and Sudan sanctions programs.  OFAC has had a productive year – implementing and enforcing Russian sanctions while continuing its aggressive sanctions enforcement program.  For 2022, OFAC had 16 settlements along with $42 million in penalties.  Danfoss’ violations involved...

I always enjoy pulling out the crystal ball and looking forward with due consideration of last year’s trends.  It is a perspective that gives us all the opportunity  to identify important trends and to set an agenda for the next year – 2023. The compliance profession continues to grow in overall importance in the corporate governance landscape. Corporate leaders that fail to appreciate this face...

I admit I may be a little late in completing some of my 2022 retrospective postings.  Nevertheless, I have to announce Corruption, Crime & Compliance’s Person of the Year Award.  Although my posting is not done with as much fanfare as Hollywood award shows or other major business announcements, it is always important o take time to reflect back on a year and focus gratitude...

DOJ closed out its FCPA enforcement year in 2022 with two significant settlements, the ABB and Honeywell cases.  Aside from these two big settlements, there was a flurry of other actions in the last quarter of 2022.  Ericsson Monitorship Extension Ericsson Telecomm agreed to a one-year extension of its corporate monitorship that was imposed as part of its $1 billion FCPA settlement with the Justice...