Sam Finkelstein, an associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on DOJ’s initiative to increase corporate prosecution of sanctions, export controls and national security issues. Sam can be reached at [email protected]. The marriage of corporate enforcement and national security has been a defining feature of the DOJ under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting corporate crimes that implicate...

In another significant step notifying global businesses of the new realities – companies are about to face aggressive coordinated prosecutions for sanctions and export control violations.  The last piece in launching this new effort was the announcement of a joint voluntary disclosure program to ensure alignment among the agencies for civil and criminal enforcement of such violations. The Joint Compliance Note (“JCN”) urges companies to...

You can always learn a lot from reviewing the underlying conduct to an FCPA enforcement action.  Chief compliance officers can identify specific risk factors, mitigation steps and root causes for bribery schemes. The Corficocolombiana (“Corfico”) FCPA settlement underscores the significant risks when companies participate in large projects in foreign countries.  Between 2012 and 2015, Corfico paid more than $23 million in bribes to high-ranking Colombian...

The Department of Justice has been relatively quiet this year in bringing corporate FCPA enforcement actions and settlements.  Aside from the Ericsson breach of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the Corficocolombiana (“Corfico”) and Grupo Aval settlement is the first in 2023 involving a corporate FCPA resolution.  For the SEC, the Corfico and Grupo Aval settlement is the sixth corporate resolution in 2023. Corfico is a subsidiary...

Looking back in time, the compliance field owes a lot to the healthcare industry.  In the 1990s, there was a dramatic explosion in the industry in response to aggressive federal enforcement programs and increasing regulation.  All of a sudden, compliance officers who sat in the backrooms of legal departments were “volunteered” to address proactive compliance.  Federal regulators pushed the compliance function to assume a much...

Healthcare fraud continues to plague the industry – each year Medicare and Medicaid suffer over $100 billion in losses from fraudsters. Prosecuting fraud cases in the healthcare industry is like shooting fish in a barrel – there are an infinite number of targets. To publicize its efforts, each year, DOJ executes multiple nationwide takedowns, rounding up healthcare fraudsters across the nation.  In its most recent...

Last year, the Department of Justice warned global companies of a new, aggressive strategy for enforcement of trade sanctions and export controls. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated that sanctions and export enforcement constituted “The New FCPA.” DOJ, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) have joined forces to aggressively enforce sanctions...

The Justice Department has made it clear that it intends to prioritize criminal prosecution of national security cases to prevent hostile nation-states from illegally acquiring sensitive U.S technology.  To this end, DOJ created the Disruptive Technology Strike Force (“DTSF”), which is led by both DOJ and the Department of Commerce to disrupt illegal procurement networks. The DTSF reflects DOJ’s hyper-focus on national security crimes, including...