Federal Government Alleges College Admission Bribery Scheme
Earlier today, hundreds of federal agents effected arrests and announced indictments relating to an alleged massive college admissions bribery scheme involving some of the country’s top universities. The investigation, Operation Varsity Blues, has ensnared two Hollywood actresses, Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin, and scores of… Read More
Senator Menendez to Avoid Retrial on Corruption Charges
In a surprising development, the Department of Justice announced yesterday that it would drop corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The move comes just weeks after the Government declared its intent to retry the case, after the Senator’s first trial concluded in a November… Read More
Second Circuit Vacates Sheldon Silver’s Conviction: Parsing Official Act “Quids” and “Quos”
Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the conviction of Sheldon Silver, the former Speaker of the New York State Assembly, concluding that the court’s jury instructions regarding the “official act” element of honest services fraud and Hobbs Act extortion were erroneous in light… Read More
Supreme Court Takes On “Another” in Upholding Hobbs Act Conviction
The Hobbs Act – a law promulgated in 1946 to deal with the infiltration of racketeering activity in labor unions – got a “W” in its column yesterday with the Supreme Court’s issuance of Ocasio v. United States. Justice Alito, writing for the 5-3 majority,… Read More
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office Secures First Convictions Under Bribery Act
Last Friday, news came from across the Atlantic that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) had successfully obtained its first series of convictions under the UK’s Bribery Act of 2010 (the “Bribery Act”), which became effective in July 2011. The SFO reported that a jury had found… Read More