The Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in United States v. McDonnell raised questions about the constitutionality of expansive interpretations of federal bribery statutes.  However, the bribery statute at issue in McDonnell—quid pro quo corruption defined at 18 U.S.C. § 201(a)(2)—is not the only bribery statute in federal prosecutors’ toolbox.  Since McDonnell was decided, federal prosecutors have increasingly relied on 18 U.S.C. § 666 to pursue bribery charges that might otherwise be precluded by McDonnell’s holding.
Continue Reading Second Circuit Affirms Broad Reading of Sec. 666 Bribery

The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a criminal case arising from a fraudulent scheme to cause massive gridlock at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013—otherwise known as the “Bridgegate” scandal. Bridget Anne Kelly, a staffer in then-Governor Chris Christie’s office, was convicted of wire fraud for her role in fabricating a fake traffic study and orchestrating lane reallocations as an act of political retaliation against a local mayor.

Affirming Kelly’s wire fraud conviction, the Third Circuit sustained the Government’s theory that Kelly and a fellow political operative fraudulently deprived the Port Authority of both physical property and intangible property, finding that the Port Authority has an “unquestionable” property interest in the Bridge’s traffic allocation and its public employee labor, and that the Port Authority has an intangible property interest in the public employees’ time and wages.
Continue Reading SCOTUS Considers Challenge to DOJ’s “Bridgegate” Theory

The arrests in the college admissions bribery scandal may have ushered in a new era of scrutiny by federal law enforcement.  Perkins Coie attorneys anticipate questions that prosecutors, civil litigants and the public may ask in the weeks and months ahead, and offer six key foundational steps all institutions of higher learning should take immediately

Last month, a D.C. federal judge ordered the Department of Justice to turn over the names of prospective monitors nominated to oversee the corporate compliance programs of fifteen companies found to be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  While recognizing that these individuals have “more than a de minimis privacy interest in their anonymity,” the court found that any such privacy interest was outweighed by the public’s interest in learning their identities.

In April 2015, journalist Dylan Tokar filed a FOIA request seeking records related to the review and selection of corporate compliance monitors in FCPA settlement agreements between DOJ and fifteen corporate defendants.  Tokar, a reporter for the trade publication Just Anti-Corruption, hoped these records would shed light on the monitor selection process, including whether DOJ had been abiding by the guidelines for monitor selection set forth in its 2008 Morford Memorandum.  The Memorandum, which establishes several principles to avoid potential and actual conflicts of interest and address concerns of cronyism, prescribes the consideration of “at least three qualified monitor candidates” whenever practicable.  Accordingly, Tokar requested the names of the three monitor candidates and their associated firms for fifteen cases.

More than eighteen months later, DOJ provided Tokar with a table purportedly responding to his request, but redacted the names of the monitor candidates who were nominated but not selected, as well as their affiliated firms in some cases.  DOJ asserted that these redactions were necessary and justified under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C), which exempt from disclosure certain information that would constitute an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

After both parties cross-moved for summary judgment, the court concluded that the redactions were improper and ordered DOJ to release the candidates’ names.  It found that while DOJ had demonstrated sufficient privacy interests to warrant coverage under Exemptions 6 and 7(C)—as it was “plausible that these individuals would prefer to have their consideration and ultimate[] non-selection withheld from the public’s view”—these interests were outweighed by the public’s interest in disclosure.  The court agreed with Tokar that without disclosure of the candidates’ names, it would be “difficult (if not impossible) to know whether either the government or the corporate entity under investigation is taking advantage of the selection process in a manner that undermines the objectives of the DPA” and the principles delineated in the Morford Memorandum.
Continue Reading Monitoring the Monitors: DOJ Ordered to Disclose Info on Monitor Selections

As Mexico works towards implementing its new National Anti-Corruption System, the largest foreign bribery case in history, arising out of Brazil, serves to highlight historic weaknesses in Mexican anti-corruption efforts and just how necessary the National Anti-Corruption System will be to help combat corruption in Mexico.

The Odebrecht and Braskem Plea Agreement

In December 2016, Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. (“Odebrecht”) (along with Brazilian petrochemical company, Braskem S.A. (“Braskem”)) pleaded guilty to making hundreds of millions of dollars in corrupt payments to government officials in order to secure business, preferential tax treatment, and other commercial benefits. The companies agreed to pay a combined total penalty of $3.5 billion to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil, and Switzerland, but admitted that their conduct spanned numerous countries throughout Latin America and the world, including Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. With respect to Mexico, Odebrecht admitted to paying approximately $10.5 million in bribes to Mexican government officials in exchange for public works contracts between 2010 and 2014, and realizing over $39 million in benefits as a result. According to public records, all of Odebrecht’s public works projects in Mexico during that time were commissioned by state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (“Pemex”).
Continue Reading Investigation into Odebrecht Bribes in Mexico Highlights Need For Prompt Implementation of New National Anti-Corruption System

The month of March has brought with it the first-ever criminal municipal bond securities fraud conviction, the resolution of enforcement actions targeting banks and senior executives accused of shirking duties to oversee municipal bond issuances, and proposed rule amendments intended to improve municipal securities disclosures—continuing a trend of intensified regulatory enforcement that targets industry “gatekeepers” such as auditors, bond underwriters, and others that serve investor clients entering the municipal bond market.   
Continue Reading March Madness in the Municipal Bond Market – A Focus on Gatekeepers

In the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, the DOJ seeks to recover over $1 billion in assets bought with laundered funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. 1MDB was created by the Malaysian government to promote economic development through international partnerships and foreign direct investment. The

In late 2015 and early 2016, Central American countries such as Panama, Guatemala, and Honduras have seen a sharp rise in anti-corruption sentiment, and in turn, investigation and enforcement. In these and other Central American countries, public outrage over alleged graft, bribery, and abuses of power at the highest levels of government has all but forced control of and accountability for corruption to the forefront of national agendas, and by all indications, the news and attention that anti-corruption issues have received in Central America will remain high for the foreseeable future.

In Panama, for instance, former President Ricardo Martinelli was accused of inflating contracts worth $45 million to purchase dehydrated food for a government social program, using public funds to run an illegal political espionage ring, and accepting kickbacks from foreign military contractors. After the allegations surfaced, Panamanian labor union members marched on the presidential palace in Panama City, the Panamanian Electoral Tribunal stripped Martinelli of his constitutional immunity, and the Panamanian Supreme Court appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations. Although Martinelli fled the country shortly after the allegations surfaced, he now faces charges related to the political espionage allegations.
Continue Reading Anti-Corruption Efforts Taking Center Stage in Central America

Note: An earlier post on Perkins Coie’s In the Arena: Law and Politics Update discussed, from a campaign finance lawyer’s perspective, why the prosecution in United States v. Harber signals greater jeopardy in the future for operatives in down-ballot races who coordinate with hastily-formed “super PACs.” And an earlier version of this post, which offers