white-collar crime Archives

DOJ to Devote Substantial Resources to Investigating and Prosecuting Corporate Crime, Emphasizing Importance of Effective Compliance Programs

In March 3, 2022, speeches at the American Bar Association’s Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime (ABA White Collar Institute), US Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland and US Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (AAG) Kenneth Polite Jr. addressed the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) increased commitment to investigating and prosecuting corporate crime.

As a testament to their commitment to these resource-intensive cases, AG Garland discussed plans to hire 120 new prosecutors and 900 new FBI agents; this announcement represents a substantial surge in resources. AG Garland and AAG Polite also addressed specific ways they intend to increase enforcement efforts, including through the expanded use of data analytics. Finally, in addition to outlining substantive enforcement priorities, AG Garland and AAG Polite emphasized DOJ’s focus on individual accountability, with AG Garland reiterating that DOJ’s primary goal is “obtaining individual convictions rather than accepting big-dollar corporate dispositions.”

As AG Garland warned, DOJ’s white-collar enforcement efforts will further “accelerate as we come out of the pandemic” and DOJ’s interest in corporate crime is clearly “waxing again.” Companies must therefore take proactive steps to prepare for this increased enforcement activity.

IN DEPTH

Substantial Additional Resources for Corporate Crime Enforcement

In 2021, DOJ charged 5,521 individuals with “white collar” crimes, which represented a 10% increase over 2020. During his speech, AG Garland announced that DOJ will be devoting even more resources toward its corporate crime enforcement efforts going forward. Specifically, DOJ will seek funding to hire 120 new prosecutors and 900 new FBI agents, all of whom would focus on white-collar crime. If DOJ obtains such funding, those new prosecutors and agents could supercharge DOJ’s enforcement efforts. For example, 120 prosecutors is more prosecutors than there are in many US Attorneys’ Offices (including in the District of Massachusetts, a district that is already active in corporate enforcement, particularly in the resource-intensive healthcare space). Adding 900 new FBI agents—a number that is similarly larger than many existing FBI field offices—could allow DOJ to pursue thousands of new corporate criminal investigations.

Expanded Use of Data Analytics

For the past two years, DOJ and other federal agencies have increasingly relied on sophisticated data analytics tools to identify and prosecute corporate crime. AG Garland specifically identified data analytics as another “force-multiplier” for DOJ. DOJ’s use of data analytics will undoubtedly expand going forward. Among other things, AG Garland announced that a new squad of FBI agents has been embedded within the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section to “further strengthen [DOJ’s] ability to bring data-driven corporate crime cases nationwide.” As DOJ increasingly relies on “big data,” including vast amounts of data from other state and federal agencies, companies must ensure that they are proactively using data analytics to further their own internal compliance efforts.

DOJ’s Priority Enforcement Areas

AG Garland and AAG Polite mentioned several of DOJ’s specific white-collar criminal enforcement priorities during their remarks. In addition to traditional areas such as healthcare fraud, securities fraud and [...]

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Individual Accountability Likely to Continue for Cartel Enforcement

To date, the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) has obtained six corporate guilty pleas, three individual indictments and one individual guilty plea in its long-running investigation into price fixing of capacitors by primarily Japanese manufacturers. Capacitors are small electronic components that are found in nearly every device that is plugged in or powered by a battery.

WHAT HAPPENED

In a May 24 sentencing hearing, the DOJ took sharp criticism from Judge James Donato (NDCA) for what he called a “sweetheart deal” by DOJ in its plea agreement with Matsuo Electric Co. The plea called for payment of a $4.17 million fine to be paid over five years.
The deal, reached at the same time as an individual plea of Matsuo’s former sales manager Satoshi Okubo, was one that DOJ had touted, arguing that “[t]he simultaneous acceptance of responsibility by a company and the executive who supervised its involvement in the cartel demonstrates in a concrete way their future commitment to lawful conduct and an improved business culture.”
Judge Donato saw it another way, arguing that he “didn’t like the idea of corporations holding individuals out to dry in return for leniency.” This comment came in reference to the assertion that Okubo had been asked to serve a one-year prison term so the company would get a lesser sentence.
The court did not throw out Matsuo’s sentence altogether, but requested further details about the company’s financial resources so that it could decide whether to accept the corporate plea agreement, in particular the extended payment term. Okubo was sentenced in February.
In previous sentencings, Judge Donato had imposed terms of probation on the corporations exceeding those requested by DOJ.

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DOJ to Devote Substantial Resources to Investigating and Prosecuting Corporate Crime, Emphasizing Importance of Effective Compliance Programs

Individual Accountability Likely to Continue for Cartel Enforcement

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