Defendants in the “Varsity Blues” university admissions scandal recently succeeded in their latest effort to beat back some of the charges against them by arguing that university admissions slots are not “property” for purposes of federal mail and wire fraud.
Does Crime Pay?
Tales from the White-Collar Criminal Defense Trenches
The "Does Crime Pay?" blog, published by Thompson Hine LLP, focuses on legal developments and enforcement trends related to fraud, trade secrets, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. It covers topics such as Department of Justice fraud recoveries, the Defend Trade Secrets Act and its enforcement, shifts in SEC enforcement policies, and interpretations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The blog addresses issues relevant to government contractors, corporate compliance programs, intellectual property protection, and securities regulation enforcement strategies. It provides insights into federal enforcement priorities and legal standards affecting corporate and individual liability in areas of fraud, trade secret theft, cybersecurity breaches, and securities law violations.
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Public Corruption Indictments in Ohio: From the Queen City to the State Capitol
The Southern District of Ohio, where interstate highways stretching from the southern tip of Florida enter the southwestern point of Ohio, usually and understandably boasts a steady stream of interstate drug trafficking cases. Since 2019, however, the District has prosecuted…
Ohio’s Governor DeWine Announces Additional COVID-19 Restrictions on Businesses: How to Avoid Government Shutdown
By Ben Sandlin
COVID-19 continues to rage on after months of impacting our lives, businesses, and the economy. Ohio, at one point a beacon of the country’s COVID-19 response, has recently set state records for new daily cases, hospitalizations, and, sadly, deaths. In…
No End in Sight for PPP Fraud Prosecutions
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” was an observation supposedly made by Winston Churchill at the Yalta Conference towards the end of the Second World War while he was pressing for the formation of the United Nations. In…
Despite Promises to the Contrary, Enforcement Against Nursing Homes Has Fallen Short—When It’s Been Needed the Most
Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the United States, it is well established that hotbeds for spread of the disease are nursing homes and other assisted living facilities. Tight quarters holding vulnerable populations is precisely the kind…
Is Brady the GOAT? The Due Process Protections Act Aims to Make That So
This past September, District Court Judge Alison Nathan, from the Southern District of New York, issued a withering decision reprimanding prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for a “cascade of failures to timely disclose” Brady materials before or even during…
Is It Wrong that I Googled the Justice Department’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google?
If you were on the Internet in May 1998, you were probably on an IBM-compatible PC, running Microsoft Corporation’s Windows 95 operating system and surfing the web using Internet Explorer, which was also a Microsoft product. And, in May 1998,…
The Ohio Ethics Law: A Weapon Against Public Corruption
It seems that every corner of Ohio has seen a high-profile federal public corruption prosecution in recent years. So much so that some may not know that Ohio has its own statutory scheme to hold wayward public officials accountable: the…
Algorithms and Antitrust Law: The Only Winning Move is Not to Play
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith famously wrote, “[p]eople of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”[1]…
Telemedicine Fraud is the New Opioids: DOJ’s First Health Care Fraud Takedown During COVID-19
By Sarah M. Hall & Ben Sandlin
On September 30, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced its latest health care fraud take down, which was its first since the pandemic hit in March 2020. DOJ charged 345 doctors, medical professionals, owners/operators, and others with criminal health…