In a rare opinion addressing the rights of innocent owners of property seized under state civil forfeiture laws, the Supreme Court of the United States held that innocent owners are not constitutionally entitled to a separate preliminary hearing to seek a speedy return of their seized property. The 6-3 ruling in Culley v. Marshall, [...]
When facing the formidable gears of the federal justice system, individuals accused of bribery and extortion are immediately thrust into a complex legal arena where the stakes couldn't be higher. These white-collar crimes carry severe penalties, including hefty fines and significant prison time. In such high-stress, high-stakes situations, securing an experienced criminal defense attorney is [...]
Last fall Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the Department of Justice’s more aggressive approach to corporate compliance. In her policy speech this week, she highlighted a series of new policies and warned cooperating companies not to slow walk their disclosures, told prosecutors to speed up their investigations and expanded self-reporting programs throughout the [...]
Courts uphold federal government’s ability to seize a convicted defendant’s 401(k) accounts to satisfy an Order of Restitution after a conviction at trial or a guilty plea.
When someone pleads guilty or is convicted of a federal or state crime, there are serious collateral consequences, in addition to potential jail time, forfeiture, restitution and other fines and penalties. The term ‘‘collateral consequence’’ means a collateral sanction or a disqualification, a penalty, disability, or disadvantage that is imposed by law as a [...]
Chief Financial Officers, Account Managers and bookkeepers all, to vary degrees, are trusted employees who have access to corporate funds. Access to company funds, with little or sporadic oversight, can leave a company vulnerable to a variety of fraudulent schemes to obtain funds those employees were not entitled to. Common schemes include: The trusted employee [...]
Police and prosecutors around the country routinely seize and forfeit cars, boats, money, computers, guns and homes that were “used in, or facilitated, the criminal activity charged.” While many cases involve significant crimes and the forfeitures are justified, too often the person is charged with fairly low-level drug sales and their car is seized if it was used to transport the drugs during the sales. The federal and state governments argue that forfeitures are simply part of the cost of the criminal’s conduct and work as a separate fine on the illegal activity. These fines and forfeitures are often used to supplement local and state budgets, including those of the very agencies that seized and forfeited the property.
On December 19, 2016, the New Jersey Assembly and Senate unanimously passed a much-needed civil forfeiture reporting bill that, if signed into law by Governor Christie, would shed light on a much-criticized practice in which law enforcement agencies reap huge profits by seizing property “connected” to criminal activity, even in cases where no one has been charged with or found guilty of a crime.