Criminal Law

Federal enforcement of customs violations has evolved from administrative penalties into a high-stakes arena of civil fraud and criminal liability, with recent settlements reaching unprecedented levels and executives facing personal exposure. The Department of Justice's restructured enforcement apparatus, combined with an aggressive whistleblower program, has transformed tariff compliance into a critical risk management priority for importers and their leadership teams.

The US Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division has issued its first comprehensive corporate enforcement directive, establishing new investigation priorities and charging factors that will reshape how federal prosecutors approach fraud cases. Companies in healthcare, government contracting, tax, and international trade now face heightened scrutiny under a centralized enforcement framework that emphasizes data-driven detection...

The Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division has issued new guidance outlining aggressive corporate enforcement priorities targeting healthcare, government contracts, tax evasion, and trade fraud. What factors will prosecutors weigh most heavily when recommending charges, and how will the new partnership between Division prosecutors and the Corporate Enforcement Section reshape corporate investigations and compliance oversight?

In January 2021, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed a criminal complaint charging political scientist Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi with conspiring to act and acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government under FARA. While Afrasiabi built a public persona as a respected political science professor, author, and television commentator, DOJ alleged that he was a secretly compensated employee of Tehran.

In 1951, the Peace Information Center (PIC) and five of its officers were indicted for willfully failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The PIC was founded in April 1950 by several activists, including its chairman, author W.E.B. Du Bois, to educate Americans about peace and to gain support for a ban on nuclear weapons.

A federal district court in Oklahoma has departed from the previous consensus on the use of automated license plate reader (“ALPR”) technology by law enforcement, holding that a police officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he queried ALPR databases to obtain one month of a vehicle’s historical location records without a warrant.

Vào ngày 25 tháng 8 năm 2026, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) đã phối hợp với U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) và U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) để ra mắt Lực Lượng Chống Gian Lận Thương Mại (Trade Fraud Task Force). Lực lượng này đóng vai trò quan trọng trong chính sách siết chặt việc kiểm soát hành vi trốn thuế quan, gian lận hải quan và các hình thức buôn lậu theo Tariff Act of 1930, False Claims Act (FCA), cũng như các quy định về gian lận thương mại và âm mưu phạm tội thuộc Title 18.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or the Department) has formally denied a petition from the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) requesting rulemaking under the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (EKRA). ACLA asked DOJ to issue rules under EKRA allowing for compensation of employed sales representatives in any manner, including through variable compensation, consistent with the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbor for employees.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently secured a $32 million settlement with Dompé U.S. Inc. over allegations that the pharmaceutical company violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying Medicare beneficiaries' co-pays through patient assistance foundations to induce purchases of its drug Oxervate.

On June 15, 2026, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. v. Letitia James, leaving in place the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision upholding New York’s...

Dozens of college and university campuses experienced protests in April and May of 2024 due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Many were peaceful, but some turned violent...

Ben Cohen charged with "unlawful entry" whilst protesting against the prosecution of Julian Assange.