Article: DOJ’s New No. 3 Faces Delicate Balancing Act

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DOJ’s New No. 3 Faces Delicate Balancing Act

Jack Queen, 21 April 2021

Vanita Gupta was fresh out of law school when she heard about what happened in Tulia, Texas. Two years earlier, in 1999, nearly half of the town’s adult Black population was rounded up in a drug sting on the word of a single undercover cop, accused of selling him small amounts of cocaine. Several convictions swiftly followed, accompanied by sentences of up to 361 years. The remaining defendants, 43 of whom were people of color, started pleading guilty.

Gupta, weeks into a job at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York, sensed something was amiss. She flew down to Texas, where families shared the humiliation of seeing loved ones marched through the streets handcuffed and half-clothed, with a local newspaper later declaring, “Tulia’s Streets Cleared of Garbage.” Documents in the Swisher County courthouse told a remarkable story as well. Gupta, then 26, stuffed a suitcase full of copies and flew back to New York to pitch her bosses. Continue reading “Article: DOJ’s New No. 3 Faces Delicate Balancing Act”

Article: Where Are They Now: Key Players In The Madoff Case

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Where Are They Now: Key Players In The Madoff Case

Jack Queen, 14 April 2021

Law360 (April 14, 2021, 9:05 PM EDT) — Ponzi king Bernie Madoff’s jailhouse death was all but guaranteed the moment he was sentenced. Before a packed federal courtroom in Manhattan — after the lawyers, victims and Madoff himself had spoken — Judge Denny Chin decided what punishment fit the financial crime of the century: 150 years, the maximum sentence available.

The decision prompted an outburst of cheers from the dozens of victims present. But it was the only joyful moment of a proceeding marked by anguished testimonials from victims, calls for justice from prosecutors, and pleas for mercy by Madoff’s defense team, which had asked for 12 years. Continue reading “Article: Where Are They Now: Key Players In The Madoff Case”

Article: Texas AG Probing Tech Giants Over Parler Ban

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Texas AG Probing Tech Giants Over Parler Ban

Jack Queen, 11 January 2021

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday demanded tech giants including Google, Amazon and Apple hand over details about their content moderation policies after conservative social media site Parler was effectively booted from the web following last week’s deadly Capitol riot.

Paxton, a Republican who is leading a separate antitrust blitz against tech titans, also demanded information from Facebook and Twitter, saying the “seemingly coordinated deplatforming” of President Donald Trump and others raises First Amendment and competition concerns. Continue reading “Article: Texas AG Probing Tech Giants Over Parler Ban”

Article: Deutsche Bank To Pay Over $130M For FCPA, Fraud Violations

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Deutsche Bank To Pay Over $130M For FCPA, Fraud Violations

Jack Queen, 08 January 2021

Deutsche Bank AG agreed Friday to fork over more than $130 million to resolve separate yearslong bribery and commodities fraud schemes in a pair of agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, the German bank will pay criminal penalties of $79.5 million for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations involving bribes to consultants in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Italy in an effort to secure business there. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank To Pay Over $130M For FCPA, Fraud Violations”

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