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Felony Tax Obstruction Statute Only Applies to Ongoing or Foreseeable Proceedings, Not to Routine Non-Compliance with Tax Code Requirements, SCOTUS Clarifies
On March 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court in Marinello v. United States imposed a significant limitation on the government's ability to charge and successfully convict taxpayers for obstructing administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 7212(a) of the IRC makes it a felony to “corruptly or by force†“endeavor[] to obstruct or impede[] the due administration of this title.†In a 7-2 decision, the Court announced a narrow interpretation of “due administration of [the IRC],†holding that due administration referred only to a particular proceeding and not general IRS administration.
Time is Running Out to Disclose Hidden Foreign Assets and Receive Amnesty from Criminal Prosecution, IRS Says
The IRS has announced that it is ending its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) in September, 2018. The OVDP currently is the only available mechanism for U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets to come into compliance with U.S. tax and foreign asset reporting laws and eliminate the risk of related criminal exposure. Taxpayers who still have undisclosed offshore financial accounts and other assets have roughly six months to send a completed disclosure package to the IRS; the process of crafting and submitting a disclosure can be lengthy so taxpayers should not delay.
Attorney-Client Privilege Trumps Confrontation Clause, Says Eastern District of Pennsylvania
On March 2, 2018, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania addressed whether a criminal defendant can cross-examine an immunized government witness about the content of her communications with her own counsel regarding her receipt of immunity. Ruling on this issue of first impression, the court held that neither the Confrontation Clause nor the witness' immunity agreement permitted such an inquiry.
Latvian Bank Faces Exclusion as a "Primary Money Laundering Concern" Based on North Korean Ties and Other Misdeeds
On February 12, 2018, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), a division of the Treasury Department charged with enforcing the anti-money laundering provisions Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), branded ABLV Bank, AS as a "financial institution of primary money laundering concern" and announced its intention, via a notice of proposed rulemaking, to effectively exclude ABLV Bank from the U.S. financial system by prohibiting U.S. banks from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts in ABLV Bank's name or on its behalf.
The New Tax Bill: Settlement Considerations Regarding Tax Treatment of Fines, Penalties, and Restitution
Corporations and counsel negotiating settlement agreements with the United States under the False Claims Act, or other statutes that provide for monetary damages and penalties, must be aware of the impact of the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the ability to take business tax deductions for these amounts. The Act made changes to tax treatment that are effective for agreements and orders that are finalized on or after December 22, 2017.
Pennsylvania Data Breach Litigation: An Important New Resource...and a Case to Watch
On January 8, 2018, Bloomberg Law's Privacy & Data Security publication released its "Domestic Privacy Profile" for Pennsylvania, for which I served as Bloomberg's subject matter expert practitioner. The publication is extremely comprehensive in scope, but I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight one Pennsylvania case that it discusses, which is currently before the state Supreme Court and could have a significant impact on privacy and data security litigation in Pennsylvania.
Third Circuit Rejects FCA Claims of Medicare Part D Fraud Applying Post-Escobar Materiality Bar; Acknowledges Validity of Government Knowledge Inference Defense
Earlier this month the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ended a long-fought False Claims Act case of alleged Medicare Part D fraud, holding that a pharmacy benefit manager's limited non-compliance with pharmacy claims processing requirements was not material to Medicare's payment decisions within the meaning of the Supreme Court's Escobar decision. On November 16, 2017, in United States ex rel. Spay v. CVS Caremark Corporation, the Third Circuit affirmed the district court's summary judgment dismissal in its second significant post-Escobar materiality decision. Interestingly, the appellate court veered away from the district court's holding that the "government knowledge inference" defense precluded liability for the PBM and instead found that the Relator failed to demonstrate that the alleged non-compliance met the Escobar materiality threshold.
Mr. Mueller's Options, Short of Indictment
Suppose Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team develops evidence that nonetheless is material to matters of national security or to non-criminal malfeasance? Obviously, this would be of great interest to the public and to Congressional committees investigating parallel and related matters. What are his options? I discuss this in my November 27, 2017 article for Law360, "Mueller's Options, Short Of Indictment."
Mr. Mueller's Options, Short Of Indictment
Suppose special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation unearths evidence that falls short of the legal standard to indict (probable cause), or falls short of the DOJ policy standard required to seek an indictment (admissible evidence probably sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction). Suppose further that - as a matter of national security or noncriminal malfeasance - this evidence would likely be of great interest to the public and/or relevant to congressional committees investigating parallel and related matters. Do potential disclosure options exist notwithstanding the general rule of grand jury secrecy? Yes.
Thoughts on the Manafort & Gates Indictment: Focused on FBAR Violations
On Monday, October 30, 2017, Special Counsel Robert Mueller unsealed the indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate, Richard Gates. The majority of the indictment - 7 out of 12 counts - relates to the pair's alleged failure to file FBARs, which is a violation of Title 31, not Title 26, of the U.S. Code.
Shale Insight 2017: AG Panel Reflects Contrast in Enforcement Approaches; Criminal Exposures from Civil Litigation
On September 27, 2017, I participated on the panel, "Managing Attorney General Investigations: Increased State Environmental Enforcement and How You Can Survive," at the Shale Insight 2017 conference in Pittsburgh, PA. The panel included Molly Corey, Assistant Attorney General from the Ohio AG Office and Jeff Landry, the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana. My partner Terry Bossert, who chairs our firm's Shale Resource group, moderated.
Almost Anyone Can Be a Felon: the Troubling Scope of Tax Obstruction, Part II
Part I of this Post discussed the background and holdings of United States v. Marinello. This post focuses on the implications of the Second Circuit's construction of the omnibus clause of section 7212(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and on the potential ways in which the Supreme Court might narrow that construction.