Areas of Practice

Business Crimes

Increasingly, Congress has passed laws defining certain irregular business activities as criminal that were formerly categorized as administrative or regulatory violations, and these activities can now lead to prison sentences. Violations of Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC reporting violations, accounting irregularities and related business activities have come under increasing scrutiny of law enforcement officials, with Enron and MCI World Com standing out as prominent examples. The federal investigation into Microsoft also brought one of the U.S.’s largest industries into question. Of course, the government’s investigations of business crimes are not limited to corporate giants.

The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) was enacted in 1970 as an attempt to prohibit the infiltration of legitimate enterprises by organized crime.

While the original purpose of RICO was to prosecute members of organized crime, the broad language of the statute has resulted in the government bringing Rico cases against people not considered to be targets of the original Act.

People from all walks of society have been defendants against RICO, including doctors, anti-abortion protestors, video store owners, adult bookstore owners, anti-obscenity picketers, terrorists, major corporations, banks, Wall Street investment firms, politicians and husbands sued by their ex-wives for defrauding them of marital property.