White-Collar Criminal Law

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Final Rule as part of the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule, which revises requirements for reporting and returning overpayments of Medicare and Medicaid funds. The Final Rule, which took effect January 1, 2025, amends CMS’s regulation interpreting the federal overpayment statute in two key ways: It revises the definition of when an overpayment is “identified” to trigger the 60-day return period and establishes a 180-day timeframe for investigating additional related overpayments.

Read the full story on the Duane Morris LLP website.

February 25, 2025 by Duane Morris

First Circuit Embraces More Restrictive View of False Claims Act Kickback Enforcement Provision

By Daniel R. Walworth, Christopher H. Casey, Frederick R. Ball, Erin M. Duffy and Joseph R. Welsh

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s opinion in United States v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has sharpened the circuit split for demonstrating the effect of a kickback on healthcare decisions under the False Claims Act (FCA). The Regeneron court held that an FCA claim based on an alleged violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute requires demonstrating that an alleged unlawful kickback was the “but-for” cause of a submitted claim.

Read the full story on the Duane Morris LLP website.

February 24, 2025February 25, 2025 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Adds Assistant U.S. Attorneys on East and West Coast

Adding depth to its white-collar practice on both the East Coast and West Coast, Duane Morris announced the hire of two former assistant U.S. attorneys on Monday.

Eric Boden, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the past decade and most recently was appointed attorney-in-charge of the Trenton, New Jersey, branch office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will be joining the firm’s trial group in New York. Garth Hire, who worked as a federal prosecutor since 2021 in the northern and central districts of California and served as chief of the Oakland U.S. Attorney’s Office, will be joining the firm’s San Francisco office. […]

“Over the last year, I was looking to join a firm like Duane Morris, and it quickly became clear that Duane Morris was the right match for me,” Boden said in an interview. “I’m hoping to bring all of my expertise and background into what I can do to help the white-collar practice at the firm.”

Hire added, “This was really an unparalleled opportunity to operate across all of the firm’s California offices in the white-collar space.”

Read the full article on The Legal Intelligencer website.

December 31, 2024December 31, 2024 by Daniel R. Walworth

Government Agencies Send Mixed Messages on Ephemeral Messaging, Placing Regulated Entities in Apparent Double Bind

Officials with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) recently recommended Americans use encrypted messaging apps in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack that infiltrated at least eight U.S. telecommunications companies. In a news call to address the Salt Typhoon attack, Jeff Greene, the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, stated, “Encryption is your friend,” and an official with the FBI added that “responsibly managed encryption” benefits users who wish to protect their mobile device communications. These statements acknowledge that ephemeral messaging, which generally refers to messaging applications that employ “end-to-end encryption” or auto-delete technology, minimizes the risk of falling victim to a cyberattack.

But these recommendations and statements in favor of the legitimate benefits of encrypted messaging apps in enhancing a cybersecurity posture, may appear inconsistent with other statements disfavoring the use of such apps to conduct business.

December 19, 2024December 21, 2024 by Mary P. Hansen

SEC Division of Enforcement: 2024 By the Numbers

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2024. The SEC’s Division of Enforcement filed 583 enforcement actions, a 26% decline from fiscal year 2023, including:

432 standalone actions (representing a 14% decline from 2023);
93 follow-on administrative proceedings (43% decline); and
59 delinquent filer actions (51% decline).

April 9, 2024April 9, 2024 by Duane Morris

Coinbase’s Defense Falters: Latest Developments in SEC Legal Battle

A New York federal court has held that the SEC sufficiently pleaded that Coinbase—a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, broker, and clearing agency—operated as an unregistered intermediary of securities and engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities through its crypto staking program. In a partial win for Coinbase (and possibly others offering wallet services), the court dismissed the SEC’s claim that Coinbase acted as an unregistered broker by offering a crypto wallet application to its customers. The case is Sec. and Exch. Comm’n v. Coinbase, Inc., 23 Civ. 4738 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2024).

This decision has important ramifications for all players in the crypto market, as it clears the way for the SEC to continue to act as the primary regulator of crypto in the absence of further regulatory direction from Congress and allows the SEC to continue aggressive enforcement in the crypto space.

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris’ Mauro Wolfe , Vincent Nolan and Alek Smolij, please visit the Duane Morris Fintech Blog.

October 10, 2023 by Duane Morris

Webinar: U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Crypto in Asia: The Tiger in the Grass ‒ What Every Crypto Actor Must Know Now

Duane Morris will present U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Crypto in Asia: The Tiger in the Grass ‒ What Every Crypto Actor Must Know Now on Thursday, November 30, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Singapore.

About the Program

Crypto entrepreneurs and their financers and advisers are facing unprecedented enforcement activity from the U.S. government, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The SEC, in particular, has taken an aggressive stance in applying U.S. securities law to internationally based cryptocurrencies, and international players in the crypto market are routinely being called to defend themselves in U.S.-based investigations and U.S. courts.

In this webinar, a Duane Morris team will discuss the basis for the SEC and DOJ’s assertion of jurisdiction over international actors so that crypto players can determine whether their actions may lead to the need to comply with U.S. securities laws. The panel will also discuss the various U.S. laws that could be triggered so that foreign crypto actors become more acquainted with U.S. laws and regulations. The focus of the webinar is to educate crypto players enough so that they understand the risks.

Speakers

Mauro Wolfe
Ramiro Rodriguez

Moderator

Vincent Nolan

Learn more about the event and Duane Morris’ Fintech Group.

Note: For those attendees located in the U.S., the time for this webinar is Wednesday, November 29, 2023, from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

July 17, 2023July 18, 2023 by Mauro M. Wolfe

Both Defendants and the Security and Exchange Commission Score Partial Wins in Cryptocurrency Decision

By Mauro Wolfe, Vincent Nolan and Angela Benoit

On July 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted partial summary judgment in favor of Ripple Labs Inc. (Ripple), holding that the company did not violate the Securities Act by selling its XRP token on public exchanges.

Despite this partial win, the Court also held that Ripple’s sale of the XRP tokens to sophisticated individuals and entities including hedge funds and institutional investors did constitute an unregistered securities offering.

Continue reading “Both Defendants and the Security and Exchange Commission Score Partial Wins in Cryptocurrency Decision”

May 18, 2023 by Duane Morris

Pennsylvania Innocence Project Recognizes Leigh Skipper for His Commitment to Pursuing Justice

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project presented the 2023 Maureen Rowley Award to Duane Morris partner Leigh Skipper. Leigh is the former Chief Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He succeeded Maureen Rowley in that role in 2009 and led one of the largest and most respected federal defender offices in the country until 2022. After graduating from law school, Leigh spent his career working in criminal defense at the Federal Defender and the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Leigh has served as the president of the Barrister’s Association of Philadelphia and the National Association of Federal Defenders and as the chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Selection and Retention Committee. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and chairs the Public Defender Committee.

Read more about Leigh on the Pennsylvania Innocence website.