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Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Justice Department's New White Collar Crime Priorities
Matthew R. Galeotti, the Head of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department has issued a memorandum describing the Justice Department's new policies and enforcement priorities in dealing with collar crime. In describing its areas of focus, the memorandum states 'The Criminal Division must be laser-focused on the most urgent criminal threats to the country. Therefore consistent with the enforcement policies and priorities of this Administration, the Criminal Division will prioritize investigating and prosecuting corporate crime in areas that will have the greatest impact in protecting American Citizens and companies and promoting U.S. interests.' The memorandum lists the following ten areas of white collar crime which the Justice Department is prioritizing: The inclusion of bribery in the list of priorities is noteworthy in the light of President Trump's executive order suspending enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on the basis of it allegedly harming American business competitiveness in international business. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act criminalizes bribery of foreign officials by American companies. Nor is it reflected in the order to the Manhattan US Attorney to dismiss the bribery charges against NY major Eric Adams that resulted in the resignation of US Attorney Danielle Sassoon who chose to resign rather than follow such an order. Notably missing from the list of priorities is prosecution of income tax fraud. This is particularly noteworthy in the light of a 2021 Treasury report that estimated that the top 1% of earners account for over $160 billion dollars in unpaid taxes annually. However, this is not surprising on the heels of DOGE plans to cut up to 25% of the IRS staff including draconian cuts to the IRS' Criminal Investigations unit which plays an essential role in combating drug and human trafficking, terrorism, tax crimes, financial crimes and money laundering. Also totally missing from the list of priorities is the prosecution of environmental crimes although the global impact of environmental crimes has been estimated by the Financial Action Task Force, a global organization that sets international standards to fight money laundering and terrorist financing to be as high as $281 billion not to mention the cost to society in the destruction of the environment, contamination of naturl resources and public health dangers. In a clear indication of the new goals of the Justice Department, the memorandum states that prosecutors 'must avoid overreach that punishes risk-taking and hinders innovation.' It goes on to say that the Justice Department 'must strike an appropriate balance between the need to effectively identify, investigate, and prosecute corporate and individuals' criminal wrongdoing while minimizing unnecessary burdens on American enterprise.' The famous 2015 memorandum of Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates entitled 'Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing' which was prompted by criticism of the Justice Department's failure to effectively prosecute individuals in response to the 2008 financial meltdown stressed the intention to prioritize prosecution of individuals for corporate wrongdoing rather than just the corporations themselves. Despite the good intentions to prosecute individuals and thereby provide a true disincentive for white collar criminals to avoid committing such crimes, there was little change in the numbers of individuals prosecuted as compared to actions against corporations which cannot be jailed. For example, 75% of the prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ( the law President Trump is presently suspending enforcement of) in the six years prior to the Yates memorandum were against companies rather than individuals within the companies and from 2015 to 2024 the number of prosecutions against companies rather than their employees or officers remained the same. Similar to the Yates memorandum, the Galeotti memorandum also states that the Justice Department's 'first priority is to prosecute individual criminals. It is individuals – whether executive, officers or employees of companies – who commit these crimes, often at the expense of shareholders, workers, and American investors and consumers. The Criminal Division will investigate these individual wrongdoers relentlessly to hold them accountable.' The words are laudable as they were in the Yates memo. Whether they will turn into action is another matter. The Galeotti memorandum concludes by saying 'Focused, fair, and efficient white-collar enforcement promotes American economic and national security interests while protecting American taxpayers, investors, consumers, and businesses. Results of the Criminal Division's efforts in this regard will be measured by the practical benefits brought to bear for all relevant parties, not symbolic resolutions against shell entities or running up the scoreboard. We will foster cooperative relationships with those in industry that align with the Department in this pursuit, and we will root out the criminal element that works against these goals. As in everything we do, we will do so with integrity and in the interests of justice.' Actions, however, speak louder than words. On the same day that the Galeotti Memorandum was issued, the FBI, the primary criminal investigative arm of the Justice Department, instructed its agents to target their efforts on immigration enforcement and less time on white collar crime enforcement.
Bloomberg
28-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Announces Visa Curbs Targeting Social Media ‘Censorship'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on foreign officials and other individuals who 'censor Americans,' including those who target American technology companies, as the Trump administration steps up a confrontation with other countries over their social media policies. Without giving specifics, Rubio cited instances of foreign governments censoring protected speech in the US, saying it was unacceptable for foreigners to 'issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms,' according to a statement on Wednesday.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mother of three US citizens hit with $1.8m ICE fine over her failure to leave the country
A woman living in southern Florida who first entered the United States illegally 20 years ago has been fined $1.82m by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to leave the country. The mother of three gave an emotional on-camera interview to CBS News Miami, in which she was identified only as 'Maria,' to express her shock. The 41 year-old appealed for clemency, particularly on behalf of her children, all of whom are American citizens, who she said would suffer if she were to be deported. Maria said she was originally from Honduras but had entered California without the proper documentation in February 2005. After failing to appear at a scheduled immigration hearing two months later, she was ordered to return home but instead settled in Miami-Dade, Florida, where she has lived for two decades and raised her children, now teenagers. Then, on May 9 this year, she received a letter from ICE informing her that, under the seldom-used Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, she was being fined $500 for every subsequent day she had spent in the U.S., a penalty that now stands at $1,821,350, which she was given just 30 days to pay. 'Ever since that day I live with anxiety,' Maria told the CBS affiliate. 'I can't sleep… I don't feel. I don't want to go back. 'It would be extremely painful to be separated from my children, this is their country, this is all they know. Please have mercy. I want to stay with them.' On her decision not to attend her hearing back in 2005, Maria said: 'I told the immigration officer I didn't have any family in this country or a specific place to stay. I never received any document and they did not know where I was going to be.' Michelle C Sanchez, her attorney, called the fine 'absolutely nuts' and argued that her client was never properly informed of the consequences of her actions. Presenting the letter informing Maria of the fine, Sanchez said: 'They're supposed to say on [here] the date that she was advised and this is blank because they never advised her of the penalties. So that's going to be my argument.' She added that she plans to appeal Maria's case. Sanchez also warned that Maria's children would suffer 'extreme and exceptionally unusual hardships' if their mother were forcibly returned to Honduras without them. The Independent has contacted ICE for its response. The episode is just the latest in a series of dramatic stories to have emerged as a result of President Donald Trump 's crackdown on illegal immigration since he returned to office in January, which he has touted as the largest mass deportation push in American history.
