White-Collar Defense
The White-Collar Defense Blog highlights recent developments and analysis from white-collar cases around the country, including healthcare fraud, procurement fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, computer fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, import fraud, insider trading, investment fraud, and money laundering.
Medicaid Fraud Primer: Medicaid vs. Medicare, Federal Charges, Investigations, Evidence, Schemes, and Defenses
A short primer on Medicaid fraud investigations and cases: how Medicaid differs from Medicare, what constitutes Medicaid fraud, who investigates Medicaid fraud, how Medicaid fraud cases are charged federally, what evidence is used, common schemes, and common defenses.
Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Charges and Investigations: Federal Statutes and Defense Strategies
Cryptocurrency money laundering cases involve far more than digital asset transfers. These cases turn on intent, control, and how federal prosecutors apply traditional statutes like 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956, 1957, and 1960 to blockchain-based activity. This in-depth analysis explains how the DOJ and law enforcement agencies build crypto money laundering cases using blockchain analytics, exchange records, and device evidence. It also outlines the defense strategies that matter most, including challenges to tracing, attribution, forfeiture, and jurisdiction.
Insider Trading on Prediction Markets: Next up for DOJ
Trading on prediction markets with material nonpublic information can create significant insider-trading and fraud exposure under federal law. As prediction markets continue to influence public narratives and financial decision-making, they are increasingly likely to become a focal point for insider-trading investigations.
Border Searches of Electronic Devices in 2025 and a look into 2026
A border search of an electronic device, like an iPhone, allows law enforcement agents to inspect a traveler’s digital data without a warrant. But the scope of that authority, and the level of suspicion required, varies across the federal circuits. This inconsistency in the law creates a fractured and increasingly consequential landscape for privacy and navigating criminal investigations.
On the Enforcement Horizon: Fraud and Manipulation in Chinese ADRs
An in-depth analysis of how U.S. enforcement agencies, including the SEC and DOJ, are pursuing market manipulation and fraud cases involving Chinese ADRs traded on NASDAQ. The article explains ADR structures, common fraud schemes, evidentiary strategies, and defense approaches in parallel investigations.
DOJ Cryptocurrency Enforcement Memo: Shifting Priorities and Protecting “Retail Investors”
The 2025 DOJ cryptocurrency enforcement strategy took a major turn with the release of a memorandum from the Deputy Attorney General on April 7, 2025. The memo, titled Ending Regulation by Prosecution, outlines a new approach to investigations and prosecutions involving digital assets, signaling a sharp departure from the prior Administration’s enforcement priorities.
False Claims Act (FCA) Update: DOJ Files Suit for Wound Care Fraud
The Department of Justice recently filed a False Claims Act wound care case against Vohra Wound Physicians Management LLC, its founder Dr. Ameet Vohra, and related entities, alleging a widespread scheme to overbill Medicare for medically unnecessary and misclassified wound care services. The case reflects DOJ’s ongoing commitment to enforcing the False Claims Act in the healthcare industry, particularly in cases involving improper billing practices and threats to the integrity of federal healthcare programs.
Warrantless “Border Searches” of Cellphones: A Decision on Deck with the Second Circuit
Warrantless cellphone border searches are at the center of a major case scheduled for oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on June 24, 2025. In United States v. Smith, No. 24-1680 (2d Cir.), the court will decide whether federal agents can search a mobile device at the border without obtaining a warrant—and whether evidence from such a search should be suppressed if a constitutional violation occurred.