Noteworthy Federal White Collar Legislation




Bill Summaries:


111th Congress (2009-2010)

  • S. 1843 -- The "Strengthening Enforcement for Health Care Fraud Crimes Act of 2009"
    S. 1843 seeks to amend the federal criminal code to revise the elements of the crime of health care fraud. In addition, the bill also imposes a mandatory minimum penalty of six months imprisonment in cases where the health care fraud results in losses of $100,000 or more. NACDL opposes S. 1843 and believes that the proposed mandatory minimum is an ineffective and costly perpetuation of unjust sentencing. ...more

  • H.R. 3327 -- The "Ramos-Compean Justice Act of 2009"
    H.R. 3327 amends 18 U.S.C. § 3553 to allow a federal court to impose a sentence below a statutory minimum if the court finds that it is necessary to do so in order to avoid violating the requirements of § 3553(a). ...more

  • H.R. 1947 -- The "Accountability in Deferred Prosecution Act of 2009"
    H.R. 1947 requires the regulation and disclosure of deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”) and non-prosecution agreements (“NPAs”) made between the Department of Justice and potential corporate defendants. ...more

  • S. 714 -- The "National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009"
    The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 (“the Act”) establishes an 11-member commission, known as the “National Criminal Justice Commission,” to undertake a comprehensive review of the United State’s criminal justice system. ...more

  • S. 569 -- The "Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act"
    The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (the “Act”) seeks to bring the United States incorporation practices for corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) into conformity with the rest of the international community. The Act hopes to prevent criminals from concealing their identities when forming corporations or LLCs in the United States and using these entities to commit acts of terrorism or crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering, tax evasion, and financial fraud. ...more

  • S. 445 & H.R. 4326 -- The "Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act"
    The “Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009” (the “Act”) is designed to preserve the attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product protections available to a company or organization, and to safeguard the constitutional rights and other legal protections available to employees of such an organization. The Act places practical and clearly defined limits on a federal agency’s power to coerce or pressure an organization to waive its legitimate legal protections or to act against the interests of its employees during the course of an investigation. ...more

  • S. 386 & H.R. 1748 -- "The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009"
    The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”), S. 386 and H.R. 1748, is an attempt by Congress to increase fraud enforcement efforts in the wake of the economic downturn. FERA includes a variety of provisions ranging from expansions of current statutes, a legislative reversal of United States v. Santos, 128 S. Ct. 2020 (2008), and additional appropriations for federal law enforcement. ...more

  • S. 378 & H.R. 1793 -- The "Money Laundering Control Enhancement Act of 2009" & The "Money Laundering Correction Act of 2009"
    S. 378 and H.R. 1793 seek to expand the scope of 18 U.S.C. § 1956, the current money laundering statute, by amending the term “proceeds” to include the gross receipts of a criminal activity. Additionally, the House bill modifies the statute to no longer require the defendant to have purposely concealed ill-gotten money, but rather to make evidence that the money was hidden sufficient for a conviction. ...more

  • S. 49 & H.R. 2822 -- The "Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act"
    This Act is the Congressional response to the instances of corruption by public officials that have come to light in recent years. Both bills substantially expand federal criminal statutes aimed at prosecuting public corruption by: (1) increasing the statute of limitations from 5 to 6 years for crimes involving bribery, extortion, theft of government property, mail fraud, and racketeering; (2) reducing the threshold amount for theft or bribery involving federally-assisted programs from $5,000 to $1,000 while increasing the maximum prison term for each offense from 10 to 15 years; (3) applying the statutes prohibiting embezzlement or theft of federal money or property to government officials and employees in the District of Columbia; (4) increasing the predicates for RICO prosecutions and wiretaps to include embezzlement or theft of government money or property; and (5) revising the crime of illegal gratuities to include gifts given “for or because of” the recipient’s public office rather than “for or because of any official act.” ...more

110th Congress (2007-2008)
  • H.R. 2438 -- The "Clean Up Government Act of 2007"
    A bill that would dramatically expand several white collar criminal statutes, H.R. 2438 proposes to both broaden the scope of an array of federal offenses and to increase prison sentences for certain bribery and theft crimes. In addition to altering statutes dealing with bribery of and unlawful gratuities given to public officials and witnesses and embezzlement or theft of public funds or concerning programs receiving federal funding, the bill would also expand the federal mail and wire fraud statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343. ...more
  • H.R. 1050 -- "A Living Wage, Jobs For All Act of 2007"
    H.R. 1050, called “A Living Wage, Jobs For All Act,” sets forth a number of findings and a statement of policy declaring that Congress affirms basic rights regarding human dignity, personal security, collective bargaining, the environment, and voting. As part of a scheme to promote these goals, the Act, among other things, tasks every corporation registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission with filing an annual report with the Commission including full disclosure of information on how the corporation’s activities have impacted on “environmental quality, on child labor, and on the rights of other stakeholders, including employees, consumers, and communities.” The bill also calls for states to require similar annual reports from all state-chartered corporations. The bill proposes that corporations that have been particularly “responsible” with regard to the environment and stakeholder rights should be singled out for award. ...more
  • H.R. 845 -- The "Criminal Restitution Improvement Act of 2007"
    The “Criminal Restitution Improvement Act of 2007,” H.R. 845, is designed to overhaul and consolidate federal law relating to restitution in criminal cases. The bill would require a court to “order a convicted defendant to make restitution for all pecuniary loss to identifiable victims, including pecuniary loss resulting from physical injury to, or the death of, another, proximately resulting from the offense.” In addition, it would expand the extent of such restitution to include specifically attorneys’ fees incurred by a victim during his or her participation in the investigation or prosecution of the offense. ...more
  • S. 453 -- The "Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007"
    The “Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007” is an attempt by Congress to respond to a perceived threat to the integrity of modern federal elections posed by practices designed to mislead, confuse or intimidate potential voters. Among other things, the bill adds several new prohibitions to the federal voter intimidation statute, 18 U.S.C. § 594. It criminalizes specifically the distribution, or production with intent to distribute, within 60 days before an election, of false or misleading information regarding (1) the time, place or manner of a federal election; (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility for such an election; and (3) the explicit endorsement by any person or organization of a candidate running for office. ...more
  • S. 119 -- The "War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007"
    S. 119, which was reported to the Senate on May 15 as amended by the Judiciary Committee, would create two new federal felonies (carrying enhanced sentences) for certain conduct that is already covered by the United States Code. The bill would apply to conduct involving a contract, or the provision of goods or services, in connection with a war or other military, reconstruction, or relief activities. Under the bill, a person who in wartime knowingly and willfully executes or attempts a scheme or artifice to defraud the United States or materially overvalues any good or service with the specific intent to defraud would be punishable by a fine of $1 million or twice the proceeds of the offense and up to 20 years in prison. ...more
  • S. 118 -- The "Effective Corruption Prosecutions Act of 2007"
    As a means to provide investigators and prosecutors further “tools” to prosecute corruption offenses, the “Effective Corruption Prosecutions Act of 2007” would extend the statute of limitations for bribery or unlawful gratuities involving public officials or witnesses (18 U.S.C. § 201), federal program bribery (18 U.S.C. § 666), mail and wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343) involving a scheme to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services of a public official, and interference with commerce or interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises (18 U.S.C. §§ 1951-52) from 5 to 8 years. An essentially identical bill, H.R. 1872, has been introduced in the House. ...more


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