This chapter provides an overview of the potential fines, penalties and other collateral consequences to corporates and individuals facing enforcement actions brought by authorities under United States federal law. The government’s use of monetary fines and penalties has remained a dynamic area as authorities pursue enforcement in traditional areas such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering statutes and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), emerging areas such as cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, and the application of traditional enforcement to new areas, such as the prosecution of false opioid marketing and covid-19 relief fraud under the False Claims Act (FCA).
In recent years, both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have exacted significant financial penalties through enforcement actions and settlements. For example, in the fiscal year ending in September 2021, the DOJ obtained more than US$5.6 billion in total settlements and judgments from FCA cases alone[2] – more than double the US$2.2 billion the DOJ secured in the prior fiscal year.[3] This significant increase is largely attributable to the DOJ’s US$2.8 billion FCA settlement with major pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma for its alleged role in the opioid crisis.[4] Also in Fiscal Year 2021, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York alone collected nearly US$250 million in criminal...
CLAIM: Video claiming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had resigned. RATING: FALSE A YouTube video falsely claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had stepped down from office amid continue...