In a unanimous 8-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the political corruption convictions of former Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell for conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and Hobbs Act extortion and making false statements to federal officials. McDonnell v. United States, No. 15-474, 579 U.S. ___ (2016).

McDonnell and his wife,

Former Virginia governor, Robert F. McDonnell, and his wife, Maureen McDonnell, were convicted last week of trading their political influence for loans and gifts.  Mr. McDonnell was pronounced guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion, while his wife was convicted of 9 counts.

Mr. McDonnell was a rising political star and a much

The Fifth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of two Relators’ claims brought under the Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733 based on the Relators’ lack of personal knowledge of the information in their Complaint.  In requiring a federal False Claims Act relator to be an original source of the information underlying the

An effective anti-corruption program is important for any company covered by Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which bars American companies from bribing officials overseas.

The World Bank and its partners have released the “Anti-Corruption Ethics and Compliance Handbook for Business,” billed as a new resource developed by companies, for companies. (Available at http://www.oecd.org/g20/topics/anti-corruption/anti-corruption-ethics-and-compliance-handbook-for-business.htm