April 2024 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Crypto Mixer Execs Arrested Over $2B In Illicit Transactions
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Crypto Mixer Execs Arrested Over $2B In Illicit Transactions <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829272?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> By Aislinn Keely New York federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they have arrested the co-founders of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet over their operation of a crypto service that authorities say executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions. Indictment attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829272?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829272?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…>

1 0

Chancery Lets $344M Carlyle Tax-Payout Suit Move Ahead
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Chancery Lets $344M Carlyle Tax-Payout Suit Move Ahead <https://www.law360.com/delaware/articles/1829169?nl_pk=8f2e5a76-bb66-462b-a…> By Leslie A. Pappas A vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery on Wednesday refused to toss most claims in a stockholder suit led by a Pittsburgh pension fund targeting a $344 million tax-asset buyout at The Carlyle Group Inc., though she did trim the suit by a single count. Opinion attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/delaware/articles/1829169?nl_pk=8f2e5a76-bb66-462b-a…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/delaware/articles/1829169?nl_pk=8f2e5a76-bb66-462b-a…>

1 0

BREAKING: Weinstein's Rape Conviction Overturned By NY Top Court
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

BREAKING: Weinstein's Rape Conviction Overturned By NY Top Court <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829482?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> By Rachel Scharf New York's highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction on Wednesday and granted a new trial to the disgraced movie mogul, holding that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office should not have been allowed to present evidence of uncharged crimes. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829482?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829482?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…>

1 0

Wall Street?s Judge Shopping Continues: It?s Trying to Stop the FTC?s Ban on Worker Handcuffs Known as Non-Compete Agreements
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/04/wall-streets-judge-shopping-continue… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 25, 2024 ~ Sullivan & Cromwell, the go-to law firm for Wall Street in the past, has become a case study in how not to manage one’s corporate reputation. (See Wall Street’s Go-To Law Firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, Got in Bed with Crypto; Now Its Reputation Is Being Hammered.) Apparently, having previously represented FTX fraudster, Sam Bankman-Fried, and then grabbing FTX’s bankruptcy proceeding and billing $180 million, is not enough shame for Sullivan & Cromwell to heap on its reputation. It is now listed as the Big Law firm that filed a federal lawsuit yesterday on behalf of the corporate front groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and others, to stop the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) new rule banning non-compete agreements for most workers. (An 8-attorney law firm in Texas, Potter Minton, is also listed on the filing for the plaintiffs.) Sullivan & Cromwell’s filing of the lawsuit came just one day after the FTC announced its final rule banning the non-compete agreements, which suppress workers’ ability to advance their careers and advocate for higher wages. The ruling follows an anti-trust focused Executive Order signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 that asked the FTC to ban or restrict clauses in employment agreements that hinder workers’ freedom to change jobs. Sullivan & Cromwell is headquartered in New York. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is headquartered in Washington, D.C. as is the Federal Trade Commission. But the lawsuit against the FTC was filed in a U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas. The watchdog, Accountable.US, has released a statement assigning nefarious motives to the court venue selected by the plaintiffs. It wrote: “Predictably, the U.S. Chamber has once again filed their lawsuit in Texas federal court to ensure it falls under the jurisdiction of the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals despite facing increased scrutiny for venue and judge shopping with lawsuits aiming to block pro-consumer and worker regulations to protect record corporate profits.” Accountable.US released a study showing court cases filed in courts within the Fifth Circuit where corporate interests attempted to trample on worker or consumer rights by overturning federal agency issued rules. It noted that just last month the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had filed a lawsuit in another U.S. District Court within the Fifth Circuit that challenged the Consumer Financial Protection Agency’s (CFPB’s) recent ruling that capped credit card late fees at $8, which could save consumers approximately $10 billion a year in late fees. (Wall Street’s megabanks that issue their own credit cards are a major beneficiary of extracting billions of dollars in late fees from their credit card customers.) Another case brought in 2017 by the U.S. Chamber in a Fifth Circuit court went to the heart of preserving Wall Street’s private justice system which forces customers to sign away their rights to file claims against Wall Street firms before a jury of their peers in a public courtroom. Customers must contractually agree instead to have their cases heard by one of the deeply conflicted arbitration groups that get lucrative repeat business from Wall Street. Accountable.US writes: “In September 2017, the U.S. Chamber joined banking groups in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Texas aimed at blocking CFPB rulemaking banning forced arbitration clauses in financial services contracts, contesting it used ‘biased data.’ The Chamber later received a major victory when the Senate voted to overturn the law, subsequently dropping the case when former President Trump signed the law into action in November 2017.” The vote to overturn the consumer-friendly CFPB ruling on mandatory arbitration was so controversial that Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John Kennedy voted against it, abandoning their other gung-ho Republican colleagues. Senate Democrats voted to preserve the rule, which forced the Republicans to summon Vice President Mike Pence to cast the deciding vote to pass the repeal. President Trump signed the anti-consumer legislation into law. For our deep-dive reporting at the time, see Mike Pence Secures the No Law Zone Around Wall Street. Between Wall Street’s kangaroo-court private justice system, its non-compete agreements, its non-disclosure agreements, its non-disparagement agreements, and its insidious TROs (Temporary Restraining Orders), it’s no wonder Wall Street has also become a major crime center in America.

1 0

Boston Pension Doubles Down On Bid To Lead NYCB Suit
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Boston Pension Doubles Down On Bid To Lead NYCB Suit <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1828785?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> By Katryna Perera Boston's municipal pension plan and its attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP stood firm on their bid to lead a proposed securities class action against New York Community Bancorp, saying their chief rival for lead status bought their shares too late and is too sketchy to be a potential plaintiff. Memorandum attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1828785?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1828785?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…>

1 0

GAO Says Space Force Deal Protest Timely But Unwarranted
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

GAO Says Space Force Deal Protest Timely But Unwarranted <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829123?nl_pk=4126fe73-…> By Daniel Wilson The U.S. Government Accountability Office ruled that a protest over a U.S. Space Force research support contract submitted pre-deadline but deleted by an email server was timely, but said the Space Force properly excluded the protester's deficient bid from consideration. Decision attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829123?nl_pk=4126fe73-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829123?nl_pk=4126fe73-…>

1 0

UPMC Affiliate Can't Avoid False Claims Suit Over NIH Grant
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

UPMC Affiliate Can't Avoid False Claims Suit Over NIH Grant <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829249?nl_pk=4126fe73-…> By Matthew Santoni A research foundation affiliated with a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital can't duck a former employee's claims that the foundation mishandled grant money and fired her for raising concerns, though UPMC itself is off the hook, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Opinion attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829249?nl_pk=4126fe73-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/governmentcontracts/articles/1829249?nl_pk=4126fe73-…>

1 0

Binance Founder Should Get 3 Years, Not Probation, Feds Say
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Binance Founder Should Get 3 Years, Not Probation, Feds Say <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1829099?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…> By Aislinn Keely Federal prosecutors asked a Washington federal judge to sentence Binance founder Changpeng Zhao to three years over his failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program at his crypto exchange, but the founder said jail time isn't necessary since he's already paid "massive" fines and comparable cases haven't resulted in prison sentences. 2 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1829099?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1829099?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…>

1 0

Kwok Jurors To Be Anonymous Amid Harassment Concerns
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Kwok Jurors To Be Anonymous Amid Harassment Concerns <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829247?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> By Hilary Russ Jurors who will decide the criminal fraud and racketeering case against exiled Chinese billionaire Ho Wan Kwok will be anonymous and partially sequestered, a New York federal judge said on Wednesday, ruing that if their identities are revealed they could face the same harassment that befell Kwok's bankruptcy trustee. 4 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829247?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/newyork/articles/1829247?nl_pk=ac5a3855-e47c-4403-be…>

1 0

Healthcare Co. Reaches Deal To Exit Pension Plan Suit
by Gunnar Larson 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Healthcare Co. Reaches Deal To Exit Pension Plan Suit <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1828833?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> By Emmy Freedman A healthcare company struck a deal with a class of retirement plan participants to end their suit accusing it of stacking its $500 million pension plan with costly funds and failing to keep fees low, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court. Report attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1828833?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1828833?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…>

1 0