Our team has extensive experience in handling a wide range of cases involving allegations of business or securities fraud, including matters pertaining to stock price manipulation, “pump and dump” schemes, revenue recognition practices, fraudulent or negligent misrepresentations to investors, shareholders or lending institutions, insider trading and Ponzi schemes.

MNR Recent Cases:

• We represented Jeri Shapiro, the wife of Woodbridge Financial Group’s principal and CEO, Robert Shapiro, in related DOJ and SEC proceedings, and secured a binding non-prosecution agreement for her in 2019. Federal authorities alleged that Woodbridge defrauded thousands of investors in an $3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme that marketed real estate investment products. Ms. Shapiro was the nominee owner of several closely-held companies that received tens of millions of dollars at the direction of her husband, who ultimately pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. We also resolved all related SEC charges against Ms. Shapiro with no finding or admission of wrongdoing and a fully-satisfied disgorgement judgment of $100,000 dollars.

• We represented Tim Murray, one of the nation’s leading ocular oncologists and retinal surgeons, in a DOJ probe and qui tam suit brought by a former colleague against him and the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami. The litigation concerned the medical efficacy of cutting-edge eye cancer and retinal surgical procedures pioneered by Dr. Murray. Ultimately, the DOJ declined to intervene in the qui tam suit and no charges were brought against our client and the University of Miami. Our client was fully vindicated and remains one of the most sought-after eye specialists in the United States.

• One of our partners represented The Wackenhut Corporation (now known as G4S Secure Solutions), a multinational security services company, in a well-publicized state criminal racketeering case. The probe concerned charges levied in a whistleblower lawsuit that the company had a practice of fraudulently billing Miami-Dade County for non-existent transit security shifts (an allegation referred to as “ghostposting”) provided to the county’s Metrorail system. Two executives of the company initially were arrested in the case. Ultimately, all charges were dismissed against them and the company was cleared of any wrongdoing.

• We represented a large Florida-based real estate development corporation accused of illegal mortgage lending practices involving millions of dollars of condominium property during the aftermath of the financial crisis, including the provision of undisclosed financial incentives to condominium buyers. Ultimately, after a multiyear investigation, we persuaded the DOJ that no charges were warranted.

• We represented Carlisle Development Group, LLC, a leading national affordable housing developer, in a federal probe of the affordable housing industry’s use of federal tax subsidies to finance development projects. No charges were brought against our client.

• U.S. v. Haller: MNR obtained a dismissal of charges against Frederic Haller, an investment banker who was charged with wire fraud along with several former executives of the now defunct Hamilton Bank. MNR persuaded the government to drop charges after an indictment was filed.  The other charged executives were convicted after a lengthy federal trial.  

• U.S. v. Mackenzie: One of our partners obtained an acquittal on all seven counts on behalf of a pharmaceutical executive accused of violating the federal Anti-kickback Act and Prescription Drug Marketing Act through the use of charitable contributions and research grants to New England-based physicians and hospital executives to obtain formulary status for a cancer treatment drug. The trial lasted nearly four months and received national attention.

• U.S. v. Pisoni: MNR obtained an acquittal of 12 of 13 criminal charges against Mr. Pisoni following a five-week federal trial. Mr. Pisoni was charged with masterminding a multimillion dollar international sweepstakes fraud scheme. Prior to trial, MNR moved to disqualify the prosecution for unlawfully invading the defense camp through the undisclosed use of a cooperating defendant as a spy who obtained privileged information on their behalf. The matter is still under review by the district court (almost 4 years later) and Pisoni is still a free man.

• U.S. v. Hernandez: MNR represented Bart Hernandez, a successful certified agent of the Major League Baseball Players Association, in what became known as the “Cuban Baseball Player” trial. The six-week trial, which received national media coverage, focused on how prominent MLB players from Cuba obtained MLB free agency status and ultimately visas to enter the U.S. and play professionally.  MNR was successful in having two of the four charges against Hernandez dismissed at the trial for lack of evidence. The jury convicted Hernandez of the remaining two charges. In the spring of 2020, MNR obtained a compassionate release for Mr. Hernandez over the objections of the government.

• U.S. v. Ribas: MNR represented Juan Ribas, a longtime insurance executive and the former head of Ecuador’s state-run insurance program, in an internationally-covered FCPA prosecution brought by the DOJ. The allegations concerned tens of millions in kickbacks related to the award of government insurance contracts. Ribas was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge and eventually received a sentence below the applicable advisory sentencing guideline range after the sentencing argument made by MNR.

• U.S. v. Juan Pablo Granda: MNR represented Granda, the former director of operations of NTR Metals (and one of “The Three Amigos”) in what became known as the “Dirty Gold” case – a case popularized into a book and upcoming tv series. The case involved a $3.6 billion money laundering scheme centered around illegally-mined gold from the Peruvian rainforest. Granda was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge and MNR was able to get him a sentence 40% less than the government’s recommendation and well below the advisory sentencing guideline range.

• U.S. v. Clinton: We represented the chief operating officer of NuMedCare, one of the largest compounding pharmacy management companies in the United States. Sixteen individuals were charged with orchestrating a $175 million dollar insurance fraud related to the manufacture and sale of compounded pain medications by NuMed and every defendant pled guilty. Based on the applicable sentencing guidelines, Clinton was facing decades in prison.  Instead, based on some creative variance arguments, MNR obtained a sentence of only five years – which represented a massive sentence reduction and ten years less than the CEO received.

• We represented a senior executive at a large multinational automaker in a DOJ criminal investigation accused of taking part in a scheme to fraudulently cheat federal vehicle emission tests. No charges were filed against our client.

• We represented a Miami-based investment company with a real estate portfolio of office buildings, multifamily developments, hotels, resorts, and self-storage facilities in excess of $500 million in a money laundering investigation in the Southern District of New York. No charges were filed against our client.

MNR has a well-regarded national tax litigation practice with particular experience in defending individuals and corporations in federal and state tax matters, including matters pertaining to offshore banking, government tax credit programs and income tax evasion. We also successfully have defended numerous targets and witnesses in large-scale DOJ criminal enforcement investigations. MNR also has wide experience defending clients in antitrust matters involving allegations of price fixing, bid rigging, monopolization and other alleged offenses involving the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

MNR Recent Cases:

• U.S. v. Grimm: Representation of New York Congressman Michael Grimm, who was charged with various tax offenses, fraud, perjury and obstruction. MNR was able to obtain the defendant an 8-month sentence, more than 70% less than the government’s request.

• U.S. v. Fresen: Representation of local state representative who was charged for failing to file tax returns for more than 10 years. MNR was able to resolve the case by pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor count which resulted in no jail time.

• U.S. v. Avi Stern: MNR successfully obtained a sentence of house arrest for a defendant charged by the DOJ Antitrust Division with bid rigging of public real estate foreclosure auctions. The case involved online auctions and was one of the first of its type.

• U.S. v. Jafari: Representation of Jeff Jafari who is charged in an Indictment out of the Northern District of Georgia with allegations of tax evasion and bribing the mayor of Atlanta in order to gain a concession at the Atlanta Airport.

• Representation of whistleblowers who received more than $20 million for having provided information relating to an IRS collection of more than $100 million from a taxpayer for not having disclosed a foreign bank account. This is one of the largest whistleblower awards ever paid by the IRS.

• Representation of a Latin American pop star for failure to properly report foreign assets associated with his family. The case is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

• Successful representation of an individual by creatively attacking the government’s theory that it is entitled to any disgorgement in a tax injunction case.

• Representation of an individual who is currently under investigation for having utilized a captive insurance company for potentially evading millions of dollars in taxes. This is one of the first criminal investigations related to the use of a captive insurance program.

• Successful resolution during trial of a suit filed by the United States Department of Justice against an individual for not timely filing Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs). The Justice Department sought $3 million in penalties.  After trial, while the jury was deliberating, the matter settled for a $1 million fine.  The lawsuit was the first of its type whereby the IRS was seeking a penalty against a Taxpayer for not having reported a bank account in which the Taxpayer did not have a financial interest in the account.

• Representation of a former professional athlete in assistance with compliance with United States tax obligations.

MNR possesses substantial experience defending and investigating complex Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions across the globe. Criminal FCPA enforcement continues to be a point of emphasis for federal prosecutors. More than 500 actions have been brought against corporations and individuals under the FCPA, and last year alone, more than $6.4 billion in fines and penalties were imposed against defendants. We regularly defend companies and senior corporate executives in FPA-focused DOJ and SEC inquiries and have wide experience in cases focused on conduct in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. We also successfully have handled a variety of FCPA matters involving fraud and corruption allegations investigated by Congress and the Department of Defense, including procurement-related investigations.

MNR Recent Cases:

• U.S. v. Ribas: MNR represented Juan Ribas, the former head of Ecuador’s state-run insurance program, in an internationally-covered FCPA prosecution brought by the DOJ. The allegations concerned tens of millions in kickbacks related to the award of government insurance contracts. Ribas was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge and eventually received a sentence below the applicable advisory sentencing guideline range after the sentencing presentation made by MNR.

• Successful representation of a large U.S. media company, in an internal investigation and DOJ criminal investigation as part of the FIFA soccer bribery scandal. MNR was able to convince the government that, based on a proposed compliance and mitigation plan, all fines should be paid by the global parent company, allowing our client, the U.S. subsidiary, to continue to operate without any sanctions or penalties.

• Successful representation where MNR convinced the DOJ to bring no charges against the CFO of a Fortune 500 Company with admitted FCPA violations regarding kickbacks paid to procure government contracts in the Americas.
• Successful representation of a U.S.-based technology company in an investigation being conducted by the SEC and DOJ into possible violations of the FCPA arising out of certain projects with the government of Mexico. No charges or penalties of any kind were imposed against our client.

• Successful representation of a U.S.-based engineering corporation as part of the wide-ranging DOJ investigation into PDVSA and Venezuelan energy contracts. No charges or penalties of any kind were imposed against our client. 

• Successful representation of a global military contractor in a federal criminal investigation related to the alleged payment of bribes and kickbacks to foreign government officials in violation of the FCPA. No charges or penalties of any kind were imposed against our client. 

• Successful representation of a global military contractor in various Congressional and Department of Defense inquiries into alleged kickback payments to foreign officials in Iraq and Afghanistan. No charges or penalties of any kind were imposed against our client. 

• Ongoing representation where MNR represents the family member of a former high-ranking government official in a cross-border investigation relating to government contracts awarded to Odebrecht SA. Odebrecht has admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes to at least 8 Latin American countries in order to obtain government contracts.

• Ongoing representation of a former executive of a private financial institution in  a federal criminal investigation related to payments made to family members of a former Brazilian foreign official implicated in the Operation Carwash case.

• Ongoing representation as pool counsel of several witnesses in a DOJ money laundering and FCPA investigation into allegations of lapses in anti-money laundering systems of a private financial institution related to the FIFA soccer bribery scandal.

• Ongoing representation of a Swiss banker under investigation for alleged FCPA violations and the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars for the Venezuelan government.

With decades of national health care litigation experience as former federal prosecutors and defense lawyers, we understand the intricacies of your business and industry and the high stakes that you face from aggressive government enforcement. We’ve won trial acquittals in high-profile federal health care prosecutions and quietly resolved “bet the company” government investigations without adverse publicity for our satisfied clients. Often, we are entrusted to successfully navigate clients through complex, parallel health care proceedings in criminal and civil actions. We also are experienced in serving as “pool counsel” for the employees of corporations and often are asked to conduct internal investigations on behalf of corporations, boards of directors or special committees. We also regularly defend clients served with “CIDs” in civil enforcement actions.

Our cases often involve allegations related to:

• Offering or receiving kickbacks and other financial inducements.

• Billing improprieties either for services not rendered, not medically indicated or necessary, upcoding and double billing.

• Filing of false claims with government health programs.

• Improper branding, labeling and dispensation of pharmaceuticals, devices and other products regulated by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

• Provision of inadequate or substandard medical care.

• Provision of experimental or cutting-edge medical treatments not in line with relevant standards of medical care.

• Improper sales and marketing of drugs, medical devices, and durable medical equipment.

• Creating or maintaining improper financial relationships in violation of the Stark Act.

MNR Recent Cases:

• Bascom Palmer: Representation of one of the nation’s leading ocular oncologists and retinal surgeons in the world, in a DOJ investigation regarding cutting-edge medical treatments performed at the University of Miami’s nationally-renowned Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. MNR was successful in convincing the government to not charge our client. A related qui tam suit brought by a rival physician also was dismissed.

• U.S. v. Scott Balotin: Balotin and others were indicted in October 2019 in the Northern District of Florida relating to a multimillion-dollar alleged fraud related to the marketing and selling of compound pain medications.  The case is set for trial in October 2021.

• U.S. v. Clinton/Numed: Representation of the chief operating officer of Numed, one of the largest compounding pharmacy management service companies in the U.S. 16 individuals were charged with orchestrating a $175 million dollar insurance fraud and every defendant pled guilty.  Based on the applicable sentencing guidelines, Clinton was facing decades in prison.  Instead, based on some creative variance arguments, MNR obtained a sentence of only five years – which represented a massive sentence reduction and ten years less than the CEO received.

• U.S. v. Esformes: Successfully convinced the government to bring no charges against a senior employee in U.S. v. Esformes, a case that has been described by the DOJ as the largest national healthcare fraud case to date. The allegations concerned more than $1 billion dollars of Medicare reimbursements to a network of assisted living facilities.

• U.S. v. Mackenzie: Successfully obtained an acquittal on all counts after a four-month federal trial for a senior sales executive of TAP Pharmaceuticals who was accused of violating the AKS through the use of kickbacks disguised as educational grants and charitable donations to hospitals.

• Successfully convinced the DOJ not to charge the Chief Medical Officer of a national hospital corporation in connection with an investigation into alleged violations of the AKS and Stark Law. The investigation centered around practices and policies concerning emergency room admissions and treatment.

• Successfully convinced the DOJ to bring no charges against the owners of a large diagnostic laboratory related to allegations of third-party payments in violation of the AKS and Stark Law.

• Successfully convinced the DOJ to bring no charges against a senior executive of a large medical rehabilitation center as part of a parallel DOJ/HHS investigation into allegations of billing fraud.

• Successfully convinced the DOJ to not bring any charges against a large national retail pharmacy related to allegations of misbranding and drug diversion.

• Successfully convinced HHS to bring no charges against owners of a medical clinic related to allegations of improper storage and dissemination of HIPAA-protected patient information.

• Successfully convinced the DOJ to not charge the owner of a specialty pharmacy, who was identified as a “target” prior to our engagement. The allegations concerned the payment of alleged kickbacks to sales and marketing representatives.

• Ongoing representation of the owner of a retail pharmacy related to federal payor and private insurance claims billing for prescription pain medication.

• Ongoing representation of 20 former sales representatives of a large multinational pharmaceutical company being criminally investigated by the DOJ for its sales and marketing practices.

• Ongoing representation of an officer of a medical device company in parallel civil and criminal DOJ investigation into allegations of inadequate reporting of adverse events to FDA regulators.

• Ongoing representation in a DOJ criminal investigation of a group of sales representatives over sales and marketing practices related to an opioid-based pain medication.

• Ongoing representation of the CEO of a national manufacturer of health care products in a criminal FDA investigation and a parallel civil False Claims Act investigation into company’s awareness of product defects that posed potential safety risks to patients.

• U.S. v. Cowan: MNR was able to obtain an almost 75% sentence reduction for a senior executive of a mental health center in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case.

• Successful internal investigation for a large for-profit health insurance corporation related to allegations that several managers engaged in a self-dealing scheme with company vendors. The investigation resulted in the for-cause termination of several managers and employees.

• Successful internal investigation for a professional sports franchise related to compliance with federal and state pharmaceutical and narcotics laws. As a result of the investigation and added compliance measures, the franchise incurred no adverse consequences.

Companies and their individual executives are the frequent targets of aggressive government enforcement under the far-reaching tools provided by federal securities laws. At MNR, we utilize our trial-ready skills and substantial experience to navigate our clients through the thicket of securities enforcement. Our team has extensive experience in defending a wide range of traditional and more novel cases brought by the DOJ and SEC, including allegations pertaining to stock price manipulation, market timing, accounting and disclosure fraud, revenue recognition, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, spoofing, options backdating, and the misappropriation of corporate assets.

MNR Recent Cases:

• Woodbridge Financial: Representation of Jeri Shapiro, the wife of Woodbridge Financial Group’s principal and CEO, Robert Shapiro, in related DOJ and SEC parallel proceedings, in which we secured a binding criminal non-prosecution agreement for her in 2019 from the DOJ. Federal authorities alleged that Woodbridge defrauded thousands of investors in a $3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme that marketed real estate investment products. Ms. Shapiro was the nominee owner of several closely-held companies that received tens of millions of dollars at the direction of her husband, who ultimately pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. We also resolved all related SEC charges against Ms. Shapiro with no finding or admission of wrongdoing and a fully-satisfied disgorgement judgment of $100,000 dollars.

• Successful representation of a former CFO of a large publicly-traded entertainment corporation where MNR convinced the SEC and DOJ to not charge its client related to alleged misstatements in the company’s corporate filings.

• Successful representation of the CFO of a large publicly-traded e-commerce corporation where MNR convinced the SEC and DOJ to not charge its client related to alleged misstatements and improper revenue recognition in the company’s corporate filings as well as “books and records” violations.

• Par Funding: Representation of Par Funding’s Head of Investor Relations (20-cv-81250). Prior to the SEC action, Par was one of the nation’s largest merchant cash advance businesses. The SEC moved ex parte to place the company in receivership and has raised allegations of improper registration and disclosure related to private note offerings that raised hundreds of millions of dollars from private placement funds and individuals. The court-appointed receiver also has described the business as a Ponzi scheme – though that allegation is being vigorously contested in the litigation.

• 1 Global Capital LLC: Representation of Carl Ruderman, the former chairman and CEO of 1 Global Capital, LLC (18-cv-61991). Prior to its bankruptcy, 1 Global was one of the nation’s largest merchant cash advance businesses. The SEC complaint alleged securities offering fraud and misappropriation of corporate assets violations. The SEC action sought more than $250 million in disgorgement and penalties. MNR secured a consent judgment, with no admissions of liability, for disgorgement and penalty amounts below a total of $33 million dollars.

• SEC v. Estate of David Brooks: Representation of the estate of David Brooks, the former CEO of Point Blank Solutions, in a $200 million securities fraud enforcement action brought in conjunction with parallel criminal, civil forfeiture and corporate bankruptcy proceedings in New York and Delaware. MNR secured a global settlement for the client (and Mr. Brook’s surviving spouse and children) that netted them more than $25 million dollars of previously-restrained assets held by the U.S. government as part of the prior criminal proceedings against Mr. Brooks for insider trading and securities fraud. The case also involved litigation of then-novel claims concerning the scope of the SEC’s disgorgement remedies in the wake of Kokesh v. SEC.   

• SEC v. Levin: Representation of George Levin, a successful entrepreneur who operated the largest “feeder” fund which invested in attorney Scott Rothstein’s notorious $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.  Mr. Levin was not charged criminally by the DOJ after a lengthy investigation that resulted in charges being filed against more than 15 individuals. MNR also represented Mr. Levin in a related SEC proceeding and obtained a significantly reduced penalty for the client after a  successful appeal in which we obtained a partial reversal of liability on an issue of first impression concerning the “safe harbor” regulatory exemption for the registration of securities. SEC v. Levin, No. 15-14375 (11th Cir.).

• Successful representation of the CEO of a New York investment firm in response to a SEC investigation into allegations of insider trading. No charges were pursued after a Wells submission was made by the defense team.

• Successful representation of a hedge fund CEO concerning alleged securities violations in several private placement offerings. No charges ultimately were brought by the DOJ/SEC.

• Successful representation of a former CFO for a private financial firm concerning alleged securities violations in several private placement offerings. No charges ultimately were brought by the DOJ/SEC.

• Pool counsel representation for wealth managers and supervisors of a large U.S. financial services corporation in an SEC investigation into various sales and referral practices with respect to banking, brokerage, and wealth management services.