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The FBI is the leading agency investigating corporate fraud and has focused its efforts on cases which involve accounting schemes, self-dealing by corporate executives and obstruction of justice. The majority of corporate fraud cases pursued by the FBI involve accounting schemes designed to deceive investors, auditors and analysts about the true financial condition of a corporation. The FBI has worked with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the North American Securities Administrator’s Association, Inc. These organizations have referred fraud investigation expert witnesses and other technical assistance regarding accounting and securities issues. In addition, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Dunn & Bradstreet have been able to provide significant background information on subject individuals or subject companies in an investigation.

Corporate fraud remains the highest priority of the Financial Crimes Section and the FBI is committed to dealing with the significant crime problem. As of the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, 490 Corporate Fraud cases are being pursued by FBI field offices throughout the U.S., 19 of which involve losses to public investors that individually exceed $1 billion.

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Don Boyken, chief executive of Boyken International, a consulting and building project management company, says look for a commercial real estate crisis to follow the residential real estate slump. “We have found that when the residential market moves, the commercial market moves 12 to 18 months later,” says Boyken.”When the economy goes down, commercial litigation increases,” he says. Representatives of his company often are called as commercial real estate expert witnesses, so they have a first-hand sense of how much litigation is going on. DailyReport also writes:

“In a good economy, owners [of projects] and contractors want to move on to the next project, so they come to a settlement” when there is a dispute, Boyken says. “When things turn down, contractors go after every dollar that’s out there.” Positions become more entrenched because there is no next project to move on to, he says, and more suits get filed. Most commonly, contractors sue owners or developers and trades people sue the contractors to get paid. Litigators who specialize in the construction industry will see “the start of a wave of business headed toward them,” Boyken predicted.

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In Defending Lead-Containing Toy Lawsuits, Ryan L. Nilson and Michael R. Carey explore ways to challenge plaintiffs’ lead poisoning expert witnesses in lead toy exposure litigation. They write:

Among United States toy manufacturers, lead content is regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC regulations apply to everything from metal alloys used in toy jewelry to the paint that covers the toys themselves. But CPSC regulations do not apply to the manufacture of toys abroad. Nevertheless, domestic distributors and retailers remain liable under state product liability laws for the harmful effect of foreign-made products that they place into the stream of commerce.

Evidence of Exposures is Not Proof of Causation

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Dish Network asked a federal appeals court this past week to rehear the TiVo patent-infringement case, alleging that a TiVo expert witness gave contradictory testimony. In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling that Dish violated TiVo’s “Time Warp” software patent and affirmed the judgment against the satellite operator for $94 million in damages. Dish said this week that one of TiVo’s patents expert witnesses contradicted himself and argued that the infringement verdict was not “supported by substantial evidence.” Broadcastnewsroom.com also reports:

EchoStar argued that a TiVo expert witness, Jerry Gibson, testified at one point that a Broadcom chip in Dish’s digital video recorder included software that extracted audio and video from a physical data source (a process he said pertained to the Time Warp patent). At another point, however, Gibson identified the Dish DVR’s “Ioctl command” as the software that extracted audio and video ” a command, according to Dish, that’s handled by a separate data-buffering memory chip, not the Broadcom chip. “The two parts of Dr. Gibson’s testimony the [appeals court] panel considered are thus in conflict,” Dish said in its petition. In a statement, TiVo said: “This appeal was expected and we remain confident we will prevail in this appeal.”

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Former University of Minnesota football player Dominic Jones, 21, is accused of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His defense attorney is asking for a “sexologist” as a witness and for the state to pay the bill for the expert’s testimony. The St. Paul lawyer Earl Gray lost the battle to keep the jury from seeing a cell phone video and photos, taken by a witness to the alleged assault which purportedly show Jones ejaculating on the woman. Gray hopes to convince jurors that some people view that as playful and not sexual abuse. Jones was charged after an 18-year-old woman said he and three other players got her drunk on vodka and then took turns having sex with her. Twincities.com writes:

Gray said in court papers his expert witness will testify that while some people view ejaculation as an act of hostility or aggression, others see it as “a symbol of closeness, sexual bonding or sexual competence.”

Sorry counselor, but from my perspective as a woman, a sexual abuse expert witness and not a “sexologist” is called for.

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Troy Critchley, a Queensland drag racer, has been charged with six counts of vehicular homicide in Tennessee. Six people were killed and 22 were injured when Critchley’s car ploughed into a crowd of spectators at a charity drag racing event. The racer was performing a “burnout routine” in June of 2007 when he lost control of his car and crashed. Race car builder Bobby Umstead testified as an automotive expert witness for Critchley and said that revving the motor did not affect the speed of Critchley’s dragster.
Couriermail.com reports:

An internationally-recognized expert in crash reconstruction and mechanical inspections was hired to conduct a comprehensive vehicle autopsy of the race car, with the evidence turned over to District Attorney General Mike Dunavant.

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Steve Rosen, American Israel Public Affairs Committee former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, face charges that they traded in secrets. Carl Ford, the State Department’s top intelligence official from 2001 to 2003 will serve as a foreign policy expert witness for the defense. PittChron.com also reports:

The heart of the 2005 indictment is a sting operation conducted a year earlier in which a government agent told the defendants that he had information that could prevent the imminent killing of Israelis. Rosen and Weissman relayed the information – which turned out to be a fiction – to journalists and Israeli diplomats…

Ford’s leadership coincides with much of the timeline cited in the indictment against Rosen and Weissman. He would have been privy to much of the specific information they allegedly received.

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In Defending Lead-Containing Toy Lawsuits, Ryan L. Nilson and Michael R. Carey explore ways to challenge plaintiffs’ lead poisoning expert witnesses in lead toy exposure litigation. They write:

An injured child epitomizes the sympathetic plaintiff. Not surprisingly, therefore, children injured by toys containing lead have captured the attention of the plaintiff’s bar. Proving – or disproving – exposure, causation, and damages in lead poisoning cases, however, is not child’s play…

Lead is everywhere in our environment. Its most prevalent source is leaded-fuel exhaust that, for decades, has accumulated in the soil and entered our bodies as dust. Exposure also occurs in residential homes when lead paint peels and flakes off walls and children ingest the chips or when drrinking water becomes contaminated by lead piping and solder used in home plumbing.

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Ever wonder and/or worry about what would happen if your car was stolen? Rob Painter, forensic locksmith, automotive expert witness, and principal of Rob Painter & Associates, can tell you. In this excerpt he writes on forced entry:

The first thing you must know is that vehicles are not secure. Commonly equipped with electronic door locking systems, the insured might assumed he locked the door when in fact it did not lock by use of the transmitter. Forced entry tools are readily available to anyone on the Web. Most leave no obvious signs of damage. You lock your keys in your car. You call a locksmith. He opens the car doing no damage and yet when working for the insurance company, he observed no signs of forced entry. Strange but true. On 99.9% of the thousands of vehicles I have examined, they were always unlocked at the time of my examination.

Insurance companies deem vehicles with anti theft systems “Unstealable.” This is interesting because even the manufacturer of the vehicle does not guaranty their vehicle can’t be stolen or they would warranty it accordingly. Who do we believe? The manufacturer that makes the vehicle? Or the insurance company and their experts?

From Mr. Rob Painter, http://www.autotheftexpert.com/

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The jury begins deliberating today in the fraud trial of celebrity autopsy expert witness Cyril Wecht. Wecht is charged in a 41-count federal indictment with using his former Allegheny County coroner’s staff and resources to help him earn millions doing autopsies for hire. The expert witness has become a famous author, TV pundit and public speaker on high-profile cases in which he was involved, including the deaths of Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Claus von Bulow. FortMillTimes.com also writes:

Wecht is also accused of cheating some private clients with phony limousine bills and other bogus travel expenses. Finally, he faces the macabre allegation that he traded as many as 16 unclaimed county morgue cadavers for laboratory space at a Pittsburgh university in recent years. Wecht’s attorneys have argued the indictment is a laundry list of administrative peccadilloes, not federal crimes.