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Department Of Justice Announces Enhanced Efforts Towards White-Collar Crime Enforcement And Creation Of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team
10/13/2021In back-to-back speeches last week, senior Department of Justice (“DOJ”) officials emphasized that the Department would devote additional resources and attention to white-collar enforcement actions, with a specific focus on enforcement in the cryptocurrency space. These initiatives, which contemplate additional corporate enforcement actions, reflect a break from the prior administration’s criminal enforcement priorities, which tended to focus on immigration and violent crime offenses.
First, speaking in New York on October 5, 2021, John Carlin, the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, announced that the DOJ would “redouble” its commitment to the enforcement of white-collar criminal violations and specifically noted that the Department would increase its focus on corporate misconduct as compared to recent years. Carlin said that enhanced resources have already been devoted to the prosecution of white-collar crime and he previewed several new initiatives to boost enforcement, including one that will embed FBI agents within the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Carlin, who also served as a DOJ political appointee during the Obama administration, indicated that the Biden DOJ will build on Obama-era efforts in the area of corporate criminal enforcement by assessing its corporate enforcement policies and practices, including how and when the DOJ uses corporate resolutions and cooperation credit, and policies regarding individual accountability. Carlin also stated that the DOJ would continue to use non-prosecution agreements and deferred prosecution agreements, which allow companies to avoid criminal charges if they undertake certain reforms, but he emphasized serious scrutiny for those that receive the benefits of such agreements. Carlin highlighted sanctions and anti-money laundering as specific enforcement areas of interest.
The following day, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET”), to tackle criminal misuse and exploitation of cryptocurrency. NCET is intended to foster the DOJ’s expertise in cryptocurrency and blockchain and support international, federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement authorities as they encounter these novel technologies. Under the supervision of Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr., NCET will reportedly combine the expertise of the Criminal Division’s various sections, including the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (“MLARS”) and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (“CCIPS”). NCET will pursue its own investigations and support investigations undertaken by the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Monaco said that NCET will be informed by the DOJ’s October 2020 Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework and build upon MLARS’s Digital Currency Initiative.
Monaco’s remarks and the creation of NCET come on the heels of several groundbreaking SEC enforcement actions involving cryptocurrencies and blockchain that were announced in August of this year and further underscore that federal financial enforcers are paying close attention to these emerging technologies.
