In this episode, I visit with Lauren Briggerman, a member at the firm of Miller & Chevalier. She discusses the latest edition of the firm newsletter, Executives at Risk: Navigating Individual Exposure in Government Investigations-Spring 2017. We discuss several recent developments in significant government investigations which highlight the tactics prosecutors are deploying and the risks faced by corporate executives:
- German authorities raided an outside law firm retained by Volkswagen's supervisory board in the emissions investigation, as well as the offices of the company's Audi division.
- U.S. agents conducted a multi-agency raid of three Caterpillar Inc. offices in Illinois related to the company's effort to shift billions in profit from the U.S. to a Swiss affiliate to secure a favorable tax rate.
- The founding partners of the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal were arrested by Panamanian authorities on money laundering charges related to Brazil's ongoing "Operation Carwash" corruption investigation.
- The DOJ's Antitrust Division raided the domestic shipping container industry's trade association and issued subpoenas to numerous companies in the industry.