C ORPORATE C RIME R EPORTER

Let’s Keep That Corporate Pre-Trial Agreement Under Wraps, Okay?

23 Corporate Crime Reporter 8, February 20, 2009



You are a big shot lawyer.

You represent a big shot corporation.

The government is investigating your client for major criminal activity.

You are negotiating with the government for a pre-trial settlement.

You don’t want the company indicted.

You are willing to enter into one of those corporate deferred or non-prosecution agreements.

But you don’t want the settlement agreement itself to be made public.

Let’s keep that thing under wraps, your client demands.

Is that something that can be negotiated with the Justice Department?

Apparently, the answer is – yes.

The agreements between the Justice Department and corporate defendants are just that – negotiated agreements.

So, why not negotiate?

In 2007, attorneys for The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity did just that.

The association was founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon.

The case involved the alleged illegal capture of thousands of undersized – under 36 inches in length – leopard sharks out of the San Francisco Bay and selling them to aquarium dealers in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

The attorneys cut a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco.

As part of the deal, the association agreed to pay the government $500,000.

May we see a copy of the agreement?

No you may not, the U.S. Attorney’s office says.

Why not?

The parties agreed that it will not be made public.

How many of these negotiated secret corporate settlements are there out there?

Is it possible that there are more secret corporate settlements that the public doesn’t know about?

No comment, says Criminal Division spokesperson Laura Sweeney.

Home

