In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress authorized the largest stimulus relief package in U.S. history, offering hundreds of billions of dollars to businesses suffering economic hardships through a variety of initiatives, including the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, Provider Relief Fund, Restaurant Revitalization Fund, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Federal investigators and prosecutors have mobilized quickly to combat fraud in connection with these programs and to ensure that relief funds were disbursed, and spent, properly.
This session will explore the fast-moving landscape of pandemic-fueled investigations and prosecutions, with a focus on the early criminal prosecutions, anticipated enforcement trends, and identifying areas of risk for recipients of federal aid. The panel will also address the increasing use of civil penalty statutes such as the False Claims Act and FIRREA and the key role of whistleblowers in rooting out possible fraud. In the face of this unprecedented wave of federal scrutiny of businesses receiving COVID-19 relief, the opportunities for white-collar criminal defense lawyers and forensic accountants are greater than at any point in recent history.
Learning Objectives:
Fox Rothschild LLP
Partner
[email protected]
(215) 299-2765
Matthew D. Lee is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia. He is co-chair of the firm's White-Collar Criminal Defense & Regulatory Compliance practice group and maintains an extensive tax controversy practice. Mr. Lee regularly represents individuals and businesses in criminal and civil tax matters, including criminal tax investigations, prosecutions, and proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service, such as audits, appeals, and collection matters.
Fox Rothschild LLP
Partner
[email protected]
(973) 994-7573
Matthew is an experienced criminal and civil trial attorney whose diverse national practice focuses predominantly on white-collar criminal and regulatory defense and complex commercial litigation. He serves as the co-chair of Fox Rothschild’s White-Collar Criminal Defense & Regulatory Compliance practice group. He holds leadership roles in the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (Officer) and the Essex County, New Jersey Bar Association (Trustee).
Known for his sophisticated command of emerging issues at the intersection of technology and the law, Matthew is exceptionally knowledgeable in e-discovery, digital forensics, data privacy, social networking, and cybersecurity. His clients routinely rely upon him to advance their interests by using technology-driven evidence like e-mails, text messages, internet IP address and intrusion analysis, metadata, and cellular tower triangulation, to name just a few.
WithumSmith+Brown, PC
Partner
[email protected]
(732) 828-1614
Jessica Hollobaugh has over 16 years of diversified public accounting experience. The traditional accounting background attained earlier in her career is leveraged in providing a wide range of consulting services in connection with complex civil, and criminal litigation. She performs complex forensic investigations to uncover fraud and embezzlement schemes and specializes in providing forensic accounting, economic damage calculations, professional liability matters, bankruptcy litigation, business valuations, shareholder disputes, and matrimonial litigations to attorneys, corporations, and individuals.
Jessica has been recognized as a leader in the field of forensic accounting, having been awarded the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Forensic and Valuation Services Standing Ovation Award in 2016, and the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) 40 under 40 Award in 2018. Because of her strong commitment to client service, Jessica was also recognized by Withum as a 2017 nominee and 2018 winner of the firm’s prestigious Strength in Client Service Award.
Jessica is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of New Jersey, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and holds the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential. She is a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA) and the AICPA. Jessica is a member of the AICPA’s Forensic and Valuation Services Group and has served on the AICPA’s Certified Financial Forensics (CFF) examination task force. Jessica is also a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice and Litigation sections, and is an active supporter of the Essex County Bar Association (ECBA) and the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDL-NJ).