Tag Archives: Jonathan S. Kanter

DOJ Announces Government Procurement Collusion Strike Force

by Craig A. Benson, Joseph J. Bial, Andrew C. Finch, Andrew J. Forman, Kenneth A. Gallo, Jonathan S. Kanter, Mark F. Mendelsohn, William B. Michael, Jane B. O’Brien, Jeannie S. Rhee, Jacqueline P. Rubin, Charles F. “Rick” Rule, Aidan Synnott, and Mark R. Laramie. 

On November 5, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it – along with the FBI, the Department of Defense (DOD), the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) – is forming a new government Procurement Collusion Strike Force. The strike force will focus “on deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting” collusion among companies and individuals involved in government procurement at all levels. Within the DOJ, the strike force will involve prosecutors from the Antitrust Division and thirteen United States Attorney’s offices from around the country, including Chicago, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Sacramento and Washington, D.C.  In addition to involvement by the Offices of Inspector General (OIG) of the DOD, USPS and GSA, the task force will also partner with other federal agency OIGs.  The announcement was made by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim.  During the announcement, Mr. Delrahim noted that “today, more than one third of the Antitrust Division’s 100-plus open investigations relate to public procurement or otherwise involve the government being victimized by criminal conduct.” Continue reading →

Social Media Bot Company Devumi LLC Reaches $2.5 Million Settlement with FTC for Sale of Misleading Social Media “Influence Indicators”

by Christopher D. Frey, Roberto J. Gonzalez, Jeh Charles Johnson, Jonathan S. Kanter, Claudine Meredith-Goujon, Lorin L. Reisner, Jeannie S. Rhee, Richard C. Tarlowe, Alessandra Baniel-Stark, Daniel J. Klein, and Taylor C. Williams.

Background

On October 21, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) settled its first-ever complaint against a company for selling fake indicators of social media influence such as phony likes, follows, views, and subscribers to users on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Vine, and SoundCloud.[1] The company, Devumi LLC (“Devumi”), and its CEO, German Calas, Jr., settled the enforcement action with a $2.5 million fine.[2] The company was dissolved in 2018.[3]  Reporting suggested that Devumi maintained an estimated stock of at least 3.5 million automated accounts, thousands of which used personal details of real social media users (who had not engaged Devumi’s clients with follows, likes, etc.), and that these accounts were used to generate the false indicators of social media influence.[4] 

The FTC found, for example, that Devumi filled more than 58,000 orders for fake Twitter followers from a diverse set of buyers, including actors, athletes, musicians, investment professionals, lawyers, and experts who wanted to increase their appeal as influencers or otherwise boost their credibility.[5] Devumi filled over 800 orders for fake LinkedIn followers to marketing and public relations firms, consulting firms, and financial services companies, among others.[6] Continue reading →

Preparing for an Uptick in Congressional Investigations of Corporations

by Susanna M. Buergel, H. Christopher Boehning, Jessica S. Carey, Michael E. Gertzman, Roberto J. Gonzalez, Udi Grofman, Jeh Charles Johnson, Jonathan S. Kanter, Brad S. Karp, Mark F. Mendelsohn, and Alex Young K. Oh

Beginning next month, Democrats will control the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010.  Given the pent-up demand for House Democrats to make robust use of their oversight and investigative authorities, the current relative lull in congressional investigations of corporations is expected to end.  Corporations across sectors should anticipate an uptick in investigative activity. 

In addition to holding the majority for the first time in nearly a decade, this will be the first time that Democrats control the House since a 2015 rule change that empowered a number of committee chairs to subpoena witnesses or documents unilaterally.  The chairs of the following committees, among others, have this authority: Energy and Commerce; Financial Services; Intelligence; Judiciary; Natural Resources; and  Oversight and Government Reform.[1] Continue reading →