Gregory Rosen Quoted in Bloomberg Law on SPLC Indictment

Rogers Joseph O’Donnell, PC shareholder Gregory P. Rosen shared his thoughts with Bloomberg Law on the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). 

The Bloomberg Law article quoting Rosen focuses on the DOJ’s use of a lesser-known bank-deception statute to indict the SPLC, while omitting any evidence of intent to influence a financial institution through false statements. Notably, the law does not prohibit only misleading statements, but the DOJ uses “false” and “misleading” interchangeably throughout the indictment. 

The use of both disjunctives and conjunctives in the indictment raises concerns about exactly how the grand jury was instructed and whether the indictment was properly pled. This will likely lead to more motions practice, especially as it relates to grand jury minutes and instructions.

“The use of that language, understanding recent case law on that front, triggers an inquiry as to what the grand jury was instructed,” Rosen told Bloomberg Law. 

Rosen is a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted fraud cases while with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. A member of RJO’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Government Contracts Practice Groups, he represents clients in criminal and regulatory matters involving the False Claims Act, particularly in the field of government contracts, procurement and federal fund recipient fraud. He also handles high-stakes financial and regulatory investigations, among other matters.