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43 votes
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Is Intentional Bankruptcy Illegal?

Fraud england-and-wales northern-ireland This would be fraud under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006: (1) A person is in breach of this section if he — (a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and ...
JBentley's user avatar
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30 votes

Is Intentional Bankruptcy Illegal?

In some cases it it possible for courts to "pierce the corporate veil" and shift the liabilities of a corporation to its owner(s). This can be done in cases where there is no real separation ...
Nuclear Hoagie's user avatar
19 votes
Accepted

What can happen if the US President has violated campaign finance laws?

Let's start with the most important point first: A campaign finance violation is not a ground to remove an elected official from office, no matter how egregious, on its own, even if one could prove ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
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19 votes
Accepted

Do Donald Trump's actions constitute embezzlement?

Embezzlement is criminally prohibited by 18 USC 666, and this DoJ manual page on what is embezzlement cites the answer in Moore v. United States, 160 U.S. 268 that Embezzlement is the fraudulent ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
18 votes

Is it against the law to sell Bitcoin at a flea market?

Since sales are in dollar and the OP does not specify a jurisdiction, I will assume Washington state US. You may need a business license, depending on the municipality. There are various permits ...
user6726's user avatar
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15 votes
Accepted

Are trusts shielded from legal penalties?

the person you sued has a nice job and a beautiful home, but he put all his savings in a trust. Does that mean the law can't garnish his money, or can trusts be both discovered (I've heard that some ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
14 votes
Accepted

Student Loan from years ago pops up and is taking my salary

Defaulting on student loans is—along with back taxes and child support—one of the three cases where a court order is not required for wage garnishment. This article spells out remedies against such ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
12 votes
Accepted

Can Trump legally sell stocks on Friday, tweet about imposing tariffs on Sunday and then buy more of the stocks back on Monday?

There is no statutory definition of insider trading, and the question of who is included is answered by the SEC. It includes "Government employees who traded based on confidential information they ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
11 votes

Why don't US prosecutors press for imprisonment for crime in the banking industry?

Q: Why don't US prosecutors press for imprisonment for crime in the banking industry? Q. Why aren't US prosecutors (and UK prosecutors for that matter) not pressing for imprisonment in such ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
11 votes
Accepted

Is transfer pricing legal in the United States?

Transfer pricing is something that is required when related parties provide good or services to each other, in order to determine what part of the profit from the eventual sale of the goods or ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
10 votes
Accepted

Why is a company allowed to change the number of shares it’s divided into after its IPO?

There are two different kinds of transactions that are implicated by your question. The first is a stock stock split. This simply turns 1 share into X shares and trades out existing shares for new ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
10 votes
Accepted

Executive order by Trump on 2020-11-12 barring investment in publicly traded companies that the US says are owned/controlled by the Chinese military

The order itself is here. It applies to "any United States person", which includes citizens, LPRs, entities with a US basis, and any other person in the US including tourists. It applies to ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
10 votes

Do Donald Trump's actions constitute embezzlement?

Embezzlement is the action of an employee who, having access to or control over funds or things of value as a part of employment, improperly takes or gains possession of them, or converts them to ...
David Siegel's user avatar
9 votes
Accepted

Insider trading due to mis-sent email?

First of all, this is not insider trading: insider trading is using non-public information to trade a publicly tradable security. What this could be is misuse of confidential information - a civil ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 219k
9 votes
Accepted

Legal basis for "discretionary spending" vs. "mandatory spending" in the USA

"Mandatory" spending means spending that takes place without passage of a new appropriation bill, but it may still be modified by Congress. The only truly mandatory spending categories that ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
9 votes
Accepted

Can you initiate a lawsuit against Russia in the United States to recover seized assets?

Is it possible for an average person who happens to possess Russian dividend-paying shares, such as those of Gazprom, to initiate a lawsuit against the Russian government in U.S. courts to assert ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
9 votes

Is Intentional Bankruptcy Illegal?

In U.S. law, the most efficient way to address this would be with a fraudulent transfer claim, either within the bankruptcy, or in a separate action of the bankruptcy trustee, to "claw back" ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
8 votes

What was wrong with the 2010 Flash Crash?

The criminal complaint against Sarao can be found on the US Department of Justice's website. He was charged under four different sections of US Code: 18 USC 1343, which prohibits the use of inter-...
Michael Seifert's user avatar
8 votes
Accepted

If I discover information about a company through personal investigation can I act on it without being guilty of insider trading?

This is not insider trading To be an insider in the USA you must be a company officer, director or a beneficial owner of more than 10% of a class of the company's equity securities. You aren’t any of ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 219k
8 votes

Do FCA rules mean financial firms have to refuse service if their customers are not knowledgeable enough?

There is indeed a recent change to the FCA's rules concerning invitations to invest in cryptoassets. For these, and certain other kinds of sophisticated investments such as derivatives, the offering ...
alexg's user avatar
  • 7,455
8 votes
Accepted

If I'm about to do something that will cause a stock price to move, can I legally profit from it?

The question doesn't have an answer at the level of generality at which it is posed in the title. Sometimes it is legal, sometimes it isn't. In the narrow sense, if Osama bin Laden did that, it would ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
7 votes

Are universities legally allowed to adjust, or deny private loans?

Student loans work very differently than any other ordinary loan you could take out. They have explicit restrictions that limit what kinds of things you can use them for, including your tuition, books ...
animuson's user avatar
  • 4,335
7 votes

What was wrong with the 2010 Flash Crash?

I imagine it's not a crime to change your mind before the order goes through, but that's not really what this guy did. The allegation is instead that he never intended to follow through on those ...
bdb484's user avatar
  • 61.5k
7 votes
Accepted

What is the legality of two (or more) trade partners trading (i.e. billing) each other in a mutually agreed units of exchange

Assuming a bunch of economic actors across the world decide to conduct business in a basket of commodities (say Gold and silver) - and call each Unit of this basket "FooBar", what are the ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
7 votes
Accepted

Is it legal for an American citizen to obtain BRICS currency and then exchange those bills for U.S. dollars sometime in the future?

Is it legal for an American citizen to obtain [foreign] currency and then exchange those bills for U.S. dollars sometime in the future? This answer only considers the U.S. law implications, not the ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
6 votes

Could Trump bet on winning the presidential election?

It depends on the rules of the particular betting market and the laws under which it operates. Assuming that the bet itself is legal, it is not uncommon that participants in the contest are not ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 219k
6 votes
Accepted

Is it illegal for Donald Trump to lie on his Financial Disclosures?

Page 1 of OGE form 278e says WARNINGS Knowing and willful falsification of information, or failure to file or report information required to be reported by section 102 of the Ethics in ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
6 votes

What can happen if the US President has violated campaign finance laws?

Technical violations can result in fine imposed by the Federal Election Commission. They provide this booklet, and these regulations are applicable. This regulation spells out how the fine is computed....
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k
6 votes
Accepted

Is it illegal to purchase stocks with money that came from a Brinks truck?

This is a rather elaborate version of receiving stolen property. It is a crime because you know that the property is not yours and you know who it belongs to. The fact that funds were returned ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 230k
6 votes

Bank is not depositing my promotion bonus

It is unlikely that you could successfully sue the bank for breach of contract, but of course the first thing you should do is carefully read the agreement and see exactly what they promised. It is ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 216k

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