New DOJ policy means heat is off corporate crime and on drug kingpins

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is moving the enforcement of all but the most heinous white-collar crimes onto the back burner and putting investigations of drug kingpins, illegal immigration, and sanctions evasions up front, Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, said Monday.

“The Criminal Division is turning a new page on white-collar and corporate enforcement,” Galeotti said during at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s AML conference, in Washington, D.C. “Excessive enforcement and unfocused corporate investigations stymie innovation, limits prosperity, and reduces efficiency,” he said.

The sweeping changes at the Criminal Division are just one part of the Trump Administration’s multi-agency shift away from corporate crime enforcement and toward investigations of illegal immigrants, money laundering by international drug cartels and human trafficking. In February, Trump issued an executive order seeking a six-month moratorium on the DOJ’s enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law aimed at curbing bribery. In April, it ended the corporate monitorship of Glencore, imposed due to alleged violations of the FCPA.