NEW YORK, NY, October 28, 2019 – Global Investigations Review has named the U.S. v. Robert Bogucki case as their “Most Important Court Case of the Year.” Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP partner Sean Hecker served as co-counsel to Mr. Bogucki and helped secure a “rare” acquittal from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California at the conclusion of the Government’s case.
In its recognition, Global Investigations Review wrote that “the Justice Department’s case collapsed shortly after the trial began” and that “the presiding judge said no jury could reasonably convict Bogucki on the evidence presented,” leading the case to “deservingly (win) in the category.” Mr. Bogucki, a former senior foreign exchange trader at Barclays, had been accused by the Justice Department of orchestrating an alleged $6 billion front-running scheme that harmed HP.
During the trial, Judge Charles Breyer noted that in his twenty years on the bench he had never granted a full acquittal at the close of the Government’s case. Ruling from the bench, the Court granted the Rule 29 motion by the defense, acquitting Mr. Bogucki on all charges of criminal market manipulation for a transaction made in 2011, recognizing that no jury could reasonably convict Mr. Bogucki on the evidence presented. This significant outcome is likely to impact numerous other ongoing cases.
“We are delighted to have the firm’s work on behalf of our client Mr. Bogucki recognized by GIR,” said Julie Fink, Managing Partner. “I’m incredibly proud of this team; our white-collar practice is less than two years old and is making a tremendous impact. The significance of this case and the outcome we achieved goes well beyond the impact it made in our client’s life.”
Kaplan Hecker’s team was led by partner Sean Hecker and included Derek Wikstrom, Alexandra Conlon, and Abra Metz-Dworkin, all of whom worked closely with co-counsel at Clarence Dyer & Cohen LLP.