Federal Insurance Co. v. United States

In the underlying case, employees of SAIC, the lead contractor on New York's CityTime project, were convicted of conspiring to obtain bribes and kickbacks from one of SAIC's subcontractors. Federal, the insurer of SAIC, petitioned for mandamus relief to challenge the district court's denial of its application for restitution under the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3771. The Second Circuit denied the petition and held that, assuming Federal could overcome various procedural obstacles, its petition would nonetheless fail on the merits because the district court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that SAIC's own criminal conduct precluded it—and, by extension, Federal—from obtaining restitution. The court vacated the district court's order summarily dismissing Federal's petition in an SAIC employee's forfeiture proceedings, holding that the district court failed to make adequate factual findings regarding whether SAIC's allegedly unclean hands should bar it from obtaining an equitable remedy, and if such a remedy remained available, whether the property was traceable to bribes and kickbacks actually obtained at SAIC's expense. Accordingly, the court remanded for further proceedings. View "Federal Insurance Co. v. United States" on Justia Law