Since its enactment in 2002 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1519 has been used to prosecute and convict a corporations employees who have lied, destroyed, or falsified evidence during an investigation or matter within the jurisdiction of any department or federal agency of the United States.
Prosecutors Expanding Obstruction Liability Into the Corporate Suite
Emboldened by its broad, sweeping language and convictions secured by applying the statute in a multitude of creative scenarios (for example, in U.S. v. Yates, the defendant was convicted for throwing undersized fish overboard and obstructing an investigation under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service), federal prosecutors are now testing Section 1519s application against corporate executives and in-house counsel. Section 1519 provides:
Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
