Subject: 18 U.S.C. 1519 Elements

From: To: Cc: Subject: 18 U.S.C. 1519 Elements Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 01:56:58 +0000 -- Regarding your question on the 1519, here's our research and an overview of the charge: Under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, in pertinent part, "[w]hoever knowingly . . . falsifies, or makes a false entry in . . . any record [or] document . . . with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the ... proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States ... or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter" commits a twenty-year felony. Congress enacted § 1519 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act following the prosecution of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen for its destruction of Enron-related documents. The statute "was intended to prohibit, in particular, corporate document-shredding to hide evidence of financial wrongdoing." Yates v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 1074, 1081 (2015). Nonetheless, the legislative history of the statute reflects