Why Dooney and Bourke break up this week?
There is not substantial evidence that Dooney and Bourke are breaking up this week. However, Bourke is on trial right now. Given that Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases don’t go before a jury very often, we figured it would be a good idea to check in on the trial of Connecticut entrepreneur Frederic Bourke, Jr., which started last week. A quick refresher: Prosecutors have alleged that Bourke, founder of the Dooney & Bourke handbag company, participated in a scheme in the late 1990s to bribe Azerbaijan government officials into selling the State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic (Socar), for $350 million in exchange for part of the profits of a resale. In the end, the government did not sell Socar. (If you want more details, the FCPA Blog has been following the case religiously.) When we arrived Monday morning at the courtroom of Manhattan federal district judge Shira Scheindlin, a key government witness, Thomas Ferrell, was on the stand. Ferrell, a Virginian, was the right-hand man i
