Law360, Miami (September 26, 2019, 1:29 PM EDT) — A Florida federal judge rejected a financial adviser’s bids Thursday to suppress secret government recordings and trim a money laundering charge from a criminal case claiming he violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly funneling millions to Ecuadorian oil officials to secure contracts for a private company.
Ruling from the bench at the conclusion of a hearing in Miami, U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendations in favor of the government on both issues in the case against Frank Chatburn Ripalda, who is scheduled to face a jury trial next month.
Judge Cooke said she thought that U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman had laid out clearly in his report and recommendation that the government’s alleged violation of a Florida Bar ethics rule in authorizing a cooperating witness to make the secret recordings would not create a suppression remedy and that they did not violate Chatburn’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel
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