Ken Yeadon Talks With Crain's Chicago Business and NPR About Federal Authorities' Search of Caterpillar Facilities

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP partner Ken Yeadon — former Assistant U.S. Attorney and a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney — spoke with Claire Bushey of Crain's Chicago Business and Dan Weissman of Chicago's National Public Radio (NPR) station, WBEZ, about federal agents' execution of a search warrant on three of Caterpillar, Inc.'s Central Illinois facilities on March 2, 2017. The agents, from several agencies, seized documents and electronic information during the search, which is believed to be part of an ongoing Internal Revenue Service investigation.

Yeadon explained in the WBEZ piece — which also aired on NPR's national radio program, Marketplace — "It's not unusual [for federal agents] to go in and do a search of say, a crack house. But it is somewhat unusual to go into a Fortune 500, Fortune 100 company." As noted in the Crain's article, "Obtaining a warrant means persuading a judge that probable causes exists to search a person or property, said Ken Yeadon. . . . It does happen, like when prosecutors were building a case against Chicago-based BCI Aircraft Leasing for fraud. But generally, law enforcement only seizes evidence in cases where there's something that, 'if you don't act right away, you're not going to get. A time-is-of-the-essence situation.'"

Listen to the story, "Caterpillar Says It's Complying With Law Enforcement Following Raid" on the WBEZ website.

Listen to the story, "Raid by Federal Investigators at Caterpillar Is Unusual Move" on the Marketplace website.