Along with other decisions, the Court handed down McIntosh v. United States, No. 22-7386, issued 17 April, 2024.

The upshot to the ruling is if a prosecutor in seeking a federal indictment neglects to include a provision giving notice that the government seeks forfeiture of assets used in furtherance of the alleged crime or purchased with proceeds of criminal conduct, he or she may be spared embarrassment and allowed to fix the problem.

But the Court did not address the collateral damage of such a blunder, including the impact on third party “innocent” purchasers for value.

That means someone who purchases the assets from the defendant between the time of indictment and the time the case is resolved, not knowing or having reason to suspect that they were related to criminal conduct. If there is no lien of record and the case receives little press, the third party in most instances will have no reason to know what’s coming.

Michael Wynne is White collar criminal defence and elections law attorney in Houston, Texas with broad national and international practice He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for twelve years, including several years stationed on the U.S./Mexico border. He is co-chairman of Gregor, Wynne, Arney.