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In re Grand Jury Subpoena Issued June 18, 2009

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Argued: November 30, 2009

Before: WALKER, McLAUGHLIN, RAGGI, Circuit Judges.

Account Services Corporation and KJB Financial Corporation (collectively, “the Companies”) appeal an August 17, 2009, order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Sullivan, J.) holding them in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for corporate records. The Companies — which are wholly owned by Douglas Rennick, their sole shareholder, officer, and employee — argue that they may resist the subpoena on Fifth Amendment grounds since Rennick is the only person capable of producing the records and his act of production would be testimonial and potentially self-incriminating. Although the long-established “collective entity rule” prevents corporations from availing themselves of the Fifth Amendment privilege, the Companies contend that the Supreme Court’s decision in Braswell v. United States, 487 U.S. 99 (1988), compels us to carve out an exception for one-person corporations. We disagree and affirm the district court’s contempt order.

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