Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Justice prosecutors had informal arrangements for obtaining information gathered in the FISA process, the understanding being that they would not improperly exploit that process for their criminal cases.

Mr. Karas's assertion drew a heated protest from a lawyer for Mr. Odeh, who, after the jury left the courtroom, argued that prosecutors were drawing selectively from the evidence and improperly exploiting the emotions of the jurors.

In both cases, the government said it had to act to keep United from improperly exploiting the federal pension insurance program, which is itself in trouble.

In 2005, the inspector general found that a nonprofit loan company in New Mexico improperly exploited the subsidy program to obtain millions of dollars in overpayments.

A nonprofit student loan company in New Mexico improperly exploited a federal subsidy program that guaranteed it 9.5 percent interest on loans, a federal Department of Education auditor has found.

The Ofcom Broadcasting Code requires that religious output "must not seek to promote religious views or beliefs by stealth", nor "improperly exploit any susceptibilities of the audience".

Drug companies have challenged some of these programs, in Vermont, Maine, Florida and Michigan, on the ground that they improperly exploit the federal Medicaid law to secure drug discounts or rebates.

But some United States and Chinese aerospace companies may have tried to improperly exploit the policy shift, investigators say.