Health Care Bill Passed; Whistleblowers Needed! Now that Congress has finally passed the health care bill, there will be an even greater need for whistleblowers to identify fraud in the health care industry, particularly in relation to Medicare and Medicaid. The health care bill gives little “gifts” to insurance companies and hospitals, including insurance giant Kaiser Permanante and...
Study Finds Whistleblowers are the Fraud-Finding Pros Back in the fear-infused days of fall 2001, when it seemed that a plane full of terrorists and Anthrax-wielding snipers was lurking around every corner, a whistleblower was helping to uncover the Enron scandal–just before the company imploded. Sherron Watkins was Vice President of Corporate Development at Enron, and she...
New Restrictions on Whistleblower Suits a la the Supreme Court If you’re thinking about blowing the whistle on your corrupt little local government after you heard about their having misspent funds from a state audit, think again. The Supreme Court has just handed down a decision which holds that the provision of the False Claims...
Academia’s Whistleblower Obsession Whistleblowers are getting a lot of attention from academics these days. Just last week, in fact, we wrote about a study conducted by a group of finance professors which found that whistleblowers–employees in particular–are the most effective at finding corporate fraud. Now, another study has come out, this one with much more...
Ohio to have its Own False Claims Act? – If State AG Mike DeWine had his way they would! Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is pushing for the state to have its own False Claims Act, which would let whistleblowers file claims against state contractors, allowing Ohio to collect fraudulent funds and penalties, according to...
Former NBA Great Lucius Allen Blows the Whistle on Bristol-Myers Squibb As reported by the Los Angeles Times here, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced Friday that his office had joined a previously sealed whistleblower lawsuit against the company, calling it the largest health insurance fraud case ever pursued by a California state agency. Two of...
A Modern Whodunit Back in December, a bill to protect whistle blowing federal employees was expected to pass. Instead, it disappeared. The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2010 (S. 372) was introduced in February of 2009. The bill is summarized by congress as “A bill to amend chapter 23 of title 5, United States Code, to...
IRS Alters Rules to Pay Informants in More Cases The IRS recently proposed regulations making it easier for Tax Fraud Whistleblowers whose information results in denial of refunds or a reduction in deductible losses to get rewards of as much as 30 percent of the amount involved. Earlier guidance tied reward payments to a portion of...
Expanded Whistleblower Program in Dodd-Frank Act November 09, 2010 | Westlaw News & Insight A newly expanded whistleblower program in the Dodd-Frank law has opened a fertile business opportunity for plaintiffs’ lawyers –and sparked a feverish multimedia marketing effort aimed at people in a position to report financial skullduggery to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The...
First IRS Whistleblower Office Reward The “Whistleblower”, who wishes to remain anonymous (hereinafter referred to as “Mr. Doe”), worked as a CPA in the accounting department of a Fortune 500 financial services firm. While carrying out his basic job responsibilities, Mr. Doe discovered that his employer failed to properly disclose the extent of its tax...