100 Us Dollar Banknotes, representing False Claims Act

SEC Whistleblower Awarded $3.5 Million for Critical Tip

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday announced an award of $3.5 million to a whistleblower that bolstered an existing investigation. The government has now paid $62 million to 28 whistleblowers since the SEC whistleblower program was opened in 2011. The government’s press release encouraged individuals to come forward “even if they think the SEC...

Crop doctor with stethoscope in hospital, representing healthcare ads.

Medicare FFS’ 3 Year Improper Payment Total: $125 Billion

From 2013 to 2015, Medicare paid out a total of $125 billion under the Medicare Fee-For-Service program according to a recent article in Bloomberg. The improper payment rates exceeded 10% for all three years examined. As a result, the U.S. Government required a report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector...

Grey Concrete Building, representing Serial Whistleblower

DOJ Investigates PBMs, Market-Makers

The media has recently reported Justice Department investigations into both pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMS) and best execution of customer trades by wholesale market-making companies. PBM Investigations According to the Wall Street Journal, the Southern District of New York has requested information from Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Endo concerning their contracts with PBMs. PBMs administer drug...

Accounting pages and a coffee mug, representing internal and external audits

Shell Corps Used in Offshore Tax Evasion Targeted

The war against international tax evasion took another step forward yesterday with President Obama proposing a federal registry of the owners of all companies created and operating in the United States to aid in the elimination of anonymous shell companies. The Treasury Department will implement a rule requiring banks and certain financial institutions to collect...

100 Dollar Bills representing settlement and False Claims Act

DOJ Investigating Unaoil Bribery under FCPA

Two companies have now disclosed receiving inquiries from the U.S. Department of Justice concerning Monaco-based engineering company Unaoil S.A.M. Media reports published by The Huffington Post earlier this year have implicated Unaoil in what HuffPo has called the “World’s Biggest Bribe Scandal”. The disclosures of receipt of an inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice...

Federal Trade Secret Reform Helps Whistleblowers

From time to time, companies accuse whistleblowers of disclosing trade secrets in violation of a confidentiality agreement. In False Claims Act cases, these counterclaims have sometimes caused relators to have to defend their reports to the federal government against potential legal liability asserted by the business. A recent act of Congress has been sent to...

Person Holding a Black Digital Tablet, representing Fake News on Stocks

SEC Opens Comments on Market Manipulation Database

For years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been discussing building a database of information about stock and options trading activity. The Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) system took another step closer to creation when the SEC voted to open the plan to public comment yesterday. The goal of CAT is to allow the SEC to...

Close up of books - False Claims Act and whistleblower immunity

Co-Relator Sharing Agreements in Cases of Multiple Relators

A recent Illinois Appeals Court tackled the appropriateness of an agreement to share the proceeds of a qui tam lawsuit between a whistleblower and a silent (non-whistleblower) partner. We’ve never covered this topic here, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to look at how and why relators cooperate. Multiple relators can become...

Close-up Photo of the Stock Market, representing IRS Whistleblower Complaints

Spoofing Whistleblower Emerges in Oystacher Lawsuit

A trader at a market making firm and his colleague filed a tip with the CFTC whistleblower program about suspected illegal spoofing by Igor Oystacher after discovering suspicious trading activity in the E-mini S&P 500 futures contract market in 2013, according to a Bloomberg article. The CFTC has brought a lawsuit against Oystacher and is seeking to...

Beige Volkswagen Beetle, representing the $4 Billion Fine for Volkswagen and NHTSA Whistleblower Rules

The Largest Auto Fines in U.S. History

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Although manufacturers have made significant strides in decreasing the number of fatalities since the late 1960s and early 1970s, there have been several significant instances of auto manufacturers delaying recalls and leaving potentially defective vehicles on the road after they knew or...

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