Dollar banknote on white table, representing whistleblower amendments, insider trading, and whistleblower awards.

First Whistleblower Award Issued by CFTC

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today that they are making a payment of approximately $240,000 to a whistleblower for information under the authority granted to it by the Dodd-Frank Act. It is the first award by the CFTC Whistleblower Program. Additional details about the case and the individual paid were not released. They are committed...

Bank buildings, representing Citigroup Accused of Spoofing

Are Banks Too Big to Jail?

The SEC and DOJ have stepped up enforcement against financial institutions in the past year. Now, several regulators are taking aim at two financial institutions based overseas, Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas. The settlement of these two cases has the potential to include fines over $1 billion each and guilty pleas to criminal charges. BNP...

Cornice of old national bank, representing Deutsche Bank and whistleblowers

DuPont’s Alleged Failure to Report Health & Environmental Issues

A whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act accuses DuPont of failing to report a chemical leak of cancer-causing gas from a plant in Louisiana, according to The Times-Picayune. The Toxic Substances Control Act requires manufacturers, processors and distributors of chemical substances to report when a substance poses a substantial risk of injury to health...

Fraud and Whistleblower News for Monday, March 31

The Supreme Court denied the cert petition in Nathan v. Takeda today. The petition questioned the Court of Appeals decision with regard to the Rule 9(b) heightened pleading requirement for fraud. False Claims Act Against Bankrupt Companies – WSJ:Judge Gives $2.3 Billion Hawker Whistleblower Suit New Life Whistleblowers can pursue their False Claims Act lawsuit against Hawker...

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Government Receives $300 Million in Three Health Care Fraud Settlements

There have been a few notable settlements under the False Claims Act in the last month for those tracking fraud in the health care industry. Through the three lawsuits, the government has recovered more than $300 million. Teva Pharmaceuticals and a subsidiary agreed to pay $27.6 million to resolve allegations it paid a Chicago doctor to switch...

Consumers Report $1.6 Billion in Fraud to the FTC

It has been the third snowiest winter in history here in Philadelphia. So we are looking forward to spring and warmer weather. Last week in the office, we joked about how governments were spending so much money on snow this winter, someone might come forward to report some of it lost due to fraud. No...

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Supreme Court Expands SOX Whistleblower Protections

The Supreme Court issued a win for whistleblowers yesterday. In Lawson v. FMR LLC, 571 U.S. ____, slip op. (March 4, 2014), the Court held that the employees of privately held contractors and subcontractors reporting on a public company are protected by the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. At issue was 18 U.S.C. § 1514A,...

Tax Court Rules Whistleblower Reward is Ordinary Income

Despite arguments from whistleblowers to the contrary, the government continues to demand whistleblowers pay taxes on money awarded under the False Claims Act as ordinary income. On Monday, the United States Tax Court held in Patrick v. Commissioner, 142 T.C. No. 5 (2014) that a qui tam award does not qualify as capital gains. If the petitioner had been successful, tax...

100 Us Dollar Banknotes, representing False Claims Act

SEC 2014 Focus: Reverse Churning and IRA Rollovers

The SEC released its annual Examination Priorities for the new year in January. Among the list are two practices which may steer investors to accounts with higher fees than are warranted by their investment goals and situation. Specifically, the SEC expressed concern that investors may be overpaying in fee-based accounts and IRA rollovers when lower cost options...

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The Top 12 Tax Scams in 2014

The IRS just released its annual list of the Dirty Dozen tax scams to watch out for this year. The list identifies fraud the IRS sees against both the government and taxpayers. Here is the list: 1. Identity Theft Identity theft topped the list of tax schemes again in 2014. It made its first appearance...

Category: News