Washington D.C., Oct. 22, 2020 —
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of over $114 million to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions.
The $114 million award consists of an approximately $52 million award in connection with the SEC case and an approximately $62 million award arising out of the related actions by another agency. The combined $114 million reward marks the highest awa...
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Whistleblower Protections
Guaranteed Rate Pays $15 Million to Resolve Allegations It Knowingly Caused False Claims to Government Mortgage Loan Programs
Guaranteed Rate Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $15.06 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by knowingly violating material program requirements when it originated and underwrote mortgages insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department o...
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NASA Contractor Agrees To Pay $375,000 To Settle False Claims Act Liability
Orlando,
FL – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces today that
United Paradyne Corporation has agreed to pay the United States $375,000
to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by
submitting claims to NASA for assembling and cleaning rocket launch
systems that it had failed to perform.
The settlement relates to United Paradyne’s agreement to provide NASA
with certain ground support equipment designed to support NASA’s Space
Launch System (SLS...
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$8.5 Million Recovery from Moody’s
Moody’s has reached a settlement with
New York-based law firm Kirby McInerney after it was accused of
underpaying New York State and New York City business taxes between 2002
and 2014. Moody’s is alleged to have mischaracterised its income as
premiums to its captive, Moody’s Assurance Company (MAC).
Kirby McInerney secured an $8.5
million recovery in the case, after a whistleblower who was formerly
employed by Moody’s sounded the alarm in 2018.
The settlement is unusual in tha...
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$4.8 Million Paid Violating False Claims Act
Caldwell University Agrees To Pay More Than $4.8 Million To Resolve Allegations Of Violating False Claims Act
NEWARK,
N.J. – Caldwell University has agreed to pay the United States more
than $4.8 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a fraudulent
scheme to defraud a federal education benefit program, U.S. Attorney
Craig Carpenito announced.
“Caldwell University tried to hoodwink the Department of Veterans
Affairs and, worse, veterans themselves, by claiming to offer onlin...
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$950,000 to Settle Medicare Billing Fraud
San Diego Eye Doctors Pay $950,000 to Settle Medicare Billing Fraud Allegations
SAN DIEGO – Mark D. Smith and Fane Robinson, two San Diego-area
physicians, have paid the United States $948,768.18 to resolve
allegations that they violated the federal False Claims Act by knowingly
submitting false claims to Medicare.
Dr. Smith and Dr. Robinson are medical doctors specializing in
ophthalmology. They maintain a medical practice in San Diego known as
San Diego Retina Assoc...
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Six Charged by SEC International Fraud Schemes
SEC Charges Six Individuals in International Microcap Fraud Schemes
The Securities and Exchange
Commission today charged six individuals and their companies with
participating in schemes that allegedly generated more than $35 million
of illegal sales of stock in at least 45 microcap companies. The charges
contained in two complaints reflect investigations by staff in the
SEC’s New York and Boston offices, and assistance from multiple
regulators outside the U.S.
According to one SEC...
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Whistleblowers Win $8.6 million in LAPD Cops Retaliation Suit
For months, the two Los Angeles Police Department bloodhound handlers saw their supervisor harass their female colleague.
Over
and over, they saw him try to massage her shoulders, unsolicited, and
heard him make suggestive comments about her body. The supervisor often
showed up to her calls, something he didn’t do as much with her male
counterparts.
When
they complained on the woman’s behalf, Officers Elliot Zibli and David
Dooros suffered backlash so severe that they...
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Whistleblower Laws Violated by Gag Orders at Federal Agencies
Agencies can't bar speech without reminding workers of their rights
In December, The Washington Post revealed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recommended employees not use certain words, including “diversity” and “entitlement,” when preparing budget documents for Congress. According to a federal watchdog, which verified parts of The Post’s reporting, this was one of several questionable decisions the CDC and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Ser...
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Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/department-of-energy-risks-michael-lewis/amp
What we know about Hanford we know mainly from whistle-blowers who worked inside the nuclear facility—and who have been ostracized by their community for threatening the industry in a one-industry town. (“Resistance to understanding a threat grows with proximity,” writes Brown.) One hundred and forty-nine of the tanks in the Hanford farms are made of a single shell of a steel ill-designed to contain highly...
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