Blog - False Claims & Whistle Blower
U.S. Military Contractor in Afghanistan Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Offering Bribes to a US Army Official May 14, 2015
A New York federal judge sentenced Akbar Ahmed Sherzai, an independent contractor for a trucking company in Afghanistan that was responsible for delivering fuel to U.S. Army installations, to four years in prison for offering $54,000 in bribes to a U.S. Army soldier to falsify documents confirming fuel shipments to…
SEC Obtains $9.5 Million Settlement for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Bribery to Foreign Officials in Saudi Arabia by U.S. Public Company – Beware of Gift Giving May 1, 2015
FLIR Systems, Inc. (“FLIR”), a publically traded company based in Oregon, agreed on April 8, 2015 to pay $9.5 million to settle claims made by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying off government officials in the Middle East. …
SEC Announces Maximum 30% Award to Whistleblower in First Retaliation Case Apr 30, 2015
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a maximum whistleblower award payment of 30 percent of amounts collected in connection with In the Matter of Paradigm Capital Management, Inc. and Candace King Weir, File No. 3-15930 (June 16, 2014), the SEC’s first retaliation case. The whistleblower will receive over $600,000…
SEC Awards Second Whistleblower Award to Compliance Officer Apr 22, 2015
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday an award of more than a million dollars to an employee who provided information that helped the SEC in an enforcement action against the whistleblower’s company. This is the SEC’s second award to an internal audit or compliance professional and was given to…
U.S. ‘06 Market ‘Flash Crash’ Charges Filed as a Result of Whistleblower Apr 22, 2015
Navinder Sarao, a trader who worked out of his West London home was arrested by British authorities on U.S. charges that he helped cause the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plummet 1,000 points on May 6, 2010, also known as the “flash crash.” Prosecutors and regulators charged the trader with…
OIG Releases First Guide for Hospital Boards Regarding Detecting and Avoiding Overbilling, Healthcare Privacy and Illegal Kickbacks Apr 21, 2015
The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has just released the first guide for hospital governing boards on how to detect and avoid overbilling, kickbacks and privacy breaches that can cause civil and criminal penalties. The guide is unique because it represents a collaboration between…
Brazilian Prosecutors Use U.S. Legal Tactics and Tools in Petrobras Corruption Scandal Apr 7, 2015
Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro S.A-NYSE ADR:PBR) is currently being investigated for a number of public corruption scandals. The biggest ones involve the oil giant’s gouging billions out of public coffers by allowing construction firms to over-charge for refineries in exchange for kickbacks. Offshore accounts were opened. Some are now in jail.…
SEC Announces First Ever Whistleblower Protection Case Involving Illegal Restrictive Language in Employee Agreement Apr 2, 2015
In a very significant move for whistleblowers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has, for the first time, charged a company, KBR, a global engineering, logistics and U.S. military contractor, with violating whistleblower protection Rule 21F-17 enacted under the Dodd-Frank Act for using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements with…
U.S. Dual Citizen Contractor Agrees to Plea and Fines in First U.S. Extradition from Iraq Bribery Prosecution Mar 30, 2015
A former U.S Department of Defense contractor, with dual U.S and Turkish citizenship, who headed two companies that sought U.S. military contracts connected with operations in Iraq from 2006 to 2008, agreed to plead guilty in a Ohio federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and failure to appear…
BNY Mellon Settles Foreign Exchange Lawsuits and Agrees to Pay $714 Million pursuant to, among other things, the False Claims Act, the Martin Act and FIRREA Mar 24, 2015
Bank of New York Mellon Corp has agreed to pay $714 million to settle lawsuits brought by the U.S Department of Justice, the State of New York, the SEC, the U.S. Department of Labor and private investors involving foreign exchange services claiming that the bank overcharged pension funds and other clients over…