Whistleblower News From The Inside — February 4, 2016
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
$104 Million UBS Informer Tells Swiss to Back Whistleblowers – Bradley Birkenfeld, the banker awarded $104 million by the U.S. for revealing how he helped UBS Group AG hide assets for rich Americans, has a message for Swiss lawmakers wrangling over the draft of the nation’s first whistleblowing law: “stop living in the past.” Bloomberg
Commonwealth Bank staff implicated in alleged $76m fraud – Commonwealth Bank staff was allegedly complicit in a $76 million Ponzi scheme and received secret commissions for their role in the fraud, which was ignored by the bank’s management for almost five years, until police were alerted. Sydney Morning Herald
Wikileaks founder says he will surrender if U.N. panel rules against him – Julian Assange says he will leave the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and submit to arrest on Friday if a U.N. panel rules against him; Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012, seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted on rape charges. NPR
Illinois Attorney General dismisses 28 qui tam cases – The suits all involved purchases of wine online and sales taxes on shipping charges, and were dismissed based in part on the calculation that sales tax would have been de minimis. Legal News Line
Administrative Law Judge rules in favor of OCR enforcement, requiring Lincare, Inc. to pay $239,800 – A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administrative Law Judge ordered Lincare Inc. to pay $239,800 in civil money penalties imposed by OCR based on the company’s failure to secure patient information in violation of HIPAA. HHS
Albany bridge builder settles FCA suit- $1 million was paid to settle a suit over false representations of the use of a female- or minority-owned contractor. Albany Times Union
N.J. cardiologist indicted for cashing in $600,000 by double-billing – A Bergen County cardiologist was indicted Wednesday for double-billing three insurance companies and bilking them out of $600,000, acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced. Bergen Dispatch