Whistleblower News From The Inside - March 6, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

DOJ reviewing civil whistleblower cases for criminal probes — Top official at the DOJ says authorities are increasingly reviewing civil whistleblower lawsuits against pharmaceutical and medical companies in an effort to build criminal cases. Reuters

Senate hearing faults FBI for failure to protect whistleblowers — During Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Grassley said “the FBI did not make a compelling case for why it needs a set of rules different from all other federal law enforcement when it comes to whistleblower protection.” Washington Post

SOX whistleblower rule takes effect — A Department of Labor rule that outlines the procedures for handling retaliation claims against financial firms took effect yesterday. Reuters

Open letter to ICC from Darfur whistleblower — Aicha Elbasri, the former spokesperson for the UN Mission in Darfur who blew the whistle in 2013 on a “conspiracy of silence,” wrote an open letter to the International Criminal Court detailing how UN officials failed to properly report atrocities committed by the Sudanese government and its associated militias against the people of Darfur. GAP

Snowden to return to Geneva?— Edward Snowden has made a public appeal for Switzerland to grant him asylum, saying he would like to return to live in Geneva, where he once worked undercover for the CIA. Reuters

Snuggie settles fraud charges — The maker of the “Snuggie,” a blanket with sleeves, agreed to pay $8M to settle fraud claims for failing to disclose it charged two separate processing and handling fees for its “buy one, get one” offer, sometimes nearly doubling the cost of the offer. CNN