Whistleblower News from the Inside - May 9, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Snapchat settles FTC charges of duping consumers on privacy — The mobile-messaging-app maker agrees to settle charges that it misled consumers by telling them that messages would disappear, misrepresented its data-collection practices and didn’t adequately protect users’ personal data.  WSJ

New Mexico whistleblower lawsuit on sexual harassment and fraud — A recently-revealed whistleblower complaint charges officials in Governor Susana Martinez’s administration with engaging in extramarital affairs and silencing employees’ reporting fraud.  Mother Jones

Whistleblower files suit against BCBS North Dakota — A former medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield North Dakota files whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the company, saying he was fired for reporting a long list of compliance violations that led to higher premiums and costs to members. Bismarck Tribune

Operator of Head Start programs accused of fraud — A woman who operated close to 50 Head Start centers in Puerto Rico is accused of defrauding the U.S. of $1.4M and spending most of it at a casino.  ABC News

US sues Stevens-Henager College under False Claims Act  — The whistleblower-initiated action charges the company, which operates a chain of for-profit colleges in Idaho and Utah, with paying illegal incentives to admissions recruiters.  DOJ

“Thousands of tax frauds against physicians” — Someone is targeting healthcare providers, filing for tax refunds in their names; cases confirmed in Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire and North Carolina.  ABC News