Whistleblower News From The Inside — October 9, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Ex-Chicago schools head to plead guilty to fraud — A former head of Chicago Public Schools plans to plead guilty to planning a scheme to take hundreds of thousands of dollars, airfare, meals and baseball tickets in exchange for steering more than $23 million in contracts to her former employer.  NYT

Pharmacy owner sentenced to 46 months in prison for Medicare fraud — Miami-based Naranja Pharmacy submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for prescription drugs that were not prescribed by physicians, not medically necessary and not provided to Medicare beneficiaries, and its owner admitted that the pharmacy submitted these false claims by obtaining and using the unique identifying information of Medicare beneficiaries and doctors without their consent.   DOJ

Ohio hospital to pay $4.1m to resolve FCA case — Cincinnati-based West Chester Hospital and its parent company, UC Health, have agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle allegations that West Chester Hospital violated the False Claims Act by billing federal health care programs for costs associated with medically unnecessary spine surgeries.   DOJ

 UN launches audit of funds linked to bribery scandal — United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon ordered an audit Thursday to shed light on UN ties to a Chinese real estate mogul and foundations allegedly set up to funnel bribes to UN diplomats.  Yahoo

 Schaffhauser Kantonalbank reaches resolution under Swiss Bank Program —  SHKB agreed to pay a penalty of $1.613 million for knowing or having had reason to know that some U.S. taxpayers who had opened and maintained accounts at SHKB were not complying with their U.S. income tax and reporting obligations.  DOJ

Heroes or traitors? Whistleblowers in Germany — Whistleblowers have had a hard time in Germany for cultural and legal reasons alike, but a small organization and a software maker are trying to bring about a change of corporate culture.  DW