Whistleblower News From The Inside — September 22, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Former owner of Peanut Corporation of America sentenced to prison for peanut fraud — Stewart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years for his role in shipping salmonella-positive peanut products before the results of microbiological testing were received and falsifying test results, the largest criminal sentence in a food safety case.  DOJ

Adventist Health System to Pay $115M to settle whistleblower charges of Stark violations — The government and whistleblowers alleged Adventist violated the False Claims Act by maintaining improper compensation arrangements with referring physicians and by miscoding claims.  DOJ

Whistleblower claims VW emissions scandal could ensnare other auto makers — “Billions of pounds have been wiped off the value of global carmakers amid growing concerns that emissions tests may have been rigged across the industry.”  Guardian

First Eagle to pay nearly $40M in SEC case over distribution fees — The investment management firm allegedly improperly used mutual fund assets to pay for marketing and distribution fees.  It is the SEC’s first case to come out of a new crackdown dubbed the “Distribution-in-Guise Initiative.”  Reuters

Malaysia’s Najib Razak faces US corruption inquiry — The DOJ investigation is focused on US properties purchased by shell companies of the prime minister’s stepson, other real estate connected to a close family friend and a $681M payment to what is believed to be Mr. Najib’s personal bank account.  NYT

Russian Secret Service “may have” been involved in killing of whistleblower — The death of whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny was originally attributed to natural causes but traces of poison were later found to be in his blood which many are pointing to as a sign of foul play.  FT