SEC Chair Gary Gensler to Step Down
Yesterday (November 21), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced current SEC Chair Gary Gensler will leave the agency on January 20, 2025 when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Gensler’s departure is no surprise as Trump has made it clear he would be appointing someone else to take over as the SEC’s top cop. No doubt, Gensler’s replacement will bring to the agency a very different enforcement approach. How different,...
CFTC Issues Annual Whistleblower Report Highlighting Continued Success of CFTC Whistleblower Program
As it is required to do every year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just released its Annual Report on the CFTC Whistleblower Program, which provides rewards and protections to whistleblowers providing the agency with information on Commodities Exchange Act violations. The 2024 Report covers the period from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024 and as with its previous annual reports, details the continued growth and success of the...
Fishy Business and Fraudulent Bills: New York Internist Pleads Guilty to $891K Healthcare Fraud Scheme
The Hippocratic Oath was apparently not an ethical pledge Dr. Kenneth Fishberger took to heart. On Thursday, November 14, 2024, New York doctor Dr. Fishberger, 75, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Fishberger, an internist from East Setauket, N.Y., received kickbacks for ordering medically unnecessary transcranial doppler (TCD) brain scans, tests used to measure blood flow in parts of the brain....
Payments News Update – November 22, 2024
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: A Senate Panel Sends a Signal: Time to Cut a Deal on Swipe Fees Digital Transactions News – November 20, 2024 Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee told representatives of Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and the merchant community on Tuesday it was time to “negotiate” an end to their decades-old dispute over credit card swipe fees. The comments came during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing...
QOL Medical to Pay $47 Million to Settle DOJ and Whistleblower Kickback Claims
Last Friday (November 15), Florida-based pharmaceutical company QOL Medical and its CEO Frederick Cooper agreed to pay $47 million to resolve Department of Justice (DOJ) and whistleblower charges they violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by providing patients free breath testing services to induce them to purchase QOL’s drug Sucraid. Sucraid treats Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency (CSID), which causes problems digesting sucrose and leads to diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating,...
Paragon Systems to Pay $52 Million to Settle DOJ Charges of Fraudulently Securing Government Security Contracts Set Aside for Veteran- and Female-Owned Businesses
On November 12, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Virginia-based contractor Paragon Systems agreed to pay $52 million to settle DOJ and whistleblower charges of violating the False Claims Act by fraudulently securing government security contracts set aside for small businesses owned by women and veterans. Paragon is one of the government’s largest providers of specialized security, fire and emergency response, and mission support services. It also provides security...
DOJ Hits University of Colorado Health with $23 Million Penalty for Allegedly Upcoding Emergency Services
On November 12, University of Colorado Health (UCHealth) agreed to pay $23 million to settle Department of Justice (DOJ) and whistleblower charges of violating the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing Medicare and Tricare for certain emergency department services. According to the government, UCHealth used an automatic coding system where it billed certain emergency department services at the highest reimbursement rate even when they did not qualify. The government claimed...
Payments News Update – November 15, 2024
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Swipe Fees Get Renewed Washington Focus in Aftermath of Election American Banker – November 12, 2024 (subscription required) Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., will hold a long-awaited hearing on pending swipe fee legislation. Executives from Visa and Mastercard, the two card networks most impacted by the bill, however, are not listed to attend as of Tuesday afternoon. The hearing, which will be...
CFTC Makes $4 Million Whistleblower Award
On November 12, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a $4 million award to two whistleblowers under the CFTC Whistleblower Program. With this award, the agency has now issued roughly $390 million in whistleblower awards since its first award under the program in 2014. These awards have been associated with more than $3.2 billion in monetary sanctions. The award follows a flurry of whistleblower awards the CFTC issued in...
Payments News Update – November 8, 2024
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Is Visa a Debit Monopolist? Digital Transactions Magazine – November 1, 2024 Lawsuits alleging anti-competitive practices are nothing new to Visa Inc. After all, the network, as well as MasterCard Inc., have been sued by the Department of Justice, merchants, and state attorneys general for decades over their pricing and business practices. When the DoJ filed its lawsuit against Visa in September alleging anti-competitive practices...
