Archive

Caught in the Crosshairs - Lone Star Organic Dairy

Posted 11/20/23

As described in a PETA press release last week (November 16), a whistleblower alerted the animal protection group to what it describes as "extreme animal suffering and mass deaths" at Texas dairy farm Lone Star Organic Dairy. Lone Star has roughly 2,300 cows and supplies milk to Horizon Organic, the largest organic milk supplier in the country. In response to the whistleblower's outreach, PETA sent a letter to the...

Tagged in: Environmental Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Wildlife Fraud,

CFTC Targets Cybersecurity and Environmental Fraud

Posted 07/6/23

Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the creation of two new task forces. One is the Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies Task Force, to address fraud relating to cybersecurity and other emerging technologies. The other is the Environmental Fraud Task Force, to go after environmental fraud and misconduct in derivatives and relevant spot markets. The CFTC is the federal agency...

Tagged in: Cybersecurity and Data Breaches, Environmental Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Whistleblower Eligibility,

Top Ten Environmental Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 02/11/22

This year’s environmental fraud Top Ten list includes enforcement actions against automakers, oil and pipeline companies, metal producers and recyclers, energy companies, and serial offender Monsanto. We didn’t see as many blockbuster settlements in 2021 as we did in 2020, despite the Biden administration signaling its focus on environmental fraud as an enforcement priority. Nonetheless, the 2021 enforcement...

Tagged in: Environmental Fraud, Top 10,

Shining a Light on Fraud in the Energy Industry

Posted 10/1/21

This week brought not one but two newly announced False Claims Act (FCA) settlements with companies in the energy sector: (1) Oklahoma-based energy company Devon Energy Coporation settled claims it underpaid royalties for natural resources, and (2) National Grid, a utility company in New York settled claims it falsified reports to a local power authority to cover up mismanagement and wasted State electricity. The two...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Environmental Fraud, FCA Federal, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud,

Top Ten Environmental Fraud Settlements for 2020

Posted 03/12/21

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted our routines and put life on pause in 2020. But environmental fraud continued unabated, and so did enforcement actions against the perpetrators. We saw two major enforcement actions relating to devices designed to evade emissions requirements, several enforcement actions relating to water contamination and the knowing sale of products containing harmful pollutants, and...

Tagged in: Environmental Fraud, Top 10,

The False Claims Act: It Benefits More than Just the Government

Posted 03/5/21

The False Claims Act, a Civil War-era law, encourages private individuals, such as whistleblowers, to come forward and file suit against unscrupulous government contractors, and share in the government's recovery. The passage of the law was inspired by contractors selling the Union Army bags of sand as flour, lame mules as cavalry horses, and glued-together rags as uniforms. The main purpose of the law is, of...

Tagged in: Dosage Fraud, Environmental Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Prevailing Wage,

Catches of the Week: Contractors Abroad Face Liability for Fraud in U.S. Government Contracts

Posted 02/19/21

This week, we double up on the Catch of the Week, and highlight two actions involving foreign contractors doing business with the U.S. Navy.

French Concrete Contractor Pays $14.5 Million to Resolve Claims of Delivering Substandard Concrete for U.S. Navy Bases in Africa

In the first case, Colas Djibouti, a subsidiary of French contractor Colas, agreed to pay $12.5m to the U.S. government to settle criminal charges,...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Contract Non-Compliance, Criminal Proceedings, Defense Contract Fraud, Environmental Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers, Ocean Dumping,

A horrifying cancer cluster story emphasizes the need for more environmental whistleblowers

Posted 10/8/20

a waste barrel zoomed-in of a sticker saying "HAZARDOUS WASTE"

Mother Jones recently published a harrowing account of a scientific mystery—why did a number of otherwise healthy young women develop a rare eye cancer in the Lake Norman region of North Carolina? Through a detailed and nuanced portrait of the women, their families, and a regional fight for justice and accountability, the story’s author, Arielle Emmett, makes clear that no government regulator, independent body,...

Tagged in: Environmental Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers,

Natural Disasters Expose the Unnatural Ones Too

Posted 08/28/20

As the Gulf coast digs out from Hurricane Laura, one particular industry’s history of avoiding government oversight and obligations is going to make recovery a lot worse and much more dangerous. The stretch of land on either side of the Texas-Louisiana border is full of petrochemical companies large and small. These companies have successfully lobbied for relief from regulation, all the while taking significant...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Environmental Fraud,

Another “Magic Pipe” Down the Drain: Whistleblower Tips Lead to Guilty Plea in Ocean Dumping Case

Posted 03/19/20

Whistleblowers and an alert Coast Guard examiner exposed the illegal ocean-dumping of unfiltered bilge water by Singapore shipping company Unix Line PTE. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) after a conscientious crew member slipped a note reading “magic pipe” and “damage marine environment” to the examiner inspecting the ship M/T Zao Galaxy. Another crew...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Environmental Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Ocean Dumping, Wildlife Fraud,

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Caught in the Crosshairs - Lone Star Organic Dairy

CFTC Targets Cybersecurity and Environmental Fraud

Top Ten Environmental Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Shining a Light on Fraud in the Energy Industry

Top Ten Environmental Fraud Settlements for 2020

The False Claims Act: It Benefits More than Just the Government

Catches of the Week: Contractors Abroad Face Liability for Fraud in U.S. Government Contracts

French Concrete Contractor Pays $14.5 Million to Resolve Claims of Delivering Substandard Concrete for U.S. Navy Bases in Africa

A horrifying cancer cluster story emphasizes the need for more environmental whistleblowers

Natural Disasters Expose the Unnatural Ones Too

Another “Magic Pipe” Down the Drain: Whistleblower Tips Lead to Guilty Plea in Ocean Dumping Case

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