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Top Ten FCPA Recoveries of 2019

Posted 01/10/20

This year, the federal government recovered billions of dollars under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits the payment of bribes to foreign officials for the purposes of furthering business interests. The anti-corruption actions by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerned almost every continent and covered a variety of misconduct. Below, we’ve gathered...

Tagged in: FCPA, Top 10,

Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2019

Posted 01/10/20

This year, federal and state governments recovered hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to whistleblowers who came forward to report fraud under the federal False Claims Act and state False Claims Acts. Whistleblowers reported a wide-range of misconduct involving government contracts, including fraud by defense contractors, airlines, and even a major research university. Defendants’ deception ran the gamut...

Tagged in: Bribery and Bid-Rigging, Cybersecurity and Data Breaches, Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, FCA State, Financial and Investment Fraud, Government Programs Fraud, Grant and Research Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Price Fixing, Pricing Fraud, Top 10, Visa Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

Catch of the Week: Ericsson Agrees to Pay Record-Setting $1 Billion for FCPA Violations

Posted 12/12/19

This week’s “Catch of the Week” is a Swedish fish: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, the telecommunications giant based in Stockholm, agreed to pay over $1 billion in penalties, including $540 million to the SEC and $520 million to the DOJ, for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). This is one of the largest FCPA settlements in history. Ericsson’s corrupt conduct was pervasive and...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, FCPA, Financial and Investment Fraud,

SEC Whistleblower Program 2019 Annual Report Tells Story of Significant Impact - Despite Beginning the Year with a Government Shutdown

Posted 12/12/19

Securities and Exchange Commission seal on building

In its 2019 Annual Report to Congress, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower described its program as continuing to have a “significant impact” on enforcement and investor protection efforts. In the fiscal year that ended in September 2019, the SEC Whistleblower Program received the second highest number of tips in program history, and issued the third largest whistleblower award to date. These numbers...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Statistics,

CFTC Whistleblower Program Annual Report Shows Program Open for Business, yet Challenges Persist

Posted 11/15/19

Screenshot of CFTC Whistleblower Program web page

Fifteen million dollars is how much the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Whistleblower Program paid whistleblowers in FY 2019 according to the agency’s annual report to Congress. This amount includes:

$7 million to one individual whistleblower;
Over $2 million to a non-insider whistleblower who provided independent analysis of market data; and,
Close to $1.5 million to a...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Financial and Investment Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, International Whistleblowers, Statistics, Whistleblower Rewards,

Second Circuit Upholds SEC Denial of Whistleblower Rewards to Three Claimants in Deutsche Bank Settlement

Posted 11/13/19

Disorganized paper records stacked on table

In May 2015, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $55 million penalty to the SEC to settle charges that its financial statements misreported the value of a portfolio of derivatives, failing to take account of the material risk of potential losses associated with the derivatives. Subsequently, in November 2017, the SEC announced that it had awarded whistleblower rewards totaling $16 million to two whistleblowers “whose...

Tagged in: Court Decision, Financial and Investment Fraud, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud,

In Second-Ever Enforcement Action of Its Kind, SEC Stands with Whistleblower Against Company’s Attempt to Muzzle Reporting

Posted 11/8/19

Imagine that, after you invest in a company, you start to smell a rat. After you try to alert other investors or report what you believe is a fraudulent scheme, the company you invested in draws up an agreement that conditions your shareholding on a prohibition on speaking with regulatory agencies. If it seems illegal, that’s because it is. Yet that’s exactly what online auction and memorabilia company Collectors...

Tagged in: Confidentiality and The Seal, Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Protection Laws,

Media Round-Up: Our Whistleblower Lawyers in the Press

Posted 10/24/19

With whistleblowers continuing to dominate the headlines, lawyers from the Constantine Cannon whistleblower team have been published in and featured in a number of outlets. This week saw the following stories:

- Gordon Schnell and Max Voldman were published in FierceHealthcare, What’s Missing from the Debate about "Medicare for All"? Combating Billions in Healthcare Fraud. With Democratic candidates...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Whistleblower Eligibility,

Legislation Watch: Proposed Amendments to Bank Secrecy Act Include Whistleblower Rewards

Posted 10/23/19

Currently in the 116th Congress, both the House and Senate are considering bills that would amend existing law to provide a whistleblower reporting system and meaningful financial rewards to whistleblowers who come forward to the federal government to report unlawful money laundering and other violations of specified banking laws. We have previously written on the important benefits that would be available with...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Legislation and Regulation News, Money Laundering,

How to Report Visa Fraud for a Whistleblower Reward

Posted 09/25/19

A settlement with India-based management consulting firm Mu Sigma shows how whistleblowers can make a difference in visa enforcement. In September, 2019, Mu Sigma agreed to pay the U.S. $2.5 million to settle claims that it evaded H-1B visa requirements and brought employees to the U.S. on B1 visitor visas, misrepresenting the nature of their intended employment. In announcing the settlement, Immigration and Customs...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Visa Fraud,

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Top Ten FCPA Recoveries of 2019

Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2019

Catch of the Week: Ericsson Agrees to Pay Record-Setting $1 Billion for FCPA Violations

SEC Whistleblower Program 2019 Annual Report Tells Story of Significant Impact - Despite Beginning the Year with a Government Shutdown

CFTC Whistleblower Program Annual Report Shows Program Open for Business, yet Challenges Persist

Second Circuit Upholds SEC Denial of Whistleblower Rewards to Three Claimants in Deutsche Bank Settlement

In Second-Ever Enforcement Action of Its Kind, SEC Stands with Whistleblower Against Company’s Attempt to Muzzle Reporting

Media Round-Up: Our Whistleblower Lawyers in the Press

Legislation Watch: Proposed Amendments to Bank Secrecy Act Include Whistleblower Rewards

How to Report Visa Fraud for a Whistleblower Reward

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