Archive

December 20, 2023

Avinash Singh and Highrise Advantage, LLC will pay over $100 million in restitution and civil penalties and are permanently banned from registering with the CFTC and from trading on any registered entity. Despite bringing in almost $58 million from investors and feeder funds, Singh and Highrise used less than $2.5 million on forex trades and used over $25 million on personal expenses and to make payments on their Ponzi-like scheme. CFTC

Tagged in: Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Ponzi Schemes,

December 19, 2023

Indiana-based Community Health Network Inc. has agreed to pay $345 million to resolve claims by its former CFO and COO Thomas Fischer, which alleged the healthcare system submitted claims to Medicare that were tainted by violations of the Stark Law. In order to capture physicians’ downstream referrals, Community paid physicians salaries that were sometimes double market rate, and awarded them bonuses based on the number of referrals. Community then submitted claims resulting from these referrals for reimbursement. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

December 18, 2023

Heart monitoring device manufacturer BioTelemetry Inc. and its subsidiary, LifeWatch Services Inc., have agreed to pay more than $14.7 million for causing false claims to be submitted to federal healthcare programs. The claims were brought in two separate qui tam suits, one by an employee of one of LifeWatch’s customers, Michael Pelletier, and the other by SFP I LLC. The whistleblowers alleged that the companies knew the design of their enrollment portal would steer clinical staff into enrolling patients in telemetry, which is reimbursed at a higher rate, rather than holter monitoring and event monitoring, which is reimbursed at a lower rate. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Whistleblower Case,

December 14, 2023

Freepoint Commodities LLC will pay more than $98 million in civil penalties and disgorgement for improperly obtaining and trading on material non-public information. Freepoint paid millions in bribes to government officials in Brazil to obtain highly confidential information related to the purchase and sale of fuel oil. Certain members of Freepoint's oil trading team knew of and took steps to conceal the fraud by using code words, fake names, and private email addresses, all to gain unlawful competitive advantages in oil products trading. DOJ; CFTC

Tagged in: Bribery and Bid-Rigging, FCPA, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Misrepresentations, Regulatory Violations,

November 16, 2023

A Florida man who was the Chief Compliance Officer of pharmacy holding company A1C Holdings LLC has been ordered to pay $21.7 million in restitution for his role in a $50 million fraud scheme against Medicare. Pharmacies associated with Steven King and his co-conspirators allegedly secured prescriptions and refills for medically unnecessary lidocaine and diabetic testing supplies, and took steps to avoid oversight by registering as brick-and-mortar pharmacies, concealing their ownership, and shipping expensive prescriptions without patient authorization. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Pharma Fraud,

November 15, 2023

Phillip Gales and the entities he controlled—Tyche Asset Management LLC, Tyche Master Fund Ltd, Tyche Asset Trade LLC, Tyche Offshore Fund Ltd., Tyche Onshore Fund LP, Tyche PML Master Fund Ltd., Tyche PML Onshore Fund LP, Tyche Onshore Fund GP LLC, and Tyche Asset Trade LLC—will pay over $5.3 million in restitution and a nearly $16 million penalty for violating CFTC regulations governing commodity pools and for making false and misleading statements to the National Futures Association. Gales convinced investors he was a hedge fund magnate and claimed his Tyche entities achieved returns of over 200%, which he attributed to sophisticated technology and trading strategies. The majority of investors' funds, however, were not used to place trades but rather to fund Galles' lavish lifestyle and carry out his Ponzi scheme. CFTC

Tagged in: Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Ponzi Schemes,

November 1, 2023

XTO Energy Inc. has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act. In exchange for producing natural gas on federal and Native American lands, XTO was supposed to put the gas in marketable condition and pay royalties on the value of the gas produced. However, over an 8 year period, XTO improperly deducted the costs of transporting carbon dioxide. With this settlement, the Department of Interior has now recovered $25 million from energy companies who similarly withheld required royalties from the government. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud,

October 30, 2023

Nostrum Laboratories Inc. and its founder, Nirmal Mulye, Ph.D., have agreed to pay up to $50 million, with a minimum of $3.8 million, to resolve allegations of defrauding Medicaid in connection with one of their drugs. As part of the settlement, Nostrum and Mulye admitted that they knowingly failed to pay required drug rebates to Medicaid, in violation of the False Claims Act, despite being notified by CMS that they should do so. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Pharma Fraud,

October 24, 2023

AECOM, an architecture and engineering firm in Texas, has agreed to pay $11.8 million to resolve allegations of defrauding FEMA and violating the False Claims Act in connection with efforts to rebuild educational facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina. While serving as a technical assistance contractor for FEMA, AECOM allegedly helped applicants submit fraudulent requests for disaster assistance funds, resulting in some applicants receiving funds in excess of what was permitted. The misconduct was revealed by whistleblower Robert Romero, who will receive a relator’s share of $2.4 million as part of the settlement. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

October 23, 2023

Ceres Global Ag Corp. has been ordered to pay $3 million to settle charges of attempting to manipulate the price of oats futures contracts in 2016 and 2017. According to the CFTC, a former senior official directed employees to manipulate its short position in order to affect the futures price. CFTC

Tagged in: Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets,

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