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Top Ten Environmental Fraud Settlements of 2019

Posted  01/17/20
image of trees
Between Greta Thunberg's "Climate Strike" mass protests, the on-going saga over the Dakota Access Pipeline, the hoopla over plant-based diets, and record temperatures and ice melts – the environment was on everyone's mind in 2019.  Whistleblowers can be eligible for financial rewards for reporting environmental violations in a number of different ways, and our review below features many recoveries – including...

Question of the Week: How Badly do you Want to Stop Animal Trafficking?

Posted  01/17/20
image of endangered-species
Last week, the Department of Justice indicted a New York man, Christopher Casacci, for illegally importing and selling dozens of African wild cats.  Doing business as “ExoticCubs.com,” Casacci brought into the United States and sold dozens of caracals (Caracal caracal) and servals (Leptailurus serval). Caracals, known as the “desert lynx,” are wild cats native to Africa, and grow to approximately 45 pounds....

Blowing the Whistle on Environmental Abuse: Investigation of Kanto Kosan for Wastewater Dumping at Naval Bases in Japan

Posted  12/6/19
fleet of navy ships
Earlier this week, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Navy’s law enforcement arm, announced that it was investigating contractor Kanto Kosan for allegedly dumping wastewater from warships at harbors in Navy bases in Japan. The investigation was triggered by a tip submitted to Japanese Customs. The FBI and Department of Justice have also joined the investigation. According to the Wall Street...

Catch of the Week — Princess and Carnival Cruise Lines

Posted  06/7/19
plastic waste dumped on ocean beach
Carnival Cruise Lines and subsidiary Princess will pay $20 million in criminal penalties for environmental transgressions and violations of probation. Princess and parent Carnival are just over two years into a five-year probation term that stems from Princess’s April 2017 felony conviction for deliberately dumping oil-contaminated wastewater into the open ocean and then engaging in an intentional coverup of its...

Catch of the Week — Bosch Fined $100 Million Over Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Scandal

Posted  05/23/19
Volkswagen Car Logo with Splatters of Dirt
German prosecutors fined Bosch $100 million for its role in the 2015 Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal. The fine was imposed for negligent violation of supervisory obligations resulting from the use of Bosch software to mask illegal pollution levels in diesel-engine vehicles. Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, developed the engine management control software used to provide emissions testers with...

Maryland State Senate Introduces a Bill to Establish a Natural Resources Whistleblower Program

Posted  02/15/19
Hands holding miniaturized tree with wildlife
In a time of increasing concern about climate change and environmental destruction, one state is ramping up efforts to conserve natural resources and encourage everyday citizens to join the fight. Just last week, the Maryland State Senate introduced a bill to establish a Natural Resources Whistleblower Program to assist enforcement activities related to the protection of state parks, water, forests, and land. The...

WATCH THIS SPACE: DOJ and DOE Call Out Lockheed Martin for Self-Dealing at Hanford Plutonium Site

Posted  02/15/19
Worker in HazMat suit standing in front of pile of barrels in rain
The nation’s largest toxic cleanup site has suffered another setback, this time not in the cleanup itself but in alleged self-dealing, corruption, kickbacks, and lies, costing taxpayers over $60M, according to a complaint filed by DOJ against Mission Support Alliance, Lockheed Martin Services (and a subsidiary), and Jorge Francisco Armijo. The Hanford Nuclear Site in central Washington state made plutonium for...

Top Ten Environmental Fraud Settlements for 2018

Posted  01/24/19
Smooth river flowing through wide green valley
Our environment, natural resources, energy resources, and wildlife are subject to numerous laws and government programs that can give rise to fraudulent activity. Here is our look-back at the top 10 environmental fraud recoveries for 2018. Our 2016 and 2017 lists are also available on the Whistleblower Insider blog.
  1. International Automated Systems and RaPower-3 – In October 2018, a federal court in Utah...

Executives of Company with Ties to Polygamous Church Indicted for Over $500 Million in False Claims for Renewable Fuel Tax Credits

Posted  08/29/18
Tax Fraud
On Friday, August 24th, DOJ announced that three individuals had been indicted by a grand jury in Utah for filing false claims for over $500 million in renewable fuel tax credits on behalf of Washakie Renewable Energy. Washakie is associated with the Kingston Group, a Utah-based polygamous church with fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, that has previously paid $3 million to the EPA for falsely claiming to have produced...

Massachusetts Fishing Company to Pay for Oil Pollution Discharges

Posted  05/8/18
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Massachusetts-based Challenge Fisheries and Quinn Fisheries agreed to pay $414,000 in civil penalties and perform fleet-wide improvements to resolve charges of violating the Clean Water Act stemming from fuel oil discharges in New Bedford Harbor and coastal waters off of southeastern New England. See DOJ Press Release. According to the government, the company was responsible...