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Deutsche Bank Pays More than $16M to Settle SEC Charges of FCPA Violations

Posted 08/30/19

Last week, the SEC announced that German-based banking giant Deutsche Bank agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by hiring relatives of foreign officials in China and Russia to get investment banking business. See SEC Press Release. According to the SEC’s order, these so-called "referral hires" bypassed the bank's merit-based hiring process and...

Tagged in: FCPA, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week — Yukom Communications and Others Face CFTC Claims of Binary Options Fraud

Posted 08/16/19

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed suit against five entities and four individuals on August 12, 2019, in the Northern District of Illinois for running a $103 million fraudulent binary options scheme. The defendants, led by Israeli company Yukom Communications Ltd.,which marketed binary options using two websites known as BinaryBook and BigOption. In recent years, the CFTC has targeted fraudulent binary...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Financial and Investment Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Misrepresentations,

Question of the Week — Will Healthcare Settlements Continue to Dominate False Claims Act Recoveries?

Posted 07/24/19

Recent blockbuster settlements continue past trends: healthcare fraud has so far this year dominated FCA recoveries. During the first half of 2019, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) secured over $750 million in settlements from False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases. And just past the mid-year point, total recoveries have nearly doubled due to a $700 million civil settlement ($1.4 billion total) entered on July 11th...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Housing and Mortgage Fraud, Pharma Fraud,

Constantine Cannon Partner Mary Inman Weighs in on Standard Chartered Allegations

Posted 07/23/19

London partner Mary Inman was quoted in articles regarding recent allegations that British banking and financial services company Standard Chartered (StanChart) handled more than $56 billion dollars in illegal transactions with entities connected to Iran. The allegations are spelled out in a whistleblower suit against StanChart originally filed in 2012, voluntarily dismissed, and then refiled in late 2018. The...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Financial and Investment Fraud,

Question of the Week — Three Years in Prison for Insider Trading – Too Harsh or Not Harsh Enough?

Posted 06/28/19

A London judge sentenced former UBS compliance officer Fabiana Abdel-Malek and day trader Walid Choucair to three years in prison for insider trading. At trial, the jury saw evidence suggesting that Abdel-Malek and Choucair were in constant communication as the compliance officer learned of potential takeover deals and other confidential company information through UBS’s internal databases. Abdel-Malek and Choucair...

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, Financial and Investment Fraud, Insider Trading,

Catch of the Week — Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc.

Posted 06/28/19

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc (“Merrill”), a commodity trading subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, agreed on June 25th to two $25 million settlements with both the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) to resolve allegations it conducted deceptive trading practices in United States commodities markets.

DOJ Criminal Violations

This settlement resolved...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, FCA Federal, Importance of Whistleblowers, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Rewards,

Calling all FCPA Whistleblowers — The CFTC Wants You!

Posted 06/19/19

Businessmen Holding Foreign Currency in an Envelope

If you have information on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations in the commodities or derivatives markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) wants to hear from you. The agency made this clear in a recently-issued CFTC "Whistleblower Alert" calling on all FCPA whistleblowers to step forward and report what they know. The agency even dangled the potential for monetary rewards for those...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, FCPA, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Rewards,

Default by Nursing Home Chain on HUD-Guaranteed Mortgage Highlights Potential for Fraud in Section 232 Program

Posted 06/3/19

Last week, the New York Times reported on the collapse of Rosewood Care Centers, a chain of nursing homes with facilities in Illinois and Missouri. According to the report, the chain had faced years of operational and financial difficulties, including fines by state regulators, personal injury claims by residents, and lawsuits by investors and vendors. When it went under, Rosewood defaulted on $146 million in...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Loan Programs, Housing and Mortgage Fraud, SNF,

SEC Gives First Ever Whistleblower Award Under Rule That Incentivizes Internal Reporting

Posted 05/31/19

hand pointing to virtual compliance text

On May 24, the Securities & Exchange Commission announced that it awarded over $4.5 million to a whistleblower who both reported allegations of securities fraud at a company internally and shared this information with the SEC. This is the first time since the creation of its whistleblower rewards program that the SEC awards a claimant under Rule 21-F4(c)(3) of the Exchange Act, a provision designed to encourage...

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

Legal Sports Betting Is Leading to Serious Fraud Risks

Posted 05/31/19

man holding cell phone to place sports bet

With the NBA finals upon us, you may be thinking putting down some cash on one team or the other. Thanks to a Supreme Court decision last year, your state may even allow such bets. And no wonder. Illegal sports betting is a gigantic industry—estimated at $150 billion a year, it eclipses the $5 billion legally gambled in Nevada. Much of that money goes into the hands of mafia interests, who increasingly use online...

Tagged in: Abusive Tax Shelters, FCA State, Financial and Investment Fraud,

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Deutsche Bank Pays More than $16M to Settle SEC Charges of FCPA Violations

Catch of the Week — Yukom Communications and Others Face CFTC Claims of Binary Options Fraud

Question of the Week — Will Healthcare Settlements Continue to Dominate False Claims Act Recoveries?

Constantine Cannon Partner Mary Inman Weighs in on Standard Chartered Allegations

Question of the Week — Three Years in Prison for Insider Trading – Too Harsh or Not Harsh Enough?

Catch of the Week — Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc.

DOJ Criminal Violations

Calling all FCPA Whistleblowers — The CFTC Wants You!

Default by Nursing Home Chain on HUD-Guaranteed Mortgage Highlights Potential for Fraud in Section 232 Program

SEC Gives First Ever Whistleblower Award Under Rule That Incentivizes Internal Reporting

Legal Sports Betting Is Leading to Serious Fraud Risks

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