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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,

Immigration Detention Facilities Continue to Pose Fraud Risks

Posted 05/9/19

Last summer, we wrote about the fraud risks inherent in the massive increase in government spending for immigration detention. Almost one year later, a child’s tragic death again calls attention to failures at the immigration facilities that maintain ever increasing government contracts. On April 30, 2019, a sixteen-year-old boy died at a Southwest Key facility in Brownsville, TX, two weeks after arriving in the...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Correctional Services Fraud, Government Procurement Fraud, Human Rights,

The Latest on Cryptocurrency, Offshore Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering, and Whistleblowing: A Report from OffshoreAlert Miami 2019

Posted 05/3/19

Hanging Hundred Dollar Bills on Clothes Line

“A diverse collection of the hunters and the hunted.” That’s how the Wall Street Journal described the OffshoreAlert Conference in 2009. The 2019 conference was no different, bringing together those who work in the offshore industry, the government enforcers who try to stop the unscrupulous among them, and the asset recovery professionals who pursue lost funds. Alongside them were whistleblowers and their...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Money Laundering, Ponzi Schemes, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Tax Fraud,

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published on Need for Whistleblowers in Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

Posted 04/26/19

currency hanging on laundry line with clothespins

With a whistleblower program for anti-money laundering enforcement currently under discussion in the House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee, Constantine Cannon attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher were published in Banking Exchange on April 22 on the benefits such a program could bring. Highlighting the example of the recent Standard Chartered settlement, in which the London-based bank agreed...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Legislation and Regulation News, Money Laundering,

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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

Immigration Detention Facilities Continue to Pose Fraud Risks

The Latest on Cryptocurrency, Offshore Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering, and Whistleblowing: A Report from OffshoreAlert Miami 2019

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published on Need for Whistleblowers in Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

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