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Largest-Ever Whistleblower Award Nets CFTC Tipster Almost $200 Million

Posted 10/22/21

On October 21, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it paid nearly $200 million to a whistleblower, a colossal award that is certainly the largest the CFTC has ever made, but also the largest award made under any federal whistleblower-reward program to a single whistleblower, including the False Claims Act. The CFTC said the whistleblower's tip provided important, "direct evidence of...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Price Fixing, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

A Billion in the Bank and Still No End In Sight For SEC’s Warm Embrace of Whistleblowers

Posted 10/1/21

It has been only two weeks since the SEC passed the billion dollar mark in whistleblower awards under the agency's Whistleblower Program. By all accounts, there will be no end to the cavalcade of awards that brought us to this landmark event. Starting with the whistleblower payout that brought the total awards tally past the 10-figure threshold. It was a blockbuster $110 million award, the second largest to...

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

SEC Awards $114 Million to Two Whistleblowers, Including an Apparent Outsider, Passing the $1 Billion Mark with a Bang

Posted 09/16/21

The SEC announced $114 million in whistleblower awards to two unnamed individuals whose information substantially contributed to an SEC enforcement action and two related actions by other enforcement agencies. With this award, the SEC can say it has issued more than $1 billion in awards to whistleblowers – truly, a milestone worth celebrating. As is typical with SEC press releases about whistleblower awards,...

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

SEC Whistleblower Program Summer Roundup - Nearing the Billion Dollar Mark

Posted 09/9/21

For the SEC Whistleblower Program, it was business as usual this summer. With total awards of more than $50 million to 25 whistleblowers, the agency moved ever closer to the billion dollar mark. Here is how it played out for the SEC program over the not so lazy days of summer:

June 2 – $23 million (2 whistleblowers)
June 14 – $3 million (2 whistleblowers)
June 21 – $5.3 million (4...

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

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Posted 08/20/21

Doctor on computer with patient discussing medicine

Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, COVID-19, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Money Laundering, Whistleblower Rewards,

SEC Chairman Views Cryptocurrency Markets as the “Wild West” and Calls for More Investor Protection

Posted 08/13/21

Cryptocurrency and US Hundred Dollar Bills Scattered Around

During a recent speech discussing the intersection of national security with cryptocurrencies at the Aspen Security Forum, Gary Gensler, the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), made clear the SEC will use its broad powers to continue protecting investors from the volatility associated with cryptocurrency markets which he characterized as the “Wild West.” He also urged Congress to grant...

Tagged in: Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Insider Trading, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week: Waived Copayments and “Free” Glucometers Result in $160 Million Recovery in Whistleblower Action Against Previously-Barred Arriva Medical

Posted 08/4/21

Woman using glucometer and diabetes testing strips

Mail-order diabetes supply company Arriva Medical has agreed to pay $160 million to resolve a False Claims Act case filed in 2013 by a whistleblower who worked for ten months in one of the company’s call centers. The government intervened in the whistleblower’s action in early 2019, and the case had been set for trial in June 2022. The settlement is the latest in a long string of actions against Arriva and...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

Senator Grassley Leads Bi-Partisan Pro-Whistleblower Push to Amend False Claims Act

Posted 07/30/21

Perennial whistleblower-champion Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is at it again. This time with the bi-partisan legislation he just introduced to further expand the reach of the False Claims Act, the government's key fraud enforcement tool. The statute was enacted in 1863 to fight widespread fraud by companies selling rotten food, sickly mules, and defective weapons to the Union Army during the Civil War. But...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA Materiality, Importance of Whistleblowers, Retaliation, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week: EEG Testing Company and Private-Investment Company to Pay $15.3M for Kickback and False-Billing Allegations

Posted 07/23/21

man holding money in hand and another hand with one finger over mouth

Whistleblowers came forward with six False Claims Act actions against a national EEG testing company and an investment company for allegedly paying kickbacks and falsely billing government healthcare programs. Texas-based provider Alliance Family of Companies (now Stratus) and private investor Ancor Holdings together will pay $15.3 million to resolve the cases. For their actions in coming forward, two...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Medical Billing Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

SEC Cracks Down Again on Companies Chilling Whistleblowers from Reporting Wrongdoing

Posted 07/2/21

A company’s restrictive compliance manual and training materials ran afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Rule 21F-17(a), prohibiting actions restricting, impeding, or discouraging whistleblowers from directly reporting wrongdoing to the Commission. In its settlement against New York broker-dealer Guggenheim Securities, LLC (Guggenheim), the SEC not only censured Guggenheim but also hit it...

Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Whistleblower Protection Laws, Whistleblower Rewards,

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Largest-Ever Whistleblower Award Nets CFTC Tipster Almost $200 Million

A Billion in the Bank and Still No End In Sight For SEC’s Warm Embrace of Whistleblowers

SEC Awards $114 Million to Two Whistleblowers, Including an Apparent Outsider, Passing the $1 Billion Mark with a Bang

SEC Whistleblower Program Summer Roundup - Nearing the Billion Dollar Mark

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

SEC Chairman Views Cryptocurrency Markets as the “Wild West” and Calls for More Investor Protection

Catch of the Week: Waived Copayments and “Free” Glucometers Result in $160 Million Recovery in Whistleblower Action Against Previously-Barred Arriva Medical

Senator Grassley Leads Bi-Partisan Pro-Whistleblower Push to Amend False Claims Act

Catch of the Week: EEG Testing Company and Private-Investment Company to Pay $15.3M for Kickback and False-Billing Allegations

SEC Cracks Down Again on Companies Chilling Whistleblowers from Reporting Wrongdoing

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