Archive

In Their Own Words — Orlando

-- “When you knowingly mix deceit and trickery into the financial well-being of individuals, you create a recipe for devastation that could last a lifetime.”

Anthony J. Orlando, IRS Acting Special Agent in Charge, commenting on the sentencing of Medical Capital Holdings Inc.'s ex-president, who will serve over 10 years in federal prison for operating a $50M Ponzi scheme. Read more here.

In Their Own Words -- Goelman

-- “We will vigorously continue to investigate any efforts to manipulate financial benchmarks, and we will take action where possible to protect the integrity of these benchmarks.”

The CFTC’s Enforcement Director, Aitan Goelman, commenting on recent settlements with Citibank over charges that the bank manipulated trading benchmarks.

DOJ Catch Of The Week -- M&T Bank

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Buffalo, New York-based M&T Bank Corp.   Today, the bank agreed to pay $64 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet...

Despite A Recent Ninth Circuit Decision, The Law Still Applies To Government-Sponsored Entity Cases

By Anne Hayes Hartman Two co-whistleblowers lost their bid before the Ninth Circuit last month to proceed with a False Claims Act case alleging that mortgage lenders and servicers defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those who brought the case (the relators) alleged that the lenders and servicers (the defendants) violated the FCA by falsely ­certifying that loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie were free and...

$2 Million SEC Whistleblower Award To Be Split Among Three Whistleblowers — But The First To The Commission Gets The Most

The SEC has announced that its most recent whistleblower award, of almost $2 million, will be split among three whistleblowers — but not evenly.  The first whistleblower, identified only as “Claimant 1,” will receive about $1.8 million.  The other two whistleblowers will share about $130,000. The SEC whistleblower program was inspired by, and roughly based on, The False Claims Act (FCA), oft-described...

The UK’s new whistleblowing regime going live: UK financial institutions required to appoint a “whistleblowers’ champion”

By Yulia Tosheva On 7 March 2016, the new rule requiring UK deposit-takers (banks, building societies and credit unions), PRA-designated investment firms and insurers to appoint a senior manager as their whistleblowing champion came into force. The whistleblowers’ champion will be responsible for ensuring the integrity, independence and effectiveness of the firm’s policies and procedures on whistleblowing. A...

Maybe Too Big To Jail, But Never Too Small

By Gordon Schnell (Published in Huffington Post) The jury is still out on whether the Department of Justice will follow through on its recent pledge to amp up its crackdown on corporate fraudsters.  Too big to jail is not in our playbook, the agency has taken pains to assure us.  Going after the top-dogs is our number one priority the agency has trumpeted in its newly minted policy of holding the high-ups...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Olympus Corp.

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Olympus Corp. of America, the country's largest distributor of endoscopes and related equipment.  On Tuesday, the company agreed to pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims for the company's violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute through a scheme to pay kickbacks to...

State Enforcement Spotlight – Natixis Funding And Societe Generale

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This State Enforcement Spotlight features Natixis Funding Corp. and Societe Generale. On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a $56 million joint state-federal settlement for fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct in municipal bond derivative transactions with state and local government entities and nonprofits across the country. See NY AG Press...

DOJ Catch Of The Week -- VimpelCom

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to Amsterdam-based telecommunications company VimpelCom Limited.  Yesterday, the company and its wholly owned Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, agreed to pay roughly $795 million under settlements with the DOJ, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands (Openbaar...