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SEC Keeps Crypto Fraud in Its Sights Through Expanded Enforcement Team

Posted 05/4/22

The SEC announced on May 3 that it was dramatically expanding its Cyber Unit and renaming the team the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. The newly enlarged team will now include fully 50 enforcement personnel. The expanded team shows that the SEC is continuing to see crypto fraud as a major enforcement priority. As the number of digital currencies continue to grow and the increasing number of new investors in the...

Tagged in: Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Securities Fraud,

Stericycle Pays More than $84 Million to Settle FCPA Charges

Posted 04/26/22

Last Wednesday, Illinois-based waste management company Stericycle Inc. agreed to pay more than $84 million to settle foreign bribery charges brought in parallel by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and authorities in Brazil. The charges centered around payments Stericycle made to foreign officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina to secure government contracts in those...

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, FCPA, Financial and Investment Fraud,

Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Practice Group 2021 Roundup: Another Banner Year

Posted 04/21/22

2021 was another banner year for Constantine Cannon’s whistleblower practice group, with three historic whistleblower successes, including the first-ever award under the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act. This string of successes follows the firm's record-shattering 2020 year where our whistleblower team secured blockbuster settlements that recovered more than $600 million for the government and roughly $115...

Tagged in: Auto Safety, CC Lawyers, Dark Pools, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Rewards,

SEC Hits Crypto Firm BlockFi with $100 Million in Penalties

Posted 02/22/22

The SEC recently announced cryptocurrency financial institution BlockFi agreed to pay $100 million to resolve charges it violated securities laws. Half the penalties will go to the SEC, and the other half will go to 32 states that brought similar charges. The settlement represents the largest recorded penalties the Commission has ever imposed on a crypto firm. It also sends a clear message the SEC will not shy away...

Tagged in: Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Securities Fraud,

On NFTs, Treasury Comes Out Swinging

Posted 02/8/22

The Treasury Department recently issued a Report on money laundering in the art markets. To no one’s surprise, Treasury found the art market to be an “attractive” one for money launderers, given the “the high-dollar values,” “ease of transportability,” “long-standing culture of privacy,” and “increasing use of art as an investment or financial asset.” When Congress mandated the report back in...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Money Laundering,

Precious Metals, Costly Fraud

Posted 02/4/22

Safeguard Metals LLC and its principal, Jeffrey Santulan a/k/a Jeffrey Hill were hit with multiple enforcement actions this week, alleging fraud in their sale of securities and commodities to investors they targeted to sell their existing securities and invest the proceeds into gold and silver coins. The CFTC and 27 state security regulatory agencies jointly filed one action, and the SEC filed its own action. Both...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Misrepresentations, Securities Fraud,

Top Ten Financial and Healthcare Fraud Prison Sentences of 2021

Posted 01/28/22

Individuals involved in financial and healthcare fraud schemes face not just civil liability, but also criminal penalties – including prison time. In 2021, the Department of Justice obtained substantial prison sentences in a myriad of cases involving healthcare and financial frauds, many of which involved convictions of the type of fraudulent schemes that whistleblowers report. Whistleblowers play an essential role...

Tagged in: Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, COVID-19, Criminal Proceedings, Education Fraud, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Money Laundering, Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud, Top 10,

Top Ten State Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/21/22

State enforcement of anti-fraud laws is an important deterrent and tool to create accountability. In cases of healthcare fraud and financial fraud, including government contract fraud, unlawful kickbacks, and tax evasion, state governments act as critical enforcement authorities, including through state False Claims Acts. Whistleblowers with information about fraud that violates state laws, or involves state...

Tagged in: FCA State, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Top 10,

Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/21/22

While 2021 may have felt like more of the same as the pandemic dragged on, it marked some new trends in federal financial fraud recoveries. As we predicted last year, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 has heralded some large recoveries against banks. The Act also established an Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program, so that whistleblowers who report financial institutions engaging in money laundering –...

Tagged in: Antitrust General, Bribery and Bid-Rigging, Criminal Proceedings, Financial and Investment Fraud, FIRREA, Foreign Exchange, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Money Laundering, Price Fixing, Top 10,

Top FCPA Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/14/22

We wish we could provide a list of the Top Ten FCPA recoveries of 2021. But, in 2021, there were just four FCPA settlements announced by government enforcement agencies. Following back-to-back years with billions of dollars in recoveries under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 2020 and 2019 momentum has, unfortunately, stalled. The FCPA prohibits the payment of bribes to foreign officials made with the...

Tagged in: FCPA, Financial and Investment Fraud, International Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Top 10,

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SEC Keeps Crypto Fraud in Its Sights Through Expanded Enforcement Team

Stericycle Pays More than $84 Million to Settle FCPA Charges

Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Practice Group 2021 Roundup: Another Banner Year

SEC Hits Crypto Firm BlockFi with $100 Million in Penalties

On NFTs, Treasury Comes Out Swinging

Precious Metals, Costly Fraud

Top Ten Financial and Healthcare Fraud Prison Sentences of 2021

Top Ten State Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Top FCPA Recoveries of 2021

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