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Constantine Cannon Celebrates a Record-Shattering Year of Whistleblower Rewards

Posted 10/8/20

This has been a big year for the whistleblower clients of Constantine Cannon. Our whistleblower team represented the whistleblowers in four blockbuster settlements in just the past twelve months. In two of those cases, the government declined to pursue the matter so we had to litigate on our own. More importantly for our clients, in all four cases Constantine Cannon secured some of the highest whistleblower...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, FCA Federal, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Whistleblower Answers, Whistleblower Rewards,

This Week in Whistleblower History: The Hall Carbine Affair and Defense Procurement Fraud

Posted 10/2/20

This week marks the first public unveiling of a fascinating—and still disputed—event in whistleblower history called the “Hall Carbine Affair.” Arising out of the investigative activities of a U.S. House Special Committee at the start of the Civil War into rampant defense procurement fraud, the scandal involved the government sale and then repurchase of obsolete rifles for the Union Army at grossly inflated...

Tagged in: Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Trade Agreements,

Wireless Carriers Pay $138.7 Million to Settle Claims of Overcharging Hundreds of State and Local Entities Under Cooperative Purchasing Contracts

Posted 09/24/20

Constantine Cannon represented whistleblower OnTheGo Wireless, LLC, as well as 30 California political subdivisions in litigation that resulted in recoveries under the state False Claims Acts of California and Nevada from the nation’s four largest wireless carriers: Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint, and T-Mobile. With California court approval of the AT&T and Verizon settlements on September 24, 2020,...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud,

For Garlic Powder They Got Maltodextrin

Posted 08/28/20

The centuries-old yet enduring fraud of cheap-substitutions for quality foodstuffs reared its head during the U.S. Civil War when the government bought supplies from contractors: “For sugar, it often got sand; for coffee, rye; for leather, something no better than brown paper; for sound horses and mules, spavined beasts and dying donkeys; and for serviceable muskets and pistols, the experimental failures of sanguine...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Correctional Services Fraud, Falsifying Invoices, FCA Federal, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud, Pricing Fraud,

COVID Frauds of the Week: More Price Gouging and PPP Fraud

Posted 08/21/20

money in a spiral form with a bankroll of cash on top

As the COVID-19 pandemic remains omnipresent in our daily lives, so too do the fraudsters who seek to capitalize on the crisis and line their own pockets. Fortunately, government regulators have remained vigilant in rooting out fraud and protecting the public. Just in the past week, federal prosecutors have busted two large schemes seeking to profit off other's pain. First, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Government Loan Programs, Government Programs Fraud, Pricing Fraud,

COVID Frauds of the Week: Price Gouging, Unapproved Treatments, and a Dead CEO

Posted 08/7/20

COVID-19 fraudsters really delivered this week, wherein we saw price gouging on masks, peddling of unproven “treatments” for COVID-19, and fraudulently-obtained PPP money spent on real estate, luxury goods, and personal—sometimes very personal—entertainment. Starting in Pennsylvania, the Attorney General announced this week that two medical supply companies—American Surgical Supply and Keystone Medical...

Tagged in: COVID-19, Government Programs Fraud, Pricing Fraud,

COVID-19 Frauds of the Week: Fake Employees and Fake Treatments

Posted 07/17/20

handcuffs on a gavel with money scattered around

Taxpayers, rightfully upset about large companies such as Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse claiming large sums of Paycheck Protection Program money from the Small Business Administration, should consider shifting some of their ire to applicants posing as the original intended recipients—small businesses—who are getting in on the grift. And for fraudsters who prefer to market unproven products rather than...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, COVID-19, Government Procurement Fraud, Misrepresentations,

The Border Wall Falls Down

Posted 07/15/20

a tall border wall in the middle of the dessert

In 2018, Constantine Cannon’s Mary Inman warned President Trump away from his pet border wall project as a surefire target for fraudsters. Two years later, here we are. Trump’s announced plan to build a wall along the 1,954 mile border between the U.S. and Mexico was a key campaign promise. That plan has now devolved into a series of piecemeal incomplete sections, including some that are privately funded....

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

This Week in Whistleblower History: House Resolution on July 8, 1861 Led to the Original False Claims Act

Posted 07/10/20

Photo of Winder Building in Washington DC

This week marks an important event in whistleblower history. On July 8, 1861, Congressman Charles H. Van Wyck of New York submitted a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives to create a special committee of five members appointed by the Speaker of the House to investigate fraud and profiteering in military contracts during the Civil War. The committee’s investigations ultimately led to the enactment of...

Tagged in: Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

Catch of the Week: Tacoma foundry pays 10.8M settlement over deficient steel parts destined for U.S. Navy submarines, falsified tests

Posted 06/18/20

US-Navy-ships-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean

The latest in our Catch of the Week series features Bradken Inc.’s $10.8 million payment to resolve allegations that its Tacoma foundry violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”) when it produced and sold substandard steel parts for U.S. Navy submarines and falsified test results to hide the failures. Bradken and its former lab director Elaine Thomas also face criminal charges. The company accepted responsibility and...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Contract Non-Compliance, Criminal Proceedings, Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

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Constantine Cannon Celebrates a Record-Shattering Year of Whistleblower Rewards

This Week in Whistleblower History: The Hall Carbine Affair and Defense Procurement Fraud

Wireless Carriers Pay $138.7 Million to Settle Claims of Overcharging Hundreds of State and Local Entities Under Cooperative Purchasing Contracts

For Garlic Powder They Got Maltodextrin

COVID Frauds of the Week: More Price Gouging and PPP Fraud

COVID Frauds of the Week: Price Gouging, Unapproved Treatments, and a Dead CEO

COVID-19 Frauds of the Week: Fake Employees and Fake Treatments

The Border Wall Falls Down

This Week in Whistleblower History: House Resolution on July 8, 1861 Led to the Original False Claims Act

Catch of the Week: Tacoma foundry pays 10.8M settlement over deficient steel parts destined for U.S. Navy submarines, falsified tests

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