Archive

Pharmaceutical Case Presents Novel Use of False Claims Act

(As reported in Thomson Reuters) When you think of a whistleblower, you might think of an employee reporting on the misconduct of some giant corporate employer -- a David versus Goliath scenario.  On Friday, Reuters reminded us that this is not always the case, reporting on a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by a very different kind of whistleblower -- a corporate competitor.  In this case, Amphastar...

Interview with Randy Fox, New York’s Whistleblower Chief, on New York as an Alternative to the IRS for Tax Whistleblowers

By Marlene Koury Whistleblower Insider interviewed Randy M. Fox, Bureau Chief of the Taxpayer Protection Bureau at the New York Attorney General’s Office, about the recent tax fraud case against the famous New York tailor, Mohanbhai “Mohan” Ramchandani, and the good work Mr. Fox’s office is doing under the New York False Claims Act. The Mohan case is the first resolution of a tax case brought under the...

Lance Armstrong’s Legal Woes Mount as Justice Department Considers Joining Fraud Case

By Jason Enzler A False Claims Act complaint filed against Lance Armstrong by former teammate Floyd Landis has leaked, despite the fact that it was filed under seal and the Department of Justice has not publically decided whether it will intervene.  Although the DOJ was expected to make that decision last Thursday, there have been widespread reports that the decision would be postponed because DOJ officials are...

More Trouble for Orthofix

By Marlene Koury Medical device maker Orthofix, Inc. this week obtained court approval for its June 2012 settlement proposal to resolve civil and criminal allegations that it defrauded Medicare through kickback schemes and overbilling for its bone-growth stimulators.  Click here for the original government press release.  The company will pay approximately $43 million for its misdeeds.  This payment follows on...

SEC Whistleblower Program Continues to Gain Steam With No Signs of Slowing Down

By Jason Enzler The SEC just released its second annual report on its whistleblower program (available here).  While there are no major surprises, there are some interesting facts to take away and even some trends that can be deduced.  Consistent with our report in a previous post, the number of attorneys staffing the SEC’s Whistleblower Office has doubled.  See Business Is Booming At The SEC Whistleblower...

Everything You Want to Know About the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and More

By Jason Enzler In a move that should help both businesses and those seeking to combat fraud, the SEC and DOJ jointly released a 120-page guide on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) on Wednesday.  The guide does not represent any changes to the law or new trends in its enforcement, but it does gather in one place an easy-to-read discussion of the law and its prohibitions, answers to hypothetical scenarios,...

A Tale of Two Whistleblower Offices -- The Very Different Approaches of the SEC and IRS

By Gordon Schnell By now, we all have heard about the $104 million awarded to former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld for blowing the whistle on the Swiss banking giant's scheme to help thousands of Americans use offshore accounts to cheat the IRS.  See The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award.  It was the largest whistleblower award on record and particularly notable as it came from an...

CVS Sub Caught Duping Consumers in Prescription Drug Purchases

By Marlene Koury In one of the first False Claims Act settlements involving Medicare's "Part D" prescription drug program, CVS Caremark subsidiary, RxAmerica, agreed to pony up $5.25 million to resolve charges that it submitted false pricing information to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  This is the government body that oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  It also makes available the...

Banner Year for Whistleblowers and the Public, No End in Sight

By Jason Enzler Fiscal Year 2012 just wound up and the results are in for the government’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases:  $9 billion in fines and penalties.  This is over twice that of last year’s tally of $4 billion.  And all but one of the top 25 recoveries involved cases where individuals blew the whistle.  This past year also included some other notable firsts:

• The largest recovery in...

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

By Gordon Schnell In a shot heard round the whistleblower world, the IRS has paid $104 million to former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld for blowing the whistle on the Swiss banking giant's scheme to help thousand of Americans cheat the IRS through secreting their assets in offshore accounts.  This is the scandal that led to the bank's payment of a $780 million fine and to the voluntary disclosure by more than...