Government Enforcement Actions

November 20, 2023

Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing LLC (CRRM) and its affiliated companies have agreed to pay more than $23 million in penalties to the United States and State of Kansas for violating the provisions of a 2012 consent decree as well as the Clean Air Act.  According to the DOJ and EPA, CRRM’s petroleum refinery emitted over 2,300 excess tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) between 2015 and 2017, which violated a 2012 consent decree to properly monitor such emissions.  In addition to the penalties, CRRM must spend at least $1 million to benefit the public and environment, and implement measures costing up to $9 million to prevent future violations.  DOJ

November 20, 2023

Two U.K.-based reinsurance brokers, Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited and H.W. Wood Limited, have agreed to pay $36 million and $22.5 million in criminal penalties respectively for participating in a scheme to bribe Ecuadorian officials through transactions based in Florida.  Tysers—then known as Integro Insurance Brokers Limited—and H.W. Wood were found to have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when they paid $2.8 million in bribes to the chairman of two government-owned insurance companies and three government officials, by way of almost $30 million in commissions paid to third parties.  In addition to the criminal penalties, Tysers will forfeit $10.5 million, and H.W. Wood will forfeit $2.3 million, with H.W. Wood’s penalties reduced due to demonstrated inability to pay.  DOJ

November 17, 2023

A man who was convicted of carrying out a $7 million mortgage fraud scheme has been sentenced to 25 years.  Through his company, purported mortgage investment company Grand View Financial LLC, Robert Sedlar promised consumers that he could clear the liens on their houses and retain the deeds if they transferred the titles to his company and made certain payments.  Instead, the company filed false documents with the courts and county recorders officers that stalled foreclosures but failed to eliminate liens.  CA AG

November 16, 2023

A Florida man who was the Chief Compliance Officer of pharmacy holding company A1C Holdings LLC has been ordered to pay $21.7 million in restitution for his role in a $50 million fraud scheme against Medicare.  Pharmacies associated with Steven King and his co-conspirators allegedly secured prescriptions and refills for medically unnecessary lidocaine and diabetic testing supplies, and took steps to avoid oversight by registering as brick-and-mortar pharmacies, concealing their ownership, and shipping expensive prescriptions without patient authorization.  DOJ

November 16, 2023

A doctor and a clinic owner were sentenced to 10 years and 12 years in prison for their roles in a $5 million pill mill scheme.  Jonathan Rosenfield, M.D. owned and operated two clinics with co-owner and co-operator Elmer Taylor.  Together, the two issued prescriptions for over 750,000 oxycodone pills and nearly 420,000 hydrocodone pills that were ultimately diverted to the illegal market.  DOJ

November 15, 2023

Phillip Gales and the entities he controlled—Tyche Asset Management LLC, Tyche Master Fund Ltd, Tyche Asset Trade LLC, Tyche Offshore Fund Ltd., Tyche Onshore Fund LP, Tyche PML Master Fund Ltd., Tyche PML Onshore Fund LP, Tyche Onshore Fund GP LLC, and Tyche Asset Trade LLC—will pay over $5.3 million in restitution and a nearly $16 million penalty for violating CFTC regulations governing commodity pools and for making false and misleading statements to the National Futures Association. Gales convinced investors he was a hedge fund magnate and claimed his Tyche entities achieved returns of over 200%, which he attributed to sophisticated technology and trading strategies. The majority of investors' funds, however, were not used to place trades but rather to fund Galles' lavish lifestyle and carry out his Ponzi scheme. CFTC

November 15, 2023

Online lender Enova International Inc. has been ordered to pay $15 million and is prohibited from offering certain consumer loans for seven years, after the CFPB found it guilty of violating a 2019 order to cease and desist from widespread illegal conduct, including withdrawing funds from consumer bank accounts without their consent, backtracking on loan extensions, failing to provide crucial information such as due dates, and failing to provide consumer copies of signed authorizations.  In addition to the new penalties, Enova has been ordered to provide redress to consumers harmed and tie executive compensation with the company’s compliance with consumer protection laws.  CFPB

November 6, 2023

One of Puerto Rico’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, Droguería Betances LLC has been ordered to pay $12 million following a DOJ complaint that it failed to report hundreds of suspicious ordered to the DEA.  According to the complaint, the suspicious orders included at least 655 for fentanyl and 113 for oxycodone.  Additionally, Betances committed recordkeeping violations by filling orders for these drugs using defective order forms and reporting inaccurate shipping and delivery information to the DEA.  Betances must now make extensive improvements to its compliance program.  DOJ

November 6, 2023

Drogueria Betances LLC will pay $12 million and will make extensive compliance and reporting improvements as required under a consent decree, for its failures to report suspicious orders and make required reports to the DEA. One of Puerto Rico's largest pharmaceutical drugs distributors, Betances failed to report to the DEA hundreds of "suspicious orders" for fentanyl and oxycodone from 2016 through at least June 2019. Additionally, from May 2017 to July 2018, Betances failed to report to the DEA all of the more than 7.8 million dosage units of Schedule II opioids distributed, committed hundreds of recordkeeping violations, filled orders placed with defective order forms, and gave inaccurate shipping or delivery information to the DEA. DOJ

November 2, 2023

Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to pay a $6 million civil penalty to the SEC to settle charges of violating the internal accounting controls and books and records provisions of the Securities Exchange Act.  Between 2008 and 2020, the firm failed to properly account for the costs of internally developed software.  Because it was unable to differentiate between capitalizable and noncapitalizable costs, the bank applied a single capitalization rate year after year without sufficient basis.  SEC