Government Enforcement Actions

June 5, 2015

Former DC Public Schools employee Jeffrey Mills will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the $19.4 million paid by Chartwells, a division of Compass Group USA, Inc. and Thompson Hospitality Services LLC to settle charges the company violated the False Claims Act by overcharging DC public schools in connection with its school lunch program contracts.  DC

June 5, 2015

The FTC is mailing checks totaling more than $467,000 to consumers who lost money to a scheme that charged large up-front fees for mortgage relief services that were not provided. The FTC won a court action against Jackson, Crowder & Associates and Crowder Law Group, in which the FTC alleged that the defendants falsely promised to modify consumers’ mortgages and substantially reduce their monthly payments, exaggerated the role an attorney would play, and pretended to be affiliated with a government agency. FTC

May 28, 2015

The FTC has reached a settlement resolving the Commission’s antitrust suit charging Cephalon, Inc. with illegally blocking generic competition to its blockbuster sleep-disorder drug Provigil. The settlement ensures that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., which acquired Cephalon in 2012, will make a total of $1.2 billion available to compensate purchasers, including drug wholesalers, pharmacies, and insurers, who overpaid because of Cephalon’s illegal conduct. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said, “today’s landmark settlement is an important step in the FTC’s ongoing effort to protect consumers from anticompetitive pay for delay settlements, which burden patients, American businesses, and taxpayers with billions of dollars in higher prescription drug costs.”

May 26, 2015

Ashworth College has agreed to settle FTC charges it misrepresented to students that they would get the training and credentials needed to switch careers or get a new job, and that the course credits they earned would transfer to other schools. In reality, many programs offered by the for-profit institution did not meet state requirements for desired careers, and the claims made about credit transfers were often not true. Jessica Rich, Director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “when schools promise students they can transfer course credits or get a better job after completing their programs, they’d better be able to back up those claims.”

May 21, 2015

At the request of the FTC, a federal court has temporarily halted a sweepstakes operation based in Fort Lauderdale that took more than $28 million from consumers throughout the United States and other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The FTC seeks to permanently end the allegedly illegal practices and return money to victims.

May 20, 2015

The CFTC fined Barclays $400 million for attempting to manipulate the foreign exchange benchmark rates and another $115 million for attempting to manipulate the U.S. Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix.  CFTC and CFTC

May 15, 2015

The FTC mailed checks totaling approximately $3 million to consumers who lost money to TriVita, diet supplement marketers who made unsupported claims that their cactus-based fruit drink, Nopalea, would treat a variety of health problems.

May 15, 2015

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced his office expects to recover a total of $63 million from nine LCD manufacturers, whose price-fixing conspiracy drove up prices consumers paid on items like TVs, laptops and cell phones. If approved, it will be one of the largest recoveries for Washington by the Attorney General’s Antitrust Division in state history. The companies involved and the amount they agreed to pay are: Samsung ($12.94 million), AU Optronics ($12.5 million), Chi Mei Optoelectronics ($8.75 million), Sharp ($6.75 million), Epson ($2.7 million), Toshiba ($950,000), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes ($350,502). The office previously reached agreements with LG ($13 million) and Hitachi ($5.2 million). WA

May 14, 2015

The CFTC ordered Double Eagle Enterprises, LLC, Double Eagle Metals, and its owner Eric Arlt, all of Charlevoix, Michigan, to pay $700,000 for illegally offering off-exchange financed transactions in precious metals with retail customers, and failure to register as a Futures Commission Merchant with the CFTC.  CFTC

May 13, 2015

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced a $75 million settlement with Enbridge Energy over the July 2010 Line 6B spill that sent more than 800,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River from a pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge. MI