Whistleblower Insider Blog

HHS Inspector General Reiterates Commitment to Combating Healthcare Fraud, Highlights Areas of Focus

Last week, Christi Grimm, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  The subcommittee hearing, aptly titled “Examining How Improper Payments Cost Taxpayers Billions and Weaken Medicare and Medicaid,” focused on recent efforts to combat healthcare fraud and overpayments. In her written testimony, IG...

SCG Plastics Pays $20 Million to Settle OFAC Charges of Iran Sanctions Violations

Last Friday (April 19), the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that SCG Plastics Co., part of a Bangkok-based multinational enterprise, agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges it violated OFAC sanctions on Iran.  Specifically, the government claimed SCG Plastics caused U.S. financial institutions to process $291 million in wire transfers for sales of Iranian origin...

Government Puts Out the Call for Antitrust Healthcare Whistleblowers

The government is looking for whistleblowers with inside information of anticompetitive conduct in the healthcare markets.  This comes from DOJ's announcement yesterday (April 18), in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of the government's launch of "an easily accessible online portal for the public to report health care practices that may harm...

Scoundrel Spotlight: HIV Medication Black-Market Fraudster Boris Aminov

This week's Scoundrel in the Spotlight is Boris Aminov.  Yesterday (April 17), the Department of Justice announced Aminov was sentenced to nine years in prison "for engaging in a years-long scheme that exploited vulnerable HIV patients and defrauded Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies out of at least $20 million."  In addition to the prison term, Aminov also was ordered to pay roughly $13 in...

Constantine Cannon Partner Gordon Schnell Quoted in BBC Article on Tesla Whistleblower and the Rise of High-Tech Whistleblowers

On April 15, BBC reported on the efforts of Tesla whistleblower Cristina Balan to clear her name after her decade-long battle with Tesla.   It all started when she raised safety concerns at the company and was ultimately fired for sounding the alarm.  While she won a wrongful dismissal case, Tesla continued to go after her, claiming she embezzled money from the company.  She has been fighting those charges ever...

Whistleblower Spotlight: Joshua Farinella

Joshua Farinella had been working in the seafood industry for eight years when he received a lucrative job offer at Choice Canning, managing its shrimp factory in southern India for $300,000 a year. According to a joint investigation by NBC News and nonprofit The Outlaw Ocean Project, however, Farinella quickly learned that the position came with unethical strings attached. And although his past was not...

Third Constantine Cannon Law School Scholarship Essay Contest on the Importance of Whistleblowers

Attention all law students!  It is that time of year again.  Time to share with us your thoughts on what it means to be a whistleblower.  That is what our law school scholarship contest is all about.  Hearing from our future leaders of the Bar on the importance of whistleblowers and instilling in you at this formative stage in your careers the much-needed recognition of and appreciation for the critical role...

CFTC Makes First Whistleblower Award to Compliance Officer

On March 14, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a $1.25 million whistleblower award.  The award is not notable for its relatively modest size.  Rather, it is notable because it was made to an individual with compliance or internal audit responsibilities, and individuals serving this function are typically precluded from qualifying as whistleblowers under the CFTC Whistleblower...

DOJ Catch of the Week: Trafigura Beheer

Last Thursday (March 28), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Swiss-based international commodities trading company Trafigura Beheer B.V. pleaded guilty and agreed to pay roughly $126 million to settle charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  The DOJ’s action stemmed from Trafigura's scheme to bribe Brazilian government officials to secure business with Brazil’s state-owned...

Radiology Practice, CEO Settle False Claims Act Case for $3.1 Million

The DOJ recently announced that The Radiology Group (“TRG”), a teleradiology provider that performed radiology services (e.g., reading and preparing interpretation reports for MRI scans, CT scans, etc.) for other healthcare providers like hospitals and primary care doctors, and its CEO/co-owner will pay over $3 million to settle a False Claims Act case. The primary allegations in the DOJ’s complaint were that...