Whistleblower Insider Blog

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 12, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team SEC sues Kansas for bond fraud -- Federal regulators claim that the Kansas Development Finance Authority defrauded investors by bringing $273M of bonds to market in 2009 and 2010 without disclosing that its pension system was deeply underwater and investors ran a risk of not being fully repaid.  Dealbook Second Circuit rules against fired whistleblower in SOX case -- The...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 8, 2014

Russia grants Snowden three more years – NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gets another three years asylum in Russia with the added bonus of being able to travel freely within the country and travel abroad for no longer than three months.  GAP Oracle case to test bounds of Oregon’s False Claims Act? – Legal experts say that Oregon faces uphill battle against Oracle Corp. in their suit over the health insurance...

DOJ Catch of the Week -- Community Health Systems

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to Community Health Systems, Inc.  On Monday, the Tennessee-based operator of acute care hospitals -- the largest in the country with 206 affiliated hospitals in 29 states -- agreed to pay $98 million to resolve charges of billing the government for inpatient services that should have been billed as significantly less...

New IRS Whistleblower Rules Receive a “Mixed Review”

By Jason Enzler The Internal Revenue Service issued final rules for the IRS whistleblower program yesterday.  Under the new rules, some government employees may now qualify as whistleblowers, and whistleblower bounties may be larger in some cases.  But the rules will not permit whistleblowers to receive awards when the government uses their information to secure recoveries through criminal tax proceedings. The...

Halifax Whistleblower Speaks Out

By Marlene Koury The whistleblower responsible for the record-setting Halifax Health Medical Center settlement spoke out about blowing the whistle on massive health care fraud.  Elin Kunz was working in the hospital's compliance department – a job she had held for 16 years – when she says she discovered some disturbing information that eventually led her to blow the whistle. She discovered that the hospital...

The Billion-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Club – New Members Welcome!

By Gordon Schnell Apparently, Bank of America is close to inking a deal with the government under which it would pay about $17 billion to settle charges of its mortgage machinations in the run-up to the financial crisis.  If finalized, BofA would be just the latest big bank to cement its membership in the Billion Dollar Mortgage Fraud Club.  Some of the other major banks that make up this elite assemblage, and...

Whistleblower Watchdog Unveils New Website for Food Safety Whistleblowers

By Jason Enzler The Government Accountability Project (GAP) unveiled a new website yesterday designed to support whistleblowers reporting on food safety issues.  The website is part of GAP’s Food Integrity Campaign, an effort to protect and empower whistleblowers in sounding the alarm on fraud and abuse in our food supply chain. The new website includes a mobile device-friendly design and information on how...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 5, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Tale of two whistleblowers -- Two whistleblower-related stories that came out last week provide stark contrast as to the right way and wrong way for companies to handle whistleblower complaints.  WSJ Community Health Systems to pay $98M -- The country’s largest operator of acute care hospitals has agreed to the payment to settle multiple whistleblower lawsuits alleging it...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - August 1, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Hewlett-Packard settles False Claims Act allegations for $32.5M — The government charged the company with overcharging the U.S. Postal Service for almost a decade.  DOJ

SEC whistleblower receives $400K for tip — But perhaps the bigger story is the SEC could have denied the whistleblower any money but waived a requirement in order to award the bounty. WSJ

Report says UK...

DOJ Catch of the Week – Vascular Solutions

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to Vascular Solutions Inc (VSI).  On Monday, the Minneapolis-based medical device maker agreed to pay $520,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by marketing a product for sealing veins without FDA approval.  Specifically, the government charged that VSI marketed and sold its "Vari-Lase...