Whistleblower Insider Blog

Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 21, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Largest-ever US tax fraud phone scam – IRS watchdog warns that scammers pose as the IRS collection department and target people worried about immigration status -- fearing deportation or arrest, they pay up.  Reuters Arkansas court reverses $1.2B J&J Risperdal Medicaid fraud judgment – The Arkansas Supreme Court throws out the judgment, finding the state attorney general...

Of Rats and Whistleblowers

By Gordon Schnell We have made some progress in how we feel about whistleblowers.  Unfortunately, that old school-yard “nobody likes a snitch” mentality still remains firmly entrenched in our collective psyche, even among the group singularly tasked with serving and protecting us -- the NYPD.  Look no further than the emerging story of now retired NYPD Detective James Griffin.  He was ostracized and...

Separating the Myth from Reality of Big-Time College Sports

By Gordon Schnell It has been the subject of heated debate for years.  The student-athletes in big-time college sports -- FBS football and men’s Division I basketball -- bring in billions of dollars a year for their universities and the NCAA but are entitled to nothing in return other than a scholarship that most agree does not even cover the full cost of attending school.  Up until now, it has been largely a...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 18, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team NCAA sued for the full monty – High-profile sports labor attorney, Jeffrey Kellner, has filed a class action lawsuit against the NCAA challenging its age-old ban on paying college athletes.  ESPN NYAG goes after “insider trading 2.0” – Eric Schneiderman announced a new inquiry into services that allow fast traders to profit on important information before other investors...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 14, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The perils of whistleblowing – Live interview with whistleblowers Jesselyn Radack and Thomas Drake and author Edward Lucas on Edward Snowden and “whether reforms may follow the outrage.”  Economist Is mortgage fraud the “lowest priority” for the DOJ? – A new OIG report says the DOJ and FBI have not been diligent in pursuing mortgage fraud and have closed hundreds of...

America’s Ambivalence towards Whistleblowers: Highlights from a Fordham Panel of Whistleblower Experts

By Marlene Koury The Center on National Security and PEN American Center hosted a riveting panel Tuesday evening at Fordham Law School on the critical role whistleblowers play in keeping America safe and the continued ambivalence so many feel toward them.  The five panelists explored the historical, cultural, legal and political dimensions of whistleblowing, along with recent controversies surrounding Edward...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 11, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team SEC probes Halliburton anti-whistleblower activity – The investigation centers on claims that the company has required whistleblowers seeking to report fraud to sign confidentiality statements barring them from disclosing the allegations to federal prosecutors and investigators.  Washington Post Another vindicated but broken whistleblower – The extortion case against...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 7, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Playboy to pay in largest SOX whistleblower verdict – A jury returned the largest verdict yet under Sarbanes-Oxley's whistleblower provisions on allegations that the company, famous for its pictures of nude women, retaliated against an employee reporting on fraud involving executive bonuses.  Chicago Tribune Women and hedge funds – An in-depth discussion about the dearth of...

WildLeaks – The Newest Source for Wildlife Whistleblowers

By Marlene Koury Wildlife crime is big business – and it’s getting bigger.  It is the fourth largest transnational crime in the world, after narcotics, counterfeiting, and human trafficking.  And it is worth at least $17 billion a year.  The World Wildlife Fund recently said that in 50 years of conservation work, it has never seen wildlife crime on the scale that it exists today. Wildlife crime includes...

Supreme Court Takes Broad View of Whistleblower Protection

By Jason Enzler A Supreme Court decision this week settled a brewing conflict among authorities on who can benefit from the anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX).  And the outcome is good for whistleblowers.   The Supreme Court ruled that employees of private contractors and subcontractors who provide services to public companies can be protected whistleblowers...