CFTC Makes $1.8M Whistleblower Award -- Second Award Under Trump Administration
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Lawyer Team Shortly before the holidays (on December 19), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a $1.8 million award to two whistleblowers “whose information significantly contributed to the successful resolution of enforcement cases involving defrauded investors.”[1] It is only the second award under the CFTC Whistleblower Program since President Trump took office, the first one (of $700,000) being awarded in May. Like the Securities...
Payments News Update – December 26, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Fed Report Shows Visa, Mastercard Shift More Debit Card Fraud Onto Merchants CPA Practice Advisor – December 22, 2025 A new report from the Federal Reserve shows that Visa and Mastercard shifted more of the burden of debit card fraud onto the merchants, while easing responsibility for banks. The updated figures for 2023 show that merchants paid for 49.9% of debit card fraud in 2023...
And Yet Another Whistleblower-Originated Customs Fraud Case -- Ceratizit Pays $54.4M in Largest-Ever False Claims Act Settlement
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Last Thursday (December 18), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that North Carolina-based Ceratizit USA agreed to pay $54.4 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay duties it owed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the products it imported from China.[1] It is just the latest in a string of customs fraud settlements this year, but the...
Dana-Farber Pays $15M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations of NIH Grant Fraud
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Last Tuesday (December 16), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute agreed to pay $15 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by fraudulently securing and using National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants.[1] It is just the latest in a series of False Claims Act enforcement actions against research institutes and universities for fraudulently procuring or...
Lennon + Ono, David Bowie, Coldplay and more: Top 10 Holiday Songs With Whistleblower Themes
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team The holiday season is rife with tradition, good food, quality time with friends and family, and of course, the inevitable yearly defrosting of pop’s Christmas queen Mariah Carey and of so many other super-smash songs of yore. Some holiday tunes have unexpected whistleblower messaging, such as calls for peace, drawing attention to the world’s issues, self-advocating, embracing change, celebrating courage, challenging authority, and exploring the...
SEC Files Suit Against and Reaches Settlement with Digital Ad Company
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On December 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in federal court against social media and digital advertising company Curastory Inc. and its founder and CEO, Tiffany Kelly, and concurrently moved the court to approve a judgment in accordance with the parties’ settlement.[1] This is yet another example of the SEC bringing an enforcement proceeding alleging that a startup company and leadership...
Payments News Update – December 19, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Walmart, Other Retailers Object to Visa and Mastercard Settlement Reuters – December 15, 2025 Major retailers and trade groups are urging a federal judge in Brooklyn to reject a proposed antitrust settlement with Visa and Mastercard, saying the deal lets the card giants keep charging merchants excessive fees for credit card transactions and offers them few benefits. Walmart said in an objection filed on Friday...
Constantine Cannon Partner Gordon Schnell Quoted in Bloomberg and Law360 On Zafirov Appeal of False Claims Act Constitutionality
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Last Friday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held argument on the Constitutionality of the whistleblower (or qui tam) provisions of the False Claims Act. These are the provisions of the Civil War era statute that authorizes private parties to bring lawsuits on behalf of the Government against those that defraud the Government. Over the past few decades, the Government has recovered roughly $80...
Canadian Man Charged by SEC for $18M+ Investor Fraud Scheme
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Nathan Gauvin, a Canadian citizen, along with his entities -- Blackridge, LLC, Gray Digital Capital Management USA, LLC, and Gray Digital Technologies, LLC -- with conducting two fraudulent securities offerings that raised over $18 million from investors in the U.S. and internationally. The SEC alleges that Gauvin misappropriated around $6.3 million of investor funds and used fake...
FinCEN Imposes $3.5M Fine on Paxful for Enabling Illicit Transactions
By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On December 9, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced it imposed a $3.5 million civil penalty on Paxful, Inc. and Paxful USA, Inc. for willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the key U.S. anti-money laundering law. Paxful, a peer-to-peer convertible virtual currency trading platform, facilitated over $500 million in suspicious activities involving illicit actors. FinCEN found that the platform...
