In Their Own Words. . . .Government Accountability Project Tom Devine and Joe Spielberger

In Their Own Words. . . .Government Accountability Project Tom Devine and Joe Spielberger

"[Whistleblower] retaliation doesn’t just punish honest people, it scares others into silence, allowing corruption to continue threatening the health, safety, and welfare of Florida’s residents and honest contractors." From their OpEd in today's Miami Herald calling on Florida Senator Rick Scott to support the Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act, bipartisan legislation that "would update and strengthen protection for whistleblowers at government contractors" and "better protect whistleblowers from retaliation and...

September 28, 2023

Energy provider Exelon Corporation and its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Company (ComED) have agreed to pay $46.2 million to settle charges of attempting to influence legislation through illegal bribes to then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan.  Between 2011 and 2019, in anticipation of benefits worth more than $150 million, ComEd provided $1.3 million in monetary payments, as well as employment and subcontracts, to Madigan’s associates.  Former ComED CEO...

September 27, 2023

The CFTC has awarded more than $300,000 to a whistleblower whose tip led to an investigation and whose aid led to a successful enforcement action. The whistleblower’s information was described as particularly informative and precise, and helped save the agency substantial resources.  CFTC

September 26, 2023

Registered investment advisor AssetMark Inc. has agreed to pay more than $18 million to settle charges of failing to fully disclose a conflict of interest from its affiliate’s cash sweep program.  Specifically, AssetMark failed to disclose that it helped set the fee that its affiliate received for operating the program, and the fee directly reduced the amount of interest paid to clients.  SEC

September 26, 2023

Hyzon Motors, which builds hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle SEC charges of misleading investors about its business relationships and sales numbers.  Its former CEO, Craig Knight, has agreed to pay about $250,000, and former managing director of its European subsidiary, Max C.B. Holthausen, has agreed to pay over $122,500, to settle charges against them.  Hydron, Knight, and Holthausen allegedly misrepresented that they...

Catch of the Week: Gramercy Cardiac Diagnostic Services

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to Gramercy Cardiac Diagnostic Services and its owner Klaus Peter Rentrop.  Gramercy provides cardiac diagnostic imaging services, previously operating out of four offices in New York City.  On Monday (September 18), the DOJ announced Rentrop and Gramercy will pay $6.5 million for violating the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute through their payment of millions of dollars in kickbacks...

September 25, 2023

Investment adviser DWS Investment Management Americas Inc. (DIMA), a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle two separate enforcement actions.  In the first action, DIMA was found to have failed to develop and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulations.  In the second action, DIMA was found to have made materially misleading...

September 22, 2023

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC has agreed to pay $6 million to resolve charges of failing to provide accurate securities trading information to the SEC.  The firm admitted to making 26 of 43 total types of errors, through 22,000 deficient blue sheet submissions, ultimately causing inaccurate or missing trade data for at least 163 million transactions.  SEC

In Their Own Words. . . .Rice University Political Science Professor Mark Jones

"[T]he reality is that if you’re a whistleblower, at a very high level you saw a group of well-respected, conscientious whistleblowers go to the FBI only after they were unable to convince their boss that he was engaging in transgressions and the response of all this is that their names get dragged through the mud, they get fired.  The lesson they’re going to draw from it is, 'Why bother?'" From...

September 22, 2023

American Infrastructure Funds LLC (AIM) has agreed to pay $1.6 million in civil penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest to settle charges of violating the antifraud and compliance provisions of the Advisers Act while acting as an investment advisor to private funds.  According to the SEC, AIM failed to disclose multiple conflicts of interest to its clients, including instances where it failed to consider whether a fee acceleration or a loan...