Whistleblower Insider Blog

Top Ten Financial and Healthcare Fraud Prison Sentences of 2021

Posted 01/28/22

Individuals involved in financial and healthcare fraud schemes face not just civil liability, but also criminal penalties – including prison time. In 2021, the Department of Justice obtained substantial prison sentences in a myriad of cases involving healthcare and financial frauds, many of which involved convictions of the type of fraudulent schemes that whistleblowers report. Whistleblowers play an essential role...

Tagged in: Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, COVID-19, Criminal Proceedings, Education Fraud, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Home Health and Hospice, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicare, Money Laundering, Ponzi Schemes, Securities Fraud, Top 10,

A Tool to Help Level the Playing Field for Low-Income Tenants

Posted 01/24/22
By Gordon Schnell, Elizabeth “Liz” Soltan

Headshots of attorneys Liz Soltan and Gordon Schnell

Published in the Boston Globe It happens all the time to low-income tenants: apartments crumbling and in disrepair, mold growing on the walls, pest infestations, unfair extra charges, and landlords who will not make things right so long as they can still make a buck. . . . For these mistreated tenants, there remains little ability to enforce their right to safe and stable housing. For the most part, they remain...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, FCA Federal,

Top Ten State Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/21/22

State enforcement of anti-fraud laws is an important deterrent and tool to create accountability. In cases of healthcare fraud and financial fraud, including government contract fraud, unlawful kickbacks, and tax evasion, state governments act as critical enforcement authorities, including through state False Claims Acts. Whistleblowers with information about fraud that violates state laws, or involves state...

Tagged in: FCA State, Financial and Investment Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Top 10,

Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/21/22

While 2021 may have felt like more of the same as the pandemic dragged on, it marked some new trends in federal financial fraud recoveries. As we predicted last year, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 has heralded some large recoveries against banks. The Act also established an Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program, so that whistleblowers who report financial institutions engaging in money laundering –...

Tagged in: Antitrust General, Bribery and Bid-Rigging, Criminal Proceedings, Financial and Investment Fraud, FIRREA, Foreign Exchange, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Money Laundering, Price Fixing, Top 10,

Top Ten Tax Recoveries for 2021

Posted 01/19/22

Our top tax recoveries for 2021 total over $7 billion, an impressive number that is due largely to just one of our top ten tax recoveries. Tax evaders were creative last year, utilizing offshore banking, good old tax fraud, and forum shopping for an accounting opinion that fits—all with the intention of cheating the IRS and, in return, the taxpaying public. IRS Criminal Investigation flexed its muscles and went...

Tagged in: Abusive Tax Shelters, FCA State, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Tax Credit and Deduction Fraud, Tax Fraud, Top 10,

Top FCPA Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/14/22

We wish we could provide a list of the Top Ten FCPA recoveries of 2021. But, in 2021, there were just four FCPA settlements announced by government enforcement agencies. Following back-to-back years with billions of dollars in recoveries under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 2020 and 2019 momentum has, unfortunately, stalled. The FCPA prohibits the payment of bribes to foreign officials made with the...

Tagged in: FCPA, Financial and Investment Fraud, International Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Top 10,

Catch of the Week: 13 Conspirators Busted in $100 Million No-Fault Insurance Fraud

Posted 01/14/22

The U.S. Attorney this week announced the arrest of doctors, businesspeople, an attorney, a New York police officer, and several others in one of the largest no-fault automobile insurance fraud takedowns in history. The investigation leading to their arrest was conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Healthcare Fraud, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Billing Fraud, Provider Fraud,

Top Ten Healthcare Fraud Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/11/22

Consistent with the trend in prior years, the bulk of the Justice Department’s fraud and false claims recoveries in 2021 stemmed from healthcare fraud matters. Most of the funds recovered arose from cases originated by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The majority of the recoveries on this list involve allegations of violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, a federal law that...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Chiropractic, Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Pharma Fraud, Provider Fraud, Top 10,

Top Ten SEC and CFTC Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/7/22

As we recently detailed, 2021 proved to be a blockbuster year for whistleblowers under the CFTC and SEC Whistleblower Programs. Seven of the ten largest whistleblower awards of 2021 were made to SEC and CFTC whistleblowers, including a massive $200 million CFTC award that was roughly twice as large as all prior CFTC awards combined. In total, the SEC paid more awards—both in total dollars and individual...

Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, Misrepresentations, Money Laundering, Regulatory Violations, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Top 10,

Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2021

Posted 01/7/22

Our roundup of 2021’s Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries illustrates the statute’s continuing capacity to fight both conventional and emergent frauds straddling a variety of industries. In 2021 alone, the United States recovered hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds obtained through false claims tainted by textbook contracting fraud schemes (overbilling on government contracts, selling the...

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Government Programs Fraud, Set-Asides and Preferences, Top 10, Whistleblower Case,

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