Whistleblower Insider Blog

Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

Posted 09/13/12

By Jason Enzler The hits keep coming for Johnson & Johnson. On August 30, several state attorneys general announced that they have agreed to a $181 million settlement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a J & J subsidiary, regarding charges that the company was illegally promoting its antipsychotic drugs Risperdal and Invega. Click here for a press release from New York. The settlement, involving 36 states and the...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

Posted 09/12/12

By Gordon Schnell In a shot heard round the whistleblower world, the IRS has paid $104 million to former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld for blowing the whistle on the Swiss banking giant's scheme to help thousand of Americans cheat the IRS through secreting their assets in offshore accounts. This is the scandal that led to the bank's payment of a $780 million fine and to the voluntary disclosure by more than...

Tagged in: IRS Whistleblower Reward Program,

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

Posted 09/10/12

By Gordon Schnell and Marlene Koury (published in the American Banker) Under the recently implemented whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, whistleblowers who report violations of the securities laws are supposed to be protected from being fired. These protections -- which can include reinstatement, double back pay and special damages -- are designed to serve as an incentive for whistleblowers to come...

Tagged in: FCPA,

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

Posted 08/28/12

By Gordon Schnell and Marlene Koury With the payment of its first whistleblower reward last week, the SEC has declared loud and clear that its recently created Whistleblower Office is officially open for business. Click here for SEC press release. While relatively modest in amount -- only $50,000 for now -- what is particularly notable about the award is that it represented 30 percent of the total amount the...

Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Posted 08/16/12

By Marlene Koury The government has done a good job of late in recovering billions of dollars of fines from a host of companies big and small for committing various acts of healthcare fraud. The recoveries so far for this year alone have been record-setting, on their way to crossing the $10 billion mark. And this number is sure to grow even higher as the Obama Administration continues to ramp up its efforts to...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

Posted 08/14/12

By Gordon Schnell In a hopeful sign that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be taking internal whistleblowers more seriously, the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced last week the creation of a Whistleblower Ombudsperson position. The new ombudsperson will be responsible for educating DOJ staff on the role and importance of internal whistleblowers in uncovering agency abuse and mismanagement...

Tagged in: Whistleblower Protection Laws,

SEC Continues its Crusade Against Foreign Bribery

Posted 08/10/12

By Gordon Schnell The reinvigorated efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to fight foreign bribery continue to pay off. This week, the SEC announced that the drug giant, Pfizer, has agreed to pay $60 million to settle criminal and civil charges that its subsidiaries bribed foreign officials in Europe and Asia in order to win business there. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), it...

Tagged in: FCPA, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- A Good Start But Not Nearly Enough

Posted 08/6/12

By Gordon Schnell (Published in The Hill) The proposed antitrust whistleblower legislation introduced last week by Senators Leahy (D-Vermont) and Grassley (R-Iowa) is certainly a step in the right direction. See Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- Help Is on the Way. It would for the first time provide protections for employees reporting to the government or within their company antitrust...

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- Help is On the Way

Posted 08/3/12

By Gordon Schnell Two U.S. senators this week proposed legislation that would for the first time extend whistleblower protections to those reporting on violations of the antitrust laws. The bill, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) as the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, would amend the Antitrust Criminal Penalties Enforcement and Reform Act (ACPERA). This...

Tagged in: Legislation and Regulation News,

Partnering With Former Fraudsters and Conflicted Parties to Root Out Health Care Fraud -- Is the Government Letting the Fox Guard the Hen House?

Posted 08/1/12

By Marlene Koury The government announced last week that it would be partnering with Amerigroup in its new public-private partnership to prevent health care fraud. If “Amerigroup” and “fraud” in the same sentence sound all too familiar, it is not because of the company's track record in fighting fraud. Rather, it is likely because Amerigroup paid $225 million in 2008 to resolve claims that it defrauded...

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud,

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Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

SEC Continues its Crusade Against Foreign Bribery

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- A Good Start But Not Nearly Enough

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- Help is On the Way

Partnering With Former Fraudsters and Conflicted Parties to Root Out Health Care Fraud -- Is the Government Letting the Fox Guard the Hen House?

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

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Whistleblower Insider Blog

Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal Woes Roll On

The IRS Whistleblower Office Gets Serious With Record Setting Award

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

The SEC Whistleblower Office is Open for Business

The Government's New Public-Private Partnership in Tackling Healthcare Fraud – Seeking Prevention Over Punishment

Taking Internal Whistleblowers More Seriously -- The DOJ's New Whistleblower Ombudsperson Position

SEC Continues its Crusade Against Foreign Bribery

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- A Good Start But Not Nearly Enough

Expanding Protections for Antitrust Whistleblowers -- Help is On the Way

Partnering With Former Fraudsters and Conflicted Parties to Root Out Health Care Fraud -- Is the Government Letting the Fox Guard the Hen House?

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

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