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Other Federal Enforcement Actions

					
Numerous federal agencies have authority to institute enforcement proceedings against wrongdoers.  These agencies include:


    

  • The Department of the Treasury and its divisions including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN), which is responsible for safeguarding the U.S. financial system from illicit use and money laundering including through enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces economic and trade sanctions. Whistleblowers with knowledge of violations of the Bank Secrecy Act can submit a claim under the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program.  Violations of other laws enforced by the Department of Treasury may give rise to claims under different whistleblower reward programs.
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  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is charged with preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. The FTC can bring enforcement actions under U.S. antitrust laws and to stop unfair, deceptive and fraudulent business practices. The FTC does not have any authority to pay financial rewards to whistleblowers; however, conduct that is regulated by the FTC may also give rise to a claim under a different whistleblower reward program.
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  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which regulates the offering and provision of consumer financial products or services under the federal consumer financial laws, and has the authority to bring enforcement actions against financial service providers. While the CFPB accepts tips from whistleblowers, and applicable laws offer whistleblowers protection from retaliation, there is currently no provision for CFPB whistleblowers to receive financial rewards. However, conduct that is regulated by the CFPB may also give rise to a claim under a different whistleblower reward program.
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  • The Environmental Protection Agency, which enforces federal environmental laws and regulations. The EPA does not currently have any authority to pay financial rewards to whistleblowers; however, conduct that is regulated by the EPA may also give rise to a claim under a different whistleblower reward program, and a number of federal environmental laws protect government or private employees reporting environmental violations under the statutes from retaliation.
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Below are summaries of recent settlements and successful enforcement actions involving these agencies. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give rise to a claim under a whistleblower reward program, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
May 2, 2016

				 At the FTC’s request, a federal court has found BlueHippo Funding LLC, BlueHippo Capital LLC and BlueHippo’s CEO Joseph Rensin in contempt for operating a deceptive computer financing scheme in violation of a federal court order that the defendants agreed to in 2008. The court also entered judgment against Rensin for $13.4 million, the harm consumers suffered as a result of the scheme.  FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 25, 2016

				 The CFPB ordered debt collection law firm Pressler & Pressler, LLP, principal partners Sheldon H. Pressler and Gerard J. Felt, and New Century Financial Services, Inc., a debt buyer, to stop churning out unfair and deceptive debt collection lawsuits based on flimsy or nonexistent evidence.  The orders also require the firm and the named partners to pay $1 million, and New Century to pay $1.5 million to the Bureau’s Civil Penalty Fund.  CFPB				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 25, 2016

				 Star Pipe Products, Ltd., a supplier of ductile iron pipe fittings, will pay $120,000 in civil penalties to resolve FTC allegations that it violated a 2012 Commission order prohibiting it from sharing competitively sensitive information. It also has agreed to an order modification that adds training and notification obligations to prevent future violations. FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 21, 2016

				 The CFPB filed a lawsuit against Dmitry Fomichev and Davit Gasparyan, co-founders of T3Leads, a lead aggregator that buys consumer information – called leads – from websites that market payday and installment loans. The complaint alleges their company did not vet or monitor its lead buyers, exploited consumers’ lack of understanding of the risks, costs, and conditions of the loans applied for, and put consumer information at risk of being trafficked for illegal purposes.  CFPB				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 12, 2016

				 Four companies that market skin care products, shampoos, and sunscreens online — ShiKai, Rocky Mountain Sunscreen, EDEN BodyWorks, and Beyond Coastal — have agreed to settle FTC charges that they falsely claimed that their products are “all natural” or “100% natural,” despite the fact that they contain synthetic ingredients. The proposed consent orders bar the four settling respondents from misrepresenting the following when advertising, promoting, or selling a product: 1) whether the product is all natural or 100 percent natural; 2) the extent to which the product contains any natural or synthetic components; 3) the ingredients or composition of a product; and 4) the environmental or health benefits of a product. FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 6, 2016

				 The FTC is mailing 474 checks totaling more than $33,000 to consumers who lost money to a scheme that charged homeowners an up-front fee for mortgage relief services they promised but never provided.  In September 2015, a federal court banned Wealth Educators and Veronica Sesma from the debt collection business.  FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 31, 2016

				 The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court alleging that Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and several other drug companies violated antitrust laws by using pay-for-delay settlements to block consumers’ access to lower-cost generic versions of Opana ER and Lidoderm.  Following more than a decade of FTC challenges to pay-for-delay settlements, the enforcement action is the first FTC case challenging an agreement not to market an authorized generic – often called a “no-AG commitment” – as a form of reverse payment. FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 30, 2016

				 The CFPB issued an order against student debt relief company, Student Aid Institute, Inc., and its chief executive officer, Steven Lamont, for, among other things, deceiving customers about how much they would save by using their services and misleading customers into believing that fees were required to participate in free federal student loan programs.  The company reaped millions of dollars in advance fees from thousands of customers as a result of these and other deceptions.  The order requires Student Aid Institute and Lamont to pay a penalty of $50,000, shut down the company’s debt relief services, cancel all contracts with customers and stop charging them for services. The company and Lamont are also permanently barred from the debt relief industry. CFPB				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 30, 2016

				 Sham charities Cancer Fund of America Inc., Cancer Support Services Inc., and their leader, James Reynolds, Sr., agreed to settle charges that they claimed to help cancer patients, but instead, spent the overwhelming majority of donations on their operators, families and friends, and fundraisers.  These sham charities, run by Reynolds and his family members, allegedly bilked more than $187 million from donors. FTC

				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 29, 2016

				 The FTC has charged that Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. deceived consumers with the advertising campaign it used to promote its supposedly “clean diesel” VWs and Audis, which Volkswagen fitted with illegal emission defeat devices designed to mask high emissions during government tests. The FTC is seeking a court order requiring Volkswagen to compensate American consumers who bought or leased an affected vehicle between late 2008 and late 2015, as well as an injunction to prevent Volkswagen from engaging in this type of conduct again. FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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