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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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

March 18, 2016

A California district court ordered debt relief company Morgan Drexen, Inc., to pay $132,882,488 in restitution and a $40 million civil penalty for charging illegal upfront fees and deceiving consumers.  The order follows a preliminary injunction prohibiting the company from collecting any more money from customers and a default judgment entered against the company for misleading the court and “act[ing] willfully and in bad faith by falsifying evidence.”  The court’s findings regarding Morgan Drexen’s bad faith were based, in part, on testimony from a whistleblower who exposed the company’s conduct.   CFPB

March 18, 2016

The FTC is mailing 2,172 partial refund checks totaling nearly $210,000 to consumers who bought Nano-UV “disinfectant” devices from a company called Zadro Health Solutions, Inc. The refunds stem from an FTC settlement with over allegations that Zardo’s ads falsely claimed that their devices “safely kill 99.99% of targeted bacteria – E. Coli, Salmonella and the H1N1 (swine flu) virus in 10 seconds.” FTC

March 15, 2016

The CFPB requested a California district court to enter a final judgment and order banning Student Loan Processing.US and its sole owner, James Krause, from any future involvement in debt relief and student loan services.  The proposed order also requires the company to shut down all operations within 45 days of the judgment and to pay $8.2 million in refunds to thousands of harmed consumers – although most of that payment will be suspended due to the defendant’s inability to pay.  The CFPB’s lawsuit alleged that Student Loan Processing.US charged consumers illegal upfront enrollment fees before providing any services, deceived customers about the costs of their services, and falsely represented an affiliation with the DOE. CFPB

March 15, 2016

National retailer Lord & Taylor has agreed to settle FTC charges that it deceived consumers by paying for native advertisements, including a seemingly objective article in the online publication Nylon and a Nylon Instagram post, without disclosing that the posts actually were paid promotions for the company’s 2015 Design Lab clothing collection. FTC

March 10, 2016

The FTC and the DOJ brought a federal court action against KFJ Marketing, LLC; Sunlight Solar Leads, LLC; Go Green Education; and Francisco J. Salvat to stop a telemarketing operation that allegedly made illegal robocalls promising consumers energy savings, in an effort to generate leads to sell to solar panel installation companies. According to the complaint, defendants Francisco Salvat and his companies placed more than 1.3 million illegal pre-recorded telemarketing calls to consumers with phone numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry. The defendants allegedly claimed to be attempting to help consumers with their energy costs. FTC

March 8, 2016

The CFPB’s supervisory examinations of banks and nonbanks in the last months of 2015  resulted in the remediation of $14.3 million to approximately 228,000 consumers.  Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB supervises banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets and certain nonbanks, including, among others, mortgage companies, private student loan lenders, and payday lenders.  In their exams, the Bureau found violations in the student loan market, including illegal automatic defaults by student loan servicers and illegal garnishment threats by debt collectors performing services for the DOE. Examiners also found instances of international money transfer companies violating the CFPB’s new remittance rule, banks providing inaccurate information to credit reporting companies about customer checking accounts, and debt collectors illegally contacting consumers. CFPB

March 3, 2016

A Utah man and three companies he controls have agreed to settle FTC charges that they assisted a deceptive work-at-home scheme that the FTC charged, in February 2014, with conning millions of dollars from consumers. The scheme, which did business as Coaching Department and Apply Knowledge, among other names, falsely promised consumers they could earn thousands of dollars a month by purchasing business coaching services. Under the settlement order, Ken Sonnenberg, Apply Knowledge LLC, eVertex Solutions LLC, and Supplier Source LLC are prohibited from making claims, or assisting others in making claims, about likely earnings without reliable, written substantiation. The order imposes a $500,000 judgement against the companies. FTC

March 2, 2016

The CFPB ordered Dwolla, an online payment platform, to pay a $100,000 penalty for deceiving consumers about its data security practices and the safety of its online payment system.  The bureau also ordered Dwolla to fix its security practices.  The company, which collected and stored sensitive personal information for more than 650,000 users, failed to employ reasonable and appropriate measures to protect data from unauthorized access and failed to encrypt sensitive personal information, despite representations to the contrary.  CFPB

February 24, 2016

The FTC has charged a debt relief operation with falsely representing to financially distressed homeowners and student loan borrowers that it would help get their mortgages and student loans modified. According to the FTC’s complaint, Good EBusiness LLC, using the name The AAP Firm, and Tobias West deceptively marketed home loan modification services and illegally charged an advance fee of between $1,000 to $5,000. The agency alleges that the defendants falsely claim that they can lower consumers’ monthly mortgage payments, often quoting a specific amount, and reduce their mortgage interest rates, usually within a few months, and falsely promise full refunds if they fail. FTC

February 23, 2016

The CFPB filed two orders against Citibank relating to the bank’s illegal debt sales and debt collection practices.  The bureau ordered Citibank to provide nearly $5 million in consumer relief and pay a $3 million penalty for selling credit card debt with inflated interest rates and failing to forward consumer payments promptly to debt buyers.  Separately, the CFPB ordered Citibank to comply with a court order requiring the bank to refund $11 million to consumers and forgo collecting an additional $34 million for filing altered affidavits in debt collection litigations.   CFPB
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