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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.

December 1, 2015

Athletic apparel company Tommie Copper, Inc. and its founder have agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle FTC charges that they deceptively advertised the company’s copper-infused compression clothing would relieve severe and chronic pain and inflammation caused by arthritis and other diseases. Tommie Copper’s proposed settlement with the FTC also requires the company and its founder and chairman Thomas Kallish to have competent and reliable scientific evidence before making future claims about pain relief, disease treatment, or health benefits. FTC

November 18, 2015

The CFPB filed an administrative lawsuit against an online lender, Integrity Advance, LLC, and its CEO, James R. Carnes, for deceiving consumers about the cost of short-term loans. The suit seeks redress for harmed customers, injunctive relief, and a civil monetary penalty. CFPB

November 13, 2015

A federal court granted a request by the FTC to shut down a tech support scam that allegedly bilked consumers out of more than $17 million by pretending to represent Microsoft, Apple and other major tech companies. According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and State of Connecticut Office of Attorney General, the defendants in the case used internet advertisements and popups that appeared to be from well-known technology companies to lure consumers into calling them. FTC

November 11, 2015

The FTC filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop a dietary supplement marketer from making misleading claims that its product can help treat and even cure people who are addicted to opiates, including prescription pain medications and illegal drugs such as heroin. According to the FTC’s complaint against Sunrise Nutraceuticals, LLC, the company, based in Boca Raton, Florida, deceptively claims that its dietary supplement Elimidrol, a “proprietary blend” of herbs and other compounds, alleviates opiate withdrawal symptoms and increases a user’s likelihood of overcoming opiate addiction. FTC

November 3, 2015

CFPB supervisory actions between May 2015 and August 2015 resulted in $107 million in relief to more than 238,000 consumers for violations in the student loan servicing, mortgage origination and servicing, consumer reporting, and debt collection markets. CFPB

November 2, 2015

Following a public comment period, the FTC has approved a final consent order with Nice-Pak Products, Inc., requiring it to stop advertising moist toilet tissue and cloth as flushable or safe for sewer or septic systems unless it can substantiate those claims. FTC

October 29, 2015

The CFPB ordered General Information Services and its affiliate, e-Background-checks.com, Inc., two of the largest employment background screening report providers, to pay $10.5 million in relief to harmed consumers, and pay a $2.5 million civil penalty, for failing to take basic steps to assure the information they reported about job applicants was accurate. The serious inaccuracies reported potentially affected consumers’ eligibility for employment and caused reputational harm. CFPB

October 26, 2015

The operators of an advance fee recovery scheme that falsely claimed it could recover money for consumers that they had lost to telemarketing scams will be banned from selling recovery services, and from telemarketing, under a court order. The court order resolves a 2014 FTC complaint that charged Consumer Collection Advocates and Michael Robert Ettus with illegally collecting money from consumers, many of them elderly people harmed by timeshare resale and precious metal investment frauds. FTC

October 20, 2015

The operators of an alleged tech support scam, Pairsys, Inc., agreed to settle FTC charges that they tricked consumers into paying millions of dollars for technical support services they did not need and software that was otherwise free. Under the settlement, the company and its owners, Tiya Bhattachara and Uttam Saha, are required to turn over multiple real estate properties as well as the contents of numerous bank accounts, and to give up the leases on two luxury cars. FTC

October 15, 2015

An orthopedic practice in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Keystone Orthopaedic Specialists, LLC, has agreed to settle FTC charges that a merger created through a combination of six independent orthopedic practices in 2011 was anticompetitive. The FTC alleged that the merger combined 19 of the 25 orthopedists in Berks County into a single practice, giving Keystone a 76 percent share of the market for orthopedic physician services and substantially reducing competition for such services in Berks County. FTC
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