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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
July 27, 2015

				 A group of scammers who falsely promised consumers new Medicare cards in order to obtain their bank account numbers and debit their accounts will be banned from selling healthcare-related products and services under FTC settlements.  The settlements resolve charges the FTC filed last year against Benjamin Todd Workman and Glenn Erikson and their companies. Their telemarketers falsely told consumers they needed their bank account numbers to verify their identities before sending a new Medicare card, promising they would not take money from the accounts. In fact, they took several hundred dollars from each consumer’s account and provided nothing in return. In some cases, their telemarketers falsely promised to provide consumers with identity theft protection services.  FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Medicare, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 8, 2015

				 The marketers of a dietary supplement called Procera AVH will relinquish $1.4 million under settlements resolving FTC charges that they deceived consumers with claims that the supplement was clinically proven to significantly improve memory, mood, and other cognitive functions.  Under the terms of the settlements, the defendants will pay $1 million to the FTC, and another $400,000 to satisfy a judgment in a case brought by local California law enforcement officials. They also will be barred from making similar deceptive claims in the future and from misrepresenting the existence, results, or conclusions of any scientific study. FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Antitrust Enforcement, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 7, 2015

				 The operators of a payday lending scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from consumers by trapping them into loans they never authorized will be banned from the consumer lending business under FTC settlements.  The settlements stem from charges the FTC filed last year alleging that Timothy A. Coppinger, Frampton T. Rowland III, and their companies targeted online payday loan applicants and, using information from lead generators and data brokers, deposited money into those applicants’ bank accounts without their permission. The defendants then withdrew reoccurring “finance” charges without any of the payments going to pay down the principal owed.  FTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Antitrust Enforcement, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 30, 2015

				 The FTC is mailing checks totaling approximately $4 million to consumers who lost money to a debt collection operation that extorted payments from them using false threats. In May 2014, the FTC settled charges against Asset Capital and Management Group, which, under various names, illegally extracted payments from consumers for credit card debt the defendants had purchased from creditors. The settlement order banned the defendants from the debt collection industry.  FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 26, 2015

				 The FTC has approved a final consent order involving Network Solutions, LLC, which misled consumers who bought its web hosting services by falsely promising a full refund if they canceled within 30 days.  In an administrative complaint announced in April 2015, the FTC alleged that Network Solutions, a domain name registrar and web hosting provider, offered web hosting packages with a “30 Day Money Back Guarantee,” but did not adequately disclose that it withheld up to 30 percent of the refund from customers who cancelled within 30 days of buying an annual or multi-year package and registering an included domain name.  FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 15, 2015

				 The FTC is mailing checks totaling almost $1.9 million to consumers who lost money to a pyramid scheme that pretended to be a legitimate multi-level marketing program selling opportunities to operate online digital music stores.  In June 2014, the FTC won an appeals court ruling upholding a district court finding that BurnLounge had operated a pyramid scheme. FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 5, 2015

				 The FTC is mailing checks totaling more than $467,000 to consumers who lost money to a scheme that charged large up-front fees for mortgage relief services that were not provided.  The FTC won a court action against Jackson, Crowder & Associates and Crowder Law Group, in which the FTC alleged that the defendants falsely promised to modify consumers’ mortgages and substantially reduce their monthly payments, exaggerated the role an attorney would play, and pretended to be affiliated with a government agency.   FTC				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 28, 2015

				 The FTC has reached a settlement resolving the Commission’s antitrust suit charging Cephalon, Inc. with illegally blocking generic competition to its blockbuster sleep-disorder drug Provigil. The settlement ensures that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., which acquired Cephalon in 2012, will make a total of $1.2 billion available to compensate purchasers, including drug wholesalers, pharmacies, and insurers, who overpaid because of Cephalon’s illegal conduct. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said, “today’s landmark settlement is an important step in the FTC’s ongoing effort to protect consumers from anticompetitive pay for delay settlements, which burden patients, American businesses, and taxpayers with billions of dollars in higher prescription drug costs.” 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 26, 2015

				 Ashworth College has agreed to settle FTC charges it misrepresented to students that they would get the training and credentials needed to switch careers or get a new job, and that the course credits they earned would transfer to other schools. In reality, many programs offered by the for-profit institution did not meet state requirements for desired careers, and the claims made about credit transfers were often not true. Jessica Rich, Director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “when schools promise students they can transfer course credits or get a better job after completing their programs, they’d better be able to back up those claims.”				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Education Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 21, 2015

				 At the request of the FTC, a federal court has temporarily halted a sweepstakes operation based in Fort Lauderdale that took more than $28 million from consumers throughout the United States and other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The FTC seeks to permanently end the allegedly illegal practices and return money to victims.				 			
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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