Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Launches COVID-19 Anti-Fraud Task Force
Posted 06/25/20
Earlier this month, Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (TAFEF)—an anti-fraud public interest organization founded in 1986—launched a task force comprised of former government officials, subject matter experts, and experienced False Claims Act attorneys to help federal and state law enforcement prevent and punish COVID-related fraud. TAFEF, which has a network of more than 400 attorneys across the country who...
COVID Frauds of the Week: Consumer and Investor Fraud
Posted 06/18/20
Scammers continue to prey on the vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis, and thankfully, they continue to get busted for it. This week, the enforcement highlights centered on consumer and investor fraud, although there are surely numerous other kinds of fraud that have not yet been stopped.
The Federal Trade Commission this week announced that it had taken legal action to try to shut down a remarkably (and...
A Win-Win Solution: Italy Proposes a Legislative Hack for COVID-Related Whistleblowers
Posted 06/12/20
As part of Constantine Cannon’s participation in the Financial Times Global Legal Hackathon, Partner Mary Inman collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to develop a hack to empower and protect COVID19 whistleblowers in Italy. Contributors include: Nicoletta Parisi, a professor of International Law at Universita degli Studi di Catania; Priscilla Robledo, a former IP attorney who now works as a campaigner on behalf...
DOJ Charges Healthcare CEO with Criminal Securities and Healthcare Fraud
Posted 06/12/20
In 2008, Rahm Emanuel, then-President Obama’s chief of staff, famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. I mean, it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” However poorly phrased, generations of political and business leaders have understood the kernel of truth in his admonition.
So have scammers and rip-off artists.
We have been following the...
Increased Federal Funds, Incentives, and Requirements for Nursing Homes Brings Worrisome Opportunities for Fraud
Posted 06/5/20
The pandemic has exposed the razor thin margin for error by which our most vulnerable are cared for in nursing homes. New aggregate federal data reveal the appalling toll on facility residents and staff: over 31,700 deaths as of June 4, 2020 (an undercounted 1/3 of all US COVID-19 deaths), according to the federal government’s Nursing Home Compare. Responsive federal funding for nursing homes, requirements for...
A COVID-19 Pesticide, Unproven Treatments, and Splashing Out On SBA’s Dime
Posted 06/5/20
The US DOJ continued its efforts to combat the sale of unproven and unregistered COVID-19 treatments and preventatives and charged purported “business owners” for CARES and PPP funds fraud this week.A Georgia woman pleaded guilty to selling an unregistered pesticide, in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Rong “Vicky” Sun, 34, of Fayetteville, Georgia, will be...
Offshore Alert and the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists were joined by Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Lawyers Poppy Alexander, Eric Havian, and Michael Ronickher in developing a proposal to enact legislation that would create statutory incentives and protections for whistleblowers with information about money laundering.
The proposal, unveiled on May 25, 2020, was developed in response to a...
Canadian Accountability Experts Propose Comprehensive “Hack” Promoting Increased Transparency and Support for Whistleblowers
Posted 05/29/20
A group of prominent accountability experts have come up with a comprehensive proposal designed to increase transparency and whistleblower protections in Canada. The Canadian COVID-19 Accountability Group (CCAG), comprised of former whistleblowers and other experts from academia, law, policing and journalism, was created in response to Constantine Cannon’s FT Innovative Lawyers Global Legal Hackathon challenge. The...
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to batter businesses and everyday Americans, it has been one of the busiest weeks yet for the government agencies stopping fraudsters who target government relief programs. In new cases filed this week, the government has gone after alleged bogus sales and price gouging of PPE, new frauds on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), healthcare fraud, and more.