Private-Equity Red Flags Signal Potential False Claims Act Liability
Posted 05/21/21
Private equity (PE) firms that manage healthcare entities have further reason to take note of the growing record of exposure for False Claims Act (FCA) liability.
Martino-Fleming Case
In the latest shot across the bow, the PE firm, a majority shareholder of a for-profit mental-health provider, knew about the false claims and played a sufficiently active role in operations potentially to have caused them. Evidence...
Constantine Cannon Client Receives Maximum Award for Blowing the Whistle on ITG
Posted 05/21/21
The SEC has made a multi-million-dollar award to a Constantine Cannon client whose original information and assistance led to an enforcement action against the brokerage firm ITG. The award—30% of the recovery—is the maximum allowed under the SEC Whistleblower Program.
The SEC has taken three enforcement actions against ITG in recent years, two of which involve ITG’s dark pool POSIT. POSIT is an alternate...
CFTC Whistleblower Program Faces Challenges of its Success: What Whistleblowers Should Know
Posted 05/11/21
In May, 2021, the Wall Street Journalreported (paywall) on “turmoil” in the CFTC Whistleblower Program. According to the article, the CFTC has under consideration a whistleblower award based on a claim by a whistleblower in the 2015 $2.5 billion Deutsche Bank LIBOR manipulation settlement. Given the size of the Deutsche Bank settlement, the potential whistleblower award is substantial: the Journal reports that...
When it comes to their respective whistleblower programs, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) does not get the same respect or attention the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does. That is largely because the SEC Whistleblower Program has been an unparalleled success, with whistleblower awards being made (and highly promoted) virtually every week or two. Last year was a record-breaking year for...
Want to Fix the Trillion Dollar Tax Gap? How Whistleblowers Can Help
Posted 04/23/21
Earlier this month, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles P. Rettig testified before the Senate Finance Committee, addressing the 2021 filing season and the “21st Century IRS.” At the hearing, Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) raised the topic of the tax gap, referring to the difference between the total taxes that are legally owed, and the total taxes that are paid by individuals and entities. ...
As COVID-19 Stimulus Funds Flow, DOJ Puts Fraudsters on Notice and Calls Whistleblowers “Essential”
Posted 04/2/21
On March 11th, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), a sweeping economic stimulus plan that will pump $1.9 trillion into the US economy. In addition to direct relief to Americans, ARPA includes record-setting government spending in numerous areas to speed recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession.
As we have previously written,...
Corruption in humanitarian relief and development programs: How to report USAID fraud
Posted 03/25/21
Late last week, the Department of Justice announced that the International Rescue Committee had agreed to pay $6.9 million to settle allegations that it had participated in a scheme to rig contract bids and then passed on inflated costs to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IRC, a New York-based humanitarian relief organization, received funding from USAID to provide humanitarian...
Disturbing New Evidence Suggests Fraud Underlies Five-Star Ratings for Some Nursing Homes
Posted 03/19/21
Twelve years after the implementation of the nursing-home star-ratings system, a disturbing New York Times exposé and a lawsuit by California against Brookdale Senior Living reveals how the ratings are manipulated to the detriment of families in their time of crisis. The NYT’s investigation and California’s allegations in combination paint the troubling picture of profits tied to higher star ratings, and...
March is Women’s History Month in countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, and March 8th is celebrated as International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is both a celebration of the many achievements of women, and a day to call for action to accelerate women’s equality. In this spirit, the whistleblower attorneys at Constantine Cannon would like to honor the unique contributions...