International Whistleblowers

August 29, 2019

The SEC announced that a whistleblower has been awarded $1.8 million for reporting misconduct committed abroad.  According to the SEC, the whistleblower’s tip and extensive cooperation—including providing ongoing information, document review, and sworn testimony—were critically important to bringing about a significant enforcement action.  SEC

Cisco - Procurement Fraud/Cybersecurity ($8.6 million)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a False Claims Act case alleging Cisco Systems sold the government noncompliant video surveillance software vulnerable to unauthorized access and manipulation.  In July 2019, the company agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle the matter.  It was the first cybersecurity whistleblower case ever successfully resolved under the False Claims Act.  Our client received a whistleblower award of 20% of the government's recovery.  Read more -- Washington Post, Reuters, AP, CC.

April 9, 2019

London-based Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to resolve criminal charges and related allegations of unlawful conduct by the Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Federal Reserve, the New York Department of Financial Services, the New York County District Attorney's Office, and the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority. As part of the settlement, Standard Chartered admitted that it processed thousands of financial transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars through U.S. financial institutions for the benefit of Iranian and other entities and individuals subject to sanctions. In addition, Standard Chartered admitted that it had deficiencies in its compliance programs and had falsified the records of New York financial institutions.  In addition to the financial penalties, Standard Chartered agreed to the extension of an existing deferred prosecution agreement through 2021, and committed to undertaking specified compliance initiatives.  DOJ; Treasury; Fed; DANY; UK