Top-10 DOJ Fraud Recoveries for 2017

Here is our look-back at the Top-10 Department of Justice fraud recoveries for 2017. Click here for a full chronological listing of all DOJ fraud recoveries for 2017.

1. Deutsche Bank— The German banking giant agreed to pay $7.2 billion to resolve charges it misled investors in the packaging, securitization, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the years leading up to the Great Recession.  It is the largest RMBS resolution in what has been a string of multi-billion dollar settlements.  Whistleblower Insider 
2. Credit Suisse— The Swiss banking giant agreed to pay $5.28 billion to resolve charges it misled investors in the packaging, securitization, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the years leading up to the Great Recession.  Whistleblower Insider

3. Volkswagen AG— The German auto maker agreed to plead guilty to three criminal felony counts and pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty as a result of the company’s long-running scheme to sell approximately 590,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. by using a defeat device to cheat on emissions tests mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board, and lying and obstructing justice to further the scheme. In separate civil resolutions of environmental, customs and financial claims, VW also agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a total payout of $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties. DOJ

4. Takata Corporation — The Japanese air bag maker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company’s conduct in selling defective airbag inflators.  DOJ

5. ZTE Corporation— The Chinese telecom equipment maker agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $430 million penalty for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by illegally shipping U.S.-origin items to Iran.  ZTE simultaneously reached settlements with the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a total government payout of $892 million.  Whistleblower Insider

6. Moody’s Corporation — The ratings giant and its Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and Moody’s Analytics Inc. subsidiaries agreed to pay $864 million to resolve allegations arising from Moody’s role in providing credit ratings for Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) and Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO), contributing to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. According to the government, “Moody’s failed to adhere to its own credit rating standards and fell short on its pledge of transparency in the run-up to the Great Recession [and] . . . used a more lenient standard than it had itself published.”  DOJ

7. Western Union Company— The Colorado-based global money services business agreed to forfeit $586 million to settle criminal violations relating to the company’s failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and aiding and abetting wire fraud.  According to company admissions, Western Union violated the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-fraud statutes by processing hundreds of thousands of transactions for Western Union agents and others involved in an international consumer fraud scheme.  The company also agreed to pay a $586 million judgement to settle related FTC charges. DOJ

8. Mylan Inc.— The pharmaceutical company and its subsidiary Mylan Specialty L.P. agreed to pay $465 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by purposely misclassifying EpiPen as a generic drug to avoid paying higher Medicaid rebates.  Whistleblower Insider

9. Shire Pharmaceuticals LLC — The Ireland-based drug maker and certain subsidiaries agreed to pay $350 million to settle charges that Shire and the company it acquired in 2011, Advanced BioHealing, violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by using kickbacks and other unlawful methods to induce clinics and physicians to use or overuse their “Dermagraft” skin product. Whistleblower Insider 

10. Allied Home Mortgage — A judgment of roughly $296 million was awarded against the entities formerly known as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporationand Allied Home Mortgage Corporation following a jury verdict that Allied violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) for over a decade of fraudulent misconduct while participating in the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) mortgage insurance program.  DOJ (SDNY)

Read More:

• All of our Whistleblower Top Ten Lists
• False Claims Act
• Whistleblower Successes
• DOJ Enforcement Actions
• Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Representation
• Contact us for a confidential consultation

Tagged in: Top 10,