Whistleblower News From The Inside - January 30, 2015
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Senators push auto whistleblower bill — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators reintroduced the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act – initially introduced in November — to allow auto industry employee whistleblowers to potentially be paid millions if they reveal hidden dangers. Detroit News
VA admits to ‘unauthorized’ wait list at Denver hospital — A day after the VA made a blanket denial of the existence of secret waiting lists, officials at the VA medical center in Denver admitted that their employees broke the rules when they used an improper wait list in the sleep lab in 2012. USA Today
Venezuelan financier gets 13 years prison for Ponzi scheme – The financier was sentenced to 13 years in prison after having pleaded guilty to five criminal counts including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice and defraud the SEC, resulting in $382.2 million of losses. Reuters
Drug companies can be sued for fraud — Shattering their own precedents, the ArizonaCourt of Appeals ruled that prescription drug companies can be sued for consumer fraud because manufacturers now are marketing their products much like other consumer goods. Arizona Daily Star
SEC demands documents from Navistar as part of fraud probe –The SEC is asking a federal court to force engine manufacturer Navistar International Corp. to hand over lobbying-related records as part of an ongoing probe into whether the company made certain misstatements in connection with its efforts to win certification from the EPA that its engines comply with clean air laws. Reuters
Colin Powell aide says CIA interrogated suspects on Diego Garcia — Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to Colin Powell at the US state department, said the Indian Ocean atoll was used by the CIA as “a transit site where people were temporarily housed, let us say, and interrogated from time to time.” The Guardian