Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 4, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Supreme Court expands protections for SOX whistleblowers – the court ruled that, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, private contractors, such as outside accountants, auditors and lawyers, cannot be fired or punished for exposing fraud. LA Times

SEC files amicus brief in closely-watched Siemens whistleblower case —  the SEC asserts that whistleblowers who go through an internal compliance program are protected by the Dodd-Frank anti-retaliation provisions regardless of whether they also report to the SEC.  Forbes

Florida hospital settles part of whistleblower suit as trial begins– Halifax health agreed to pay over $80 million to resolve claims that it defrauded Medicare and paid kickbacks to cancer doctors and neurosurgeons.  Reuters

Report shows that Medicare has failed to track fraud – the Office of Inspector General reported that less than half of the insurance companies paid to administer Medicare’s prescription drug program voluntarily reported potential fraud and abuse and that Medicare did not follow up on fraud that was reported.  ProPublica

Madoff told investors that there is no fraud on Wall Street – prosecutors played a video at trial from a 2007 conference in which Madoff tells investors that fraud on Wall Street is “virtually impossible,” intending to show the ease with which Madoff could lie.  SF Gate