Whistleblower News From the Inside -- March 19, 2018
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Whistleblower Alleges Walmart Inflated Digital Sales Numbers – A former Walmart executive filed a lawsuit which claims that he was fired after alerting management to issues that inflated the company’s e-commerce sales figures, Bloomberg reports. If the allegations — which Walmart denies — hold water, that would mean Walmart cut corners in the rush to gain ground in digital commerce against its rival, Amazon. Walmart is under pressure to grow e-commerce sales. The retailer’s digital sales growth has been dropping since it peaked following the acquisition of Jet.com in late 2016, which more than doubled year-over-year (YoY) digital sales growth to 63% in the quarter ending April 2017, up from 29% growth in the prior quarter. Now, in Walmart’s latest earnings for the quarter ending January 2018, its e-commerce sales growth has once again slowed to only 23% YoY. Business Insider
Trump Organization’s Real Estate Partner in India Accused of $147 Million Fraud – A real estate investment company that partnered with the Trump Organization on an office tower project in India has been accused of defrauding its foreign investors of at least $147 million, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Two global investment companies based in New York and London that have invested nearly $300 million in the Indian real estate development company IREO filed a criminal complaint with New Delhi police last month alleging that the fund’s Indian managing director, Lalit Goyal, co-founder Anurag Bhargava and others engaged in “large-scale fraud” by “illegally siphoning off” at least $147 million of investor money, although the actual sum could approach $200 million, they allege. Police in New Delhi said they have received the complaint but declined to discuss the matter further. Washington Post
Woman Sentenced in $1.3M Fraud Targeting Church Congregation – A Virginia woman who pleaded guilty in connection with a $1.3 million scheme that defrauded members of a church congregation and other investors has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced 48-year-old Grenetta Wells was sentenced Friday for her role as chief operating officer of Micro-Enterprise Management Group, a company that purported to help poor people in developing countries establish or expand businesses through microfinance but instead used investor money to conduct risky trading. Wells worked alongside CEO Terry Wayne Millender, the former senior pastor of Alexandria’s Victorious Life Church, and his wife, Brenda Millender, to solicit investors by emphasizing MEMG’s Christian mission. Washington Post