Whistleblower News From The Inside -- November 10, 2017
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
New Orleans Woman Convicted for Role in $3.2 Million Medicare Kickback Scheme — A federal jury found a New Orleans woman guilty today for her role in an approximately $3.2 million Medicare fraud and kickback scheme. According to evidence presented at trial, from 2004 to 2009, Parkman and others engaged in a scheme to provide medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, including power wheelchairs, to Medicare beneficiaries in and around New Orleans. After a three-day trial, Sandra Parkman, 61, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, two counts of health care fraud and five counts of accepting kickbacks. DOJ
Chevron deference landmine lurks in new brief in SCOTUS whistleblower case — There’s a landmine buried in a footnote on the last page of Digital Realty’s newly filed reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine the scope of Dodd-Frank anti-retaliation protections for corporate whistleblowers. And if the justices step on it, they could blow up administrative law as it’s currently practiced. Digital Realty v. Somers presents the question of whether Dodd-Frank’s generous whistleblower protections cover employees who report their concerns internally rather than to the government. The SEC, after a notice-and-comment rulemaking process, interpreted the statute to give whistleblowers a right to sue under Dodd-Frank even if they’ve reported internally. A critical consideration for the justices will be how much deference to give the SEC’s interpretation. Reuters
Ex-SBM executives plead guilty in U.S. to Petrobras bribe charges — Two former executives at Dutch oil services company SBM Offshore NV have pleaded guilty to U.S. charges that they participated in a scheme to bribe officials at three foreign state-run oil companies, including Brazil’s Petrobras. Anthony Mace, who was SBM’s chief executive officer from 2008 to 2011, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Houston in one of the first U.S. Justice Department cases filed against individuals related to bribery allegations involving Petrobras. CNBC