Whistleblower News From The Inside — November 11, 16
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
New charges for 2 halfway house operators accused in Medicaid fraud scheme — The NYAG filed Medicaid fraud and money laundering charges against a lawyer who runs two outpatient substance-abuse programs in New York City and a couple who ran “Back on Track” halfway houses that catered to addicts, poor and mentally ill people, in which up to six men slept in bunk beds in a single room, fire exits were blocked, and bedbugs and rodents often infested the buildings. The halfway house owners then forced residents to seek help from specific substance abuse programs, whether or not they were addicts, in exchange for kickbacks. NYT
Trump’s lawyers seek to delay fraud case — until after he is sworn into office — Attorneys for Donald Trump asked that a civil fraud suit against Trump scheduled to begin in less than three weeks be delayed because he will be too busy with the presidential transition to participate in the Nov. 28 trial involving his defunct real estate seminar program, Trump University. They made their request before Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the jurist Trump harshly criticized during the campaign as biased because of his Mexican heritage. Washington Post
Wells Fargo CEO says bank is changing how it handles whistleblower complaints — Timothy Sloan, the bank’s new CEO, announced the change to a gathering of about 2,000 employees in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of a “conversations tour” he and other executives are making to try to restore employee morale following the bank’s recent sales practices scandal. Sloan did not detail how whistleblower complaints will now be handled, but said the bank was also reviewing allegations of retaliation against staff. WSJ
Edward Snowden not worried about Putin turning him over to Trump — Snowden said it would be “crazy to dismiss” the prospect of Trump striking a deal with Putin that leads to his extradition and trial, but he added: “If I was worried about safety, if the security and the future of myself was all that I cared about, I would still be in Hawaii.” The Guardian
U.S. debt collector gets five years in prison for fraud scheme — The owner of a Georgia-based debt collection company was sentenced to five years in prison for engaging in what prosecutors said was a scheme to shake down more than 6,000 financially-strapped consumers nationwide into making payments to his firm by threatening them with arrest if they did not pay up on outstanding debts. Reuters