Whistleblower News From the Inside -- October 24, 2016
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Chinese TV series titillates with glimpses of the lifestyles of the powerful and corrupt – “Always on the Road” is meant to show that President Xi is serious about eliminating graft. But it also illustrates how party officials indulged their taste for jewelry, trips to the World Cup and delicacies like crocodile meat while preaching clean living. One tip from a former official: pour expensive liquor into a spring water bottle and drink from that. NY Times
Greek shipping vessel’s owner and operator fined $1.3 million for dumping oily waste at sea — The ship operator, Angelakos (Hellas) S.A., and the owner, Gallia Graeca Shipping Ltd., were found guilty of discharging 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water. They concealed these incidents from the Coast Guard by making false statements to inspectors and making false statements and omissions in the ship’s oil record book. Marine Log
Moody’s expects feds to sue over bond grades issued before 2008 housing market collapse – Credit ratings played a central role in the last financial crisis as firms awarded positive marks to residential mortgage bonds that later went bad, triggering widespread losses. Firms have paid about $2 billion in fines and settlements so far, the largest being S&P’s $1.5 billion settlement. It is said that Moody’s settlement is also likely to be large although the firm’s tight controls on internal communication may make the case more difficult. WSJ
Whistleblower claims DoD audit agency has culture of intimidation – J. Kirk McGill, a Defense Contract Audit Agency auditor, says his reports of suspected fraud by contractors were not pursued. He also claims that DCAA policy makes it difficult to include fraud allegations in a final audit report. McGill notified Congress of his concerns, leading to hearings and a validation of his claims. POGO
Hudson Valley Associates settles Medicare/Medicaid false claims suit—The hematology-oncology medical practice was accused in a whistleblower suit of improperly waiving copayments and billing Medicare for them; overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for evaluation and management services; billing for services without documenting that they were medically necessary or actually performed. LoHud