Whistleblower News From The Inside -- October 27, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Former FBI agent can’t bring whistleblower retaliation claim — A federal appeals court on Thursday said a former Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent who claims he was fired for reporting sexual misconduct by colleagues cannot challenge his termination on whistleblower retaliation grounds. The en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a 12-2 decision said federal law granting whistleblower protections to government employees does not extend to FBI agents, and John Parkinson’s status as a military veteran did not change that. Reuters

NJ Jury Convicts NY Doctor in $100M Kickback Scheme — A federal jury in Newark convicted a Staten Island doctor on allegations he accepted kickbacks from a Parsippany blood-testing lab in exchange for referrals. Dr. Thomas V. Savino, 58, of Staten Island, was found guilty on all 10 counts of an indictment. The government alleged that Savino was involved in a “long-running and elaborate scheme” operated by now-defunct Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, its president and numerous associates. From July 2012 through April 2013, the government said, Savino received cash bribes totaling at least $25,000 from BLS employees and associates in return for referring his patients’ blood specimens to BLS. Savino’s referrals allegedly generated approximately $375,000 in lab business for BLS. New Jersey Law Journal

‘Third of charity fraud involved volunteers or staff‘ — The UK Charity Commission report said organizations should stay alert to “insider fraud”, and make sure that “mutual trust” is not abused. The commission said crimes committed could be opportunistic or due to a lack of charity oversight. The organization also issued an appeal on insider fraud incidents. The statistics relate to instances of fraud between April 2015 and March 2016. Director of investigations Michelle Russell said charities were trusting as they were “committed to making a difference in society.” BBC