‘Qui Tam Whistleblower’ Category

SEC Freezes Assets in Alleged Insider Deal Involving Chinese Pork Producer

A federal court in Chicago recently awarded the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an emergency court order freezing the U.S. assets of six Chinese citizens. The SEC’s complaint against the six defendants accuses them of insider trading in Zhongpin Inc., a China-based pork producer whose shares are traded in this country.

According to the SEC, the Chinese defendants and...

Alleged Tax Fraud Leads DOJ to Try to Shut Down Three Philadelphia Tax Preparers

The Justice Department is seeking to shut down three tax preparers from the Philadelphia area. The DOJ has asked a federal court to bar these individuals from preparing tax returns for other people because they have allegedly been involved in tax fraud against the U.S. government. According to the Justice Department, Deron Joe, James Tokpawhiea, and Edmund Dassin have operated Urban Tax...

Insider Trading Gets Clay Capital’s James Turner a Year in Prison

James F. Turner II, Clay Capital Management, LLC hedge fund’s chief investment officer has received a one-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine for insider trading. Turner’s conduct netted over $2.5 million. According to the Bloomberg news service, the sentence is based on Turner’s own admission that he used insider information to illegally trade shares of Salesforce.com...

Patient Recruiter From Detroit Area Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud Charges

A patient recruiter from the Detroit area has pleaded guilty to participating in a Medicare fraud scheme as an employee of Blessed Medical Clinic. Daron Elder has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  He could be sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine.

Mr. Elder allegedly paid Medicare beneficiaries kickbacks to undergo...

Pakistan Calls for FCPA Investigation of Oklahoma Company

Following an order from the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate corruption in the country, Pakistan’s branch of Transparency International requested that the U.S. Justice Department conduct an investigation of Oklahoma-based Walters Power International, LLC. The company is suspected of having paid bribes to officials in Pakistan to win contracts for building “rental power...

Walgreens Pharmacy Settles False Claims Act Case for $7.9 Million

The Illinois-based Walgreens national pharmacy chain has paid $7.9 million to settle False Claims Act lawsuits alleging that the company offered illegal incentives to induce consumers to switch their prescriptions to Walgreens. The incentives included gift checks, gift cards and other similar items, none of which may be legally offered to beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE or other...

Nine-Year Tax Fraud Scheme Costs Utah Man Two-Year Prison Sentence

Utah resident Stephen Murphy has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and was immediately sentenced to two years in prison and one year of supervised release, according the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He has also been ordered to pay $83,831 in restitution to the IRS. Mr. Murphy has admitted that his intention was to defraud the U.S. Treasury...

U.S. Intervenes in False Claims Act Suit Alleging Non-Payment of Import Duties

The United States has decided to intervene in a whistleblower lawsuit against Toyo Ink, a leading maker of printing inks with operations worldwide. The suit alleges that Toyo Ink and its subsidiaries intentionally presented the U.S. Customs and Border Protection with documents containing false country-of-origin information in order to avoid paying anti-dumping duties on imports of the ink...

Goldman Sachs Settles SEC Suit for $22 Million

Goldman Sachs has consented to pay $22 million to settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the global investment firm lacked adequate internal policies to prevent stock research tips from being improperly forwarded to the firm’s largest clients. The SEC had alleged in its complaint that Goldman showered its biggest clients with preferential treatment in...

Ex-IMI Executives Enter Guilty Pleas in FCPA Case

Two former executives of the California division of IMI Plc (IMI) have pleaded guilty in federal court in Santa Ana, California to paying bribes to foreign government officials at state-owned companies in Malaysia, China and the United Arab Emirates. Bloomberg has reported that the guilty pleas were entered by Stuart Carson, the former president of Control Components Inc., and Hong...