Dr. Vasso Godiali, a vascular surgeon from Michigan, has been charged in connection with a $60 million health care fraud scheme. In addition to these charges, Godiali is also being charged for laundering over $49 million that he profited from the scheme. According to a press release by the Department of Justice, Godiali’s health...
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Category: Whistleblower Cases
Two whistleblowers awarded $2 million each from CFTC for info revealing exchange violations
According to a recent report, two whistleblowers have earned a total of $2 million in awards for information they provided that instigated an investigation by the CFTC. The whistleblowers participated in a variety of interviews and provided incriminating documents that proved that several violations of the Commodity Exchange Act had taken...
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Actual evidence that Chinese companies are transshipping goods to other countries to hide the country of origin to evade U.S. tariffs
There are companies in China which offer services to Chinese companies to transship their products to other nations such as Malaysia in order to evade U.S. tariffs and re-label them as if they came from Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico and other nations. One such company is Settle Logistics which stated on its website "...For...
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Rheumatologist admits to Medicaid Fraud by submitting false invoices on the drug Remicade
Middlesex Rheumatology Physician Admits To Medicaid Fraud By Submitting False Claims Regarding Remicade Drug Use
Crispin Abarientos, M.D., of Middletown, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud in Hartford federal court. According to court statements, Abarientos was a physician that operated out of Middlesex Rheumatology and submitted false claims to...
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U.S. Treasury Department stiffens changes calculations fines related to foreign sanctions violations which will now be much higher
According to the Wall Street Journal and other news sources, The United StatesTreasury Department has changed how it calculates fines related to sanctions violations, which means larger penalties. The amount of the increases cannot be calculated yet. Treasury will no longer credit many fines paid to other government agencies as part of...
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Justice Department is now serious about halting tariff evasion schemes of Chinese goods and false claims of “Made In America”
Yesterday I wrote about the CEO of a clothing company who has been charged criminally by the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York for falsely stating the value of children's clothing imported from China, to evade U.S. customs tariffs. A quick review of recent criminal and civil cases reveals that the...
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Congress passes strong new protections for tax whistleblowers
Congress has enacted a new law which has strong protections for tax whistleblowers which protects whistleblower privacy, advances the speed of investigation and completion of the process and builds strong new protections against whistleblower retaliation. The changes in the IRS Whistleblower program include:
Authorizing the IRS to communicate with whistleblowers during their claims period;
...
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Opioid painkiller manufacturer Insys Therapeutics pays $225 million to end criminal and civil cases on kickbacks to docs for increased doses
Opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics will pay $225 million to resolve civil and criminal complaints stemming from Insys’s payment of kickbacks and other unlawful marketing practices in connection with the marketing of Subsys. Insys’s drug Subsys is a...
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United States Files Lawsuit Against Drug Maker That increased Drug Prices from $50 to $32,000
The United States filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Mallinckrodt ARD LLC, formerly known as Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Mallinckrodt”), in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The government alleges that Mallinckrodt violated the False Claims Act by using a foundation to pay illegal kickbacks in...
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SEC awards $4.5 million to whistleblower who reported fraud within 120 days of internal reporting
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a $4.5 million whistleblower award, the first given under a provision incentivizing employees to submit allegations to the agency within 120 days of internal reporting. “In this case, the whistleblower was credited with the results of the company’s internal investigation, which were reported to...
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