Deutsche Bank Fined $12.5 Million for ‘Squawk Box’ Failures

Deutsche Bank AG was fined $12.5 million by an industry-backed U.S. regulator for failing to prevent the dissemination of non-public information over an internal speaker system.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. broadcasted confidential information through an internal speaker system known as “squawk boxes” without supervising certain employees’ access, according to a statement Monday from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The Frankfurt-based bank repeatedly ignored red flags for years that its monitoring system was inadequate, Finra said.

“Deutsche Bank’s disregard of years of red flags including internal audit findings, risk assessments and compliance recommendations was particularly egregious given the risk that material nonpublic information could be communicated over squawk boxes,” said Brad Bennett, Finra’s head of enforcement. read more »

Philip Morris Wants FCA Cig Suit Unlit At DC Circ.

Philip Morris urged the D.C. Circuit on Monday to keep a would-be False Claims Act whistleblower's suit snuffed out, arguing his rehearing bid sees nonexistent differences between appellate findings on claims the military was overcharged for cigarettes.

There is no discrepancy between a June ruling upholding the case's dismissal and a different panel's conclusions when the suit first made it to the appeals court, Philip Morris USA Inc. said Monday, blasting relator Anthony Oliver's arguments otherwise. read more »

Federal Court Orders Georgia Resident Hendrik A. Van Beuningen and His Company, DeBrink Trading Fund I, LLC, to Pay $910,000 in Sanctions to Settle CFTC Charges of Fraud, Misappropriation, and Registration Violations in Connection with Their Commodity Pool

Defendants Fraudulently Solicited at Least $505,000 from Pool Participants and Fabricated Account Statements to Conceal Their Fraud

Washington, DC -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a federal court Consent Order imposing a permanent injunction against Defendants Hendrik A. Van Beuningen and his company, DeBrink Trading Fund I, LLC, and requiring them to pay a $430,000 civil monetary penalty and restitution of $480,000 to defrauded pool participants  read more »

Former CEO of Canadian Hazardous Waste Treatment Company Sentenced to Serve 63 Months in Prison for Role in Kickback and Fraud Schemes Against the United States

The former chief executive at Bennett Environmental Inc., a Canada-based company that treats and disposes of contaminated soil, was sentenced today to serve 63 months in prison in connection with the payment of kickbacks to obtain subcontracts at a New Jersey Superfund site overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Justice announced today.

John Bennett, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was also sentenced to pay a $12,500 criminal fine and $3,808,065 in restitution in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark by Judge Susan D. Wigenton.  Bennett was charged with these crimes in August 2009 and was extradited from Canada to the United States in November 2014 to face trial.  After a three-week jury trial that ended on March 16, 2016, Bennett was convicted of committing major fraud against the United States and conspiring to pay more than $1.3 million in kickbacks and to defraud the United States at the Federal Creosote Superfund site in Manville, New Jersey. read more »

Estate of Dr. Kenneth Michael Rice and UMC Physicians Pay a Total of $3,280,000 to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

The Estate of Dr. Kenneth Michael Rice and UMC Physicians (UMCP) have agreed to pay a total of $3,280,000.00 to the United States and the State of Texas to settle allegations that Dr. Rice and UMCP violated the False Claims Act, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, the United States alleged that Dr. Rice, by and through UMCP, submitted false claims for payment to Medicaid and Medicare related to in-person evaluation and management services, as well as critical care services.  The Estate of Dr. Rice agreed to pay the United States and the State of Texas $2,000,000, collectively, to settle the allegations.  UMCP agreed to pay $1,280,000 to settle the matter.  Both the Estate of Dr. Rice and UMCP fully cooperated with the investigation and, by settling, did not admit any wrongdoing or liability. read more »

Dupont refutes claims of reporting violations at Louisiana acid plant

E I DuPont de NeMours & Co recently asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to dismiss a False Claims Act-based lawsuit filed against the company by Jeffrey M. Simoneaux.

DuPont is asking the appeals court to vacate a ruling made by a U.S. district court denying the company’s motion for a summary judgment, as well as to dismiss all of Simoneaux’s claims.

Simoneaux, a former DuPont safety operator, alleged that the company retaliated against him when he filed a False Claims Act lawsuit that claimed DuPont did not report carcinogen leaks found at one of its plants in Burnside, Louisiana. read more »

Firms That Formerly Owned And Managed Sherman Hills Apartments In Wilkes-Barre Agree To Pay $125,000 To Settle Federal False Claims Act Civil Allegations

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Sherman Hills Realty LLC and Park Management LLC (collectively referred to as “Sherman Hills Realty”), have agreed to pay $125,000 to resolve allegations that Sherman Hills Realty violated the False Claims Act. 

The United States alleges that Sherman Hills Realty failed to provide qualifying tenants with utility reimbursement funds and instead kept the funds.  The funds were provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to Sherman Hills Realty to be disbursed to low and no income tenants at the Sherman Hills Apartments in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. read more »