Europe’s antitrust enforcer ordered Ireland to collect billions in back taxes from Apple, a move that will ramp up trans-Atlantic tensions over what global companies pay in the countries where they do business.

The decision, part of a broader crackdown on tax avoidance by the European Union commissioner for competition, slammed Ireland for providing illegal incentives that allowed Apple to cut its tax bill in the region to virtually nothing some years. The clawback of taxes — 13 billion euros, or about $14.5 billion, plus interest — is a record penalty by the union for such activities. read more »

City insider given 10 years in prison for red light cameras scandal

Johhn Bills, the insider convicted in one of the most brazen City Hall corruption cases in Chicago’s storied history of graft, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday by a federal judge who decried the damage done to public faith in government.

Bills’ voice broke with emotion as he acknowledged “ethical and moral” mistakes, but he denied masterminding the massive bribery scheme in exchange for growing the city’s controversial network of red light cameras into the largest in the nation.

The 10-year prison term marked one of the stiffest ever handed down in Chicago’s federal court to a non-elected public official for corruption. read more »

PwC reaches mid-trial deal in lawsuit by Taylor Bean trustee

PricewaterhouseCoopers has settled a lawsuit accusing the auditing firm of failing to detect the fraud that brought down Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp in 2009, a lawyer for the mortgage lender's bankruptcy trustee said on Friday.

The settlement ends a civil trial in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court in Florida in which the trustee had sought more than $5.5 billion in damages from PwC. Terms are confidential, a lawyer for the trustee said. read more »

HSBC executive pleads not guilty in U.S. over forex scheme

A senior HSBC Holdings Plc executive pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he participated in a fraudulent scheme to front-run a $3.5 billion currency transaction by one of the bank's clients.

The plea on wire fraud and conspiracy charges by Mark Johnson, a British citizen who at the time of his arrest last month was HSBC's global head of foreign exchange cash trading, was entered by his lawyer in federal court in Brooklyn. read more »

Wall St. Scold Asks Justices To Hear Bank Whistleblower Case

A Wall Street watchdog group on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take on a case seeking to overturn a Sixth Circuit decision that blocked a whistleblower suit alleging foreclosure fraud at U.S. Bank NA.

Better Markets said in its brief that the Sixth Circuit’s March ruling, which affirmed a lower court decision tossing a False Claims Act suit by another nonprofit organization, made it harder for whistleblowers to bring cases in that circuit when a bank or any other organization makes broad disclosures about alleged improper conduct. That reasoning would make it easier for banks and others to get away with conduct that defrauds the government, Better Markets said. read more »

Attorneys Predict More Cases Arising From CMS Overpayment Rule

A recent $2.95 million settlement by a New York hospital group in a whistle-blower case involving Medicaid overpayments may be a harbinger of more cases to come, health-care attorneys said.

State and federal officials said Aug. 24 that the Mount Sinai Health System agreed to settle a whistle-blower case alleging that three of its hospitals unlawfully kept $844,000 in Medicaid overpayments (165 HCDR, 8/25/16). The whistle-blower, Robert P. Kane, alleged violations of an Affordable Care Act requirement that Medicaid overpayments be returned within 60 days. 

$22 Million Whistleblower Award for Company Insider Who Helped Uncover Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the award of more than $22 million to a whistleblower whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped the agency halt a well-hidden fraud at the company where the whistleblower worked.

The $22 million-plus award is the second-largest total the SEC has awarded a whistleblower. The largest, $30 million, was awarded in 2014. read more »

Federal case vs. Lance Armstrong nears ruling

The long legal war between Lance Armstrong and the federal government is about to reach its most critical stage yet.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper will make the call:

Should the government’s $100 million lawsuit against the disgraced cyclist proceed to trial? Or should it be thrown out at Armstrong’s request?

Both sides traded blows again on Monday as Cooper considers summary judgment motions in the 3-year-old civil fraud case.

And it’s all about the money, as usual. read more »

Pediatric Dentist Pays $1.3 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, and Phillip M. Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, today announced that JESUS VILLEGAS, DDS, and his two pediatric dental clinics located in Milford and West Haven have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments in which they will pay $1,367,466 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts. read more »