WHISTLEBLOWER QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Furthermore, in Alabama, where resources devoted to the detection of fraud have historically been low, a False Claims Act would give those who discover Medicaid fraud an incentive to report it."

Attorney General Luther Strange
 

DAILY WHISTLEBLOWER HEADLINES:

A potential Medicaid funding fix that's being overlooked

Attorney General Luther Strange

It's a tough situation.  Alabama lawmakers are facing the painful task of seeing medical services for the state's most vulnerable citizens reduced or curtailed because there isn't enough money in the General fund coffers to pay for a projected $85 million shortfall in the Medicaid budget this year.

Medicaid is a lifeline to approximately 20 percent of Alabamians, who, according to the federal government, are eligible for the medical safety net program.  Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar recently pointed out that Medicaid's costs are growing in part because of an increasing number of eligible recipients. read more »

Grassley Fixes to IRS Whistleblower Treatment, Taxpayer Rights Improvements Win Key Committee Approval

AJ Taylor

Senator Chuck Grassley yesterday received key committee approval of his provisions including better IRS treatment of tax fraud whistleblowers, enhanced rights of taxpayers whose personal information is improperly accessed by IRS employees, extended time for taxpayers to contest an IRS levy, greater protections for taxpayers where the IRS improperly levied a taxpayer’s individual retirement account, electronic record retention at the IRS,  and requiring mandatory e-filing by tax-exempt organizations for greater transparency.

“The IRS needs to put out the welcome mat for tax fraud whistleblowers, not treat them like skunks at a picnic,” Grassley said.  “With congressional oversight, the IRS has done a better job of whistleblower treatment than before but it still needs to communicate more with whistleblowers.  These individuals are less likely to come forward if they know they might be in the dark about their case for years at a time.  Also, employer retaliation of whistleblowers is a barrier.  The provisions approved today will help with these problems.  Separately, right now, taxpayers are often in the dark when IRS employees improperly access or distribute their confidential information.  The fix approved today requires the IRS to notify a taxpayer when an IRS employee is disciplined for improper access.  That’s a step in the right direction for respecting taxpayer rights.” 

LuxLeaks whistleblower trial to begin in Luxembourg

by Tony Todd

Antoine Deltour, 30, a former auditor at global accounting firm PwC, is accused of stealing documents from his employer before he quit the company in 2010.

These included some 28,000 pages, detailing tax agreements between 340 companies and the Luxembourg government that allowed them to avoid billions of dollars in taxes.

The documents eventually found their way to French journalist Edouard Perrin who broke the story in 2012 in the “Cash Investigation” programme on state-owned France 2 television. read more »

Feds: No delay for Qamar suit following bankruptcy filing

By Fred Hiers

The federal government is moving quickly in court to squash a local cardiologist’s attempts to halt its whistleblower lawsuit against him.

Dr. Asad Qamar, founder and owner of the Institute of Cardiovascular Excellence PLLC (ICE), and his wife, Humeraa, last week sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of that filing Qamar asked the bankruptcy court to stay the whistleblower lawsuit.

Bankruptcy actions typically stop, at least temporarily, creditors from pursuing a debtor. But the federal government on Friday, two days after the filing, that its suit falls within the "police or regulatory" exception to the rule that allows such automatic stays.

The lawsuit is a False Claims Act suit, which makes people liable for multiple times the damages to the government plus fines.

Originally there were two lawsuits brought by two whistleblowers against Asad Qamar: one in 2011 and another in 2014. The U.S. Department of Justice joined the lawsuits in January 2015 and the court soon later combined the suits. Florida, in its own intervenor complaint, also has accused Asad Qamar and ICE of charging the state’s Medicaid program for unnecessary procedures. read more »

WHISTLEBLOWER SETTLEMENTS:

Department of Justice and EPA Announce $50 Million Settlement to Clean Up Contamination at Eastern Tennessee Superfund Site

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that OXY USA Inc., a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Company, has agreed to clean up contaminated water and sediments in the Ocoee River and one of its watersheds at the Copper Basin Mining District Superfund Site in Polk County, Tennessee.  The settlement requires the company to spend an estimated $40 million to maintain and operate a water treatment system, prevent access by the public to contaminated water and monitor contamination in the Ocoee River. read more »