Caterpillar's legal woes are piling up

Caterpillar Inc.'s tax headaches are becoming a migraine as its legal woes continue to pile up.

News broke Wednesday of a federal government-commissioned expert analysis that, according to published reports, concluded the Peoria-based company dodged paying U.S taxes by funneling money through overseas affiliates using accounting maneuvers that were “fraudulent rather than negligent,” the report said. read more »

EU fraud office says UK owes €2bn over importing scam

Britain owes the European Union budget €2bn after turning a blind eye to a major scam by Chinese importers, the EU's fraud office said.

"We recommended that the European Commission recovers the money from the United Kingdom," the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF said in an email to AFP.

OLAF accuses Britain of ignoring rampant use of fake invoices and customs claims by Chinese importers which cost €1.99bn in lost customs duties to the EU. read more »

Did the Trump Tower project in Azerbaijan breach anti-corruption laws?

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his dislike for laws that ban American companies from doing business deals with corrupt foreigners.

Two years ago, Mr Trump told CNBC that the nation was “absolutely crazy” to prosecute corporations for violations in places like Mexico and China, saying the law put US business interests at a “huge disadvantage”.

And three years earlier, he was quoted saying that if American companies refused to give bribes, “you’ll do business nowhere”.

Now concerning details have been aired about the entrepreneur-turned-president’s former dealings in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet republic known as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. read more »

This company is making millions from America’s broken immigration system

More than 350,000 undocumented immigrants were detained between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016 — a number that could rise this year under President Trump’s immigration crackdown. As asylum seekers, visa violators and those charged with crimes wait for their cases to be heard in badly backlogged immigration courts, thousands are eligible for bail, just as they would be in criminal courts. Yet few can afford it.

Libre has found a niche helping them post their bonds — for a price.

In exchange for their freedom, immigrants sign contracts promising to pay Libre $420 per month while wearing the company’s GPS devices. But these contracts are the subject of lawsuits and allegations of fraud by immigrants such as Flores who claim they didn’t understand them. read more »

Medicare fraud trial of ophthalmologist starts today

Opening statements are expected Thursday morning in the $105 million Medicare fraud trial of a prominent Palm Beach County ophthalmologist tied to an alleged bribery scandal with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

Dr. Salomon Melgen faces more than 70 federal counts of health-care fraud by allegedly submitting false claims backed by bogus medical charts for his patients from 2004 to 2013. He also faces 13 additional charges in a separate case in connection with allegedly showering gifts upon Menendez in exchange for helping the physician in a billing dispute with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among other favors. read more »