Drug Makers Accused of Fixing Prices on Insulin

A lawsuit filed Monday accused three makers of insulin of conspiring to drive up the prices of their lifesaving drugs, harming patients who were being asked to pay for a growing share of their drug bills.

The price of insulin has skyrocketed in recent years, with the three manufacturers — Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — raising the list prices of their products in near lock step, prompting outcry from patient groups and doctors who have pointed out that the rising prices appear to have little to do with increased production costs.

“People who have to pay out of pocket for insulin are paying enormous prices when they shouldn’t be,” said Steve Berman, a lawyer whose firm filed the suit on behalf of patients and is seeking to have it certified as a class action. read more »

In Romania, what's a little corruption?

Thousands protested in Romania's capital Wednesday after the government adopted a last-minute executive order that undermines the country's anti-corruption efforts.

The measure decriminalizes abuses of office if the financial damage involved is less than $48,000. That's more than twice the average Romanian's annual income of $22,300, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Justice Minister Florin Iordache said the changes — which take effect immediately — were necessary to bring the law in line with decisions by the country's Constitutional Court. But protesters were furious that the order could weaken efforts to stamp out bribery in one of Europe's poorest nations. It all but legalizes graft cases where small amounts of cash are used.     

As they surrounded buildings in the capital. Wednesday's protest followed one Sunday that brought tens of thousands of Romanians across the country onto the streets in anticipation of the orderShouting “thieves,” "rats" and telling politicians “You won’t escape,” an estimated 15,000 people demanded the resignation of the government. read more »

Nigeria Court Orders Shell and Eni to Give Up Oil Field Amid Corruption Probe

Acquisition of block in 2011 being investigated by Italian prosecutors

A Nigerian court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Eni SpA to give up control of a large offshore oil block amid an investigation into their acquisition of the asset for over $1 billion, Nigerian authorities said.

The order is the latest development in a saga that has stretched for years across courtrooms in the U.K., Italy and Nigeria in an alleged corruption scandal involving the two oil giants and Nigerian officials. read more »

Biodiesel scam involving Pasco firm lands man in federal prison

A suspicious fire forced the Gen-X Energy Group’s biodiesel plant to close in 2009 at the Port of Walla Walla’s Burbank Industrial Facility. Richard Estes of Renton was sentenced this week for laundering more than $39 million for a company that bilked federal programs supporting renewable energy. The scam also involved Gen-X Energy. File Tri-City Herald

A Renton man was sentenced this week for laundering more than $39 million for a company that bilked federal programs supporting renewable energy.

Richard Estes, 77, was part of a conspiracy involving Pasco-based Gen-X Energy Group.

U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. sentenced him to eight years and nine months in prison after Estes previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Along with the prison sentence, Estes is responsible for paying more than $4.3 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors claimed Estes and others nationwide set up shell companies across the nation to take advantage of tax credits offered by the Internal Revenue Service.

The companies cycled the same batch of biofuels through each of the companies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida. Each time a new company received the product, it would claim to have made new biofuels. read more »

US appeals court revives JPMorgan silver futures rigging lawsuits

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday revived three private antitrust lawsuits accusing JPMorgan Chase & Co of rigging a market for silver futures contracts traded on COMEX.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court judge held hedge fund manager Daniel Shak and two other traders to an excessively high legal standard when deciding last June 29 to dismiss their complaints.

Shak, Mark Grumet and Thomas Wacker accused the largest U.S. bank of having in late 2010 and early 2011 placed artificial bids on the trading floor, harangued staff at metals market COMEX to obtain prices it wanted, and made misrepresentations to a committee that set settlement prices.

The traders said this forced them to post more capital to support their positions in silver futures spreads, and ultimately to liquidate them at heavy losses.

Shak is also known for playing high-stakes poker. read more »

Private Banking Meets Cross-Selling for JPMorgan’s Wealthy Clients

Ex-employees describe push to sell bank’s own products to rich

In-house options serve both bank and clients, JPMorgan say

Salespeople of all stripes know the drill. Go to the morning pump-up sessions. Hit the revenue targets. Move product or move along.

The playbook for selling everything from phones to time shares also crops up in a rarefied environment -- the Manhattan offices of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s elite wealth-management unit. There, private bankers working with JPMorgan’s richest customers are encouraged to steer client assets into certain funds and instruments that generate rich fees for the bank, according to several former employees.

How banks cross-sell -- essentially, a “would you like fries with that” approach -- has come under regulatory scrutiny after revelations last year that Wells Fargo employees opened millions of fake accounts in clients’ names to reach sales targets. Wells Fargo admitted to a lapse and has changed its incentives. But the scandal brings an old question about banking into sharper focus: When do bank’s incentives for employees put the customer second? read more »

 

New York sues Charter, alleges Time Warner fraud on internet speeds

New York filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Charter Communications Inc of short-changing customers who were promised faster internet speeds than it could deliver.

The lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan accused Charter's Spectrum unit, until recently known as Time Warner Cable, of systematically defrauding customers since 2012 by promising and charging for services it knew it could not offer.

At least 640,000 subscribers signed up for high-speed plans but got slower speeds, and many subscribers were unable to access promised online content such as Facebook, Netflix, YouTube and various gaming platforms, the complaint said. read more »

Graft Allegations Grow Against François Fillon, French Presidential Hopeful

New embezzlement allegations emerged on Wednesday against the French center-right presidential candidate François Fillon, adding uncertainty to an already tightly contested election.

Mr. Fillon’s campaign was thrown into turmoil last week after Le Canard Enchaîné, a weekly newspaper that mixes satire and investigations, reported that his wife, Penelope Fillon, was paid with taxpayer money for a bogus job as a parliamentary assistant to her husband and his deputy in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.

On Wednesday, the newspaper published new accusations, reporting that Ms. Fillon had held the bogus job for even longer than initially reported — from 1988 to 1990, between 1998 and 2007 and finally from 2012 to 2013 — and that she had been paid 831,440 euros, or nearly $900,000, much more than the figure published last week. read more »

CFTC Charges Florida Residents Anthony J. Klatch II and Lindsey Heim, along with their Company Assurance Capital Management, LLC, with Fraud and Misappropriation

Defendants allegedly defrauded more than $556,000 from at least 11 investors in multiple investment schemes

Klatch was charged with wire fraud in a related criminal action in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. read more »