Not an inside job: How two analysts became SEC whistleblowers

Four years ago, two analysts who liked to swap notes on numbers they thought looked odd took a fateful step and tipped off U.S. regulators about a company that one of them had watched for months.

Now both men stand to win as much as $2.5 million after Orthofix reached a $8.25 million settlement in January with the Securities and Exchange Commission and several former executives collectively paid $120,000 in penalties to resolve accounting fraud charges. read more »

Trump to create new whistleblower protection office at Veterans Affairs

President Donald Trump, as part of his dash to rack up wins before the end of his first 100 days, signed an executive order Thursday that creates a new office devoted to protecting whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs. read more »

Facebook and Google Were Victims of $100M Payment Scam

When the Justice Department announced the arrest last month of a man who allegedly swindled more than $100 million from two U.S. tech giants, the news came wrapped in a mystery. The agency didn’t say who was robbed, and nor did it identify the Asian supplier the crook impersonated to pull off the scheme.

The mystery is now unraveled. A Fortune investigation, which involved interviews with sources close to law enforcement and other figures, has unearthed the identities of the three unnamed companies plus other details of the case.

The criminal case shows how scams involving email phishing and fake suppliers can victimize even the most sophisticated, tech-savvy corporations. But the crime also raises questions about why the companies have so far kept silent and whether—as a former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission observes—it triggers an obligation to tell investors about what happened. read more »

South Korea fines Novartis $49 million over kickbacks, suspends insurance payment

South Korea said on Thursday it has fined Swiss drugmaker Novartis 55.1 billion won ($48.80 million) for offering doctors kickbacks to recommend the company's drugs, and also suspended insurance coverage for some of its drugs.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a statement that it has preliminarily decided to suspend insurance coverage of nine variations of two drug types including Alzheimer's drug Exelon for six months and imposed a fine on 33 variations of 15 drug brands.

The ministry said it will make a final decision next month after reviewing the drug maker's stance on the ministry's preliminary decision. read more »