SEC Awards Nearly $1 Million to Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $900,000 to a whistleblower whose tip enabled the SEC to bring multiple enforcement actions against wrongdoers.

“With the issuance of this second award in less than one week, we hope to continue to encourage individuals to submit high-quality tips that we can leverage to enforce the law and protect investors, and they can receive significant financial rewards for their valuable contributions to a case,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.

More than $136 million has been awarded to 37 whistleblowers who voluntarily provided the SEC with original and useful information that led to a successful enforcement action. read more »

Son of Former Gabonese Prime Minister Pleads Guilty to Bribery

The son of Gabon’s former prime minister pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. federal court to paying bribes to African government officials to receive mining rights while working for a joint venture involving a U.S. hedge fund.

Samuel Mebiame, son of the late Gabonese Prime Minister Leon Mebiame, worked as a consultant to a mining company owned by a joint venture between hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and an entity based in Turks and Caicos. He was as a “fixer” for the joint venture, conspiring with others to pay bribes to government officials in Chad and Niger on its behalf, and he paid bribes to officials in Guinea as an agent of the Turks and Caicos entity, prosecutors said in a statement.

Mr. Mebiame was charged in August with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars the use of bribes to foreign officials to get or keep business. He pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to make payments in violation of the FCPA. read more »

 

 

How American Bank, Goldman Sachs Lost $1.2 Billion of Libya’s Money

With billions of dollars’ worth of oil revenues waiting for bold capitalists to plug into the system and make killings, Goldman Sachs rushed in.

When Colonel Gaddafi’s relationship with the West improved albeit for a short while, Western companies looked to the North African country to exploit the new frontier that had been opened. With billions of dollars’ worth of oil revenues waiting for bold capitalists to plug into the system and make killings, Goldman Sachs rushed in, fronted by Youssef Kabaj, a securities salesman working in the bank’s London office. read more »

U.S. regulator launches hotline for ex-Wells Fargo bankers fired during scandal

A private U.S. regulator launched a hotline on Friday to hear from ex-Wells Fargo & Co employees who were fired for allegedly opening unauthorized accounts after news reports that the bank may have retaliated by terminating whistleblowers in the scandal.

Federal regulators ordered the San Francisco-based bank to pay $190 million in fines and restitution in September because they said its high pressure sales environment pushed employees to open 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customers' permission.

The bank said that it fired 5,300 workers involved in the sales scandal. Because about 200 of those employees were licensed to sell securities, they fall under the jurisdiction of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the securities industry's self-regulator. read more »

 

 

Accusations of Fraud at Wells Fargo Spread to Sham Insurance Policies

When Wells Fargo admitted a few months ago that thousands of its employees had created as many as two million unauthorized accounts for its customers, alarm bells went off at Prudential, one of the nation’s biggest insurance firms.

Wells Fargo has a partnership with Prudential to sell a low-cost life insurance policy to the bank’s retail customers. After news of the Wells Fargo settlement in September, Prudential ordered an internal review of its dealings with the bank, to make sure nothing was amiss with the joint endeavor.

A lot was amiss. According to three former managers in Prudential’s corporate investigation division, Wells Fargo employees appeared to have signed up bank customers for Prudential insurance without the customers’ knowledge or permission. In some cases, they even arranged for monthly premium fees to be withdrawn from their customers’ accounts. read more »

 

 

Key Figure in South Korean Leader’s Troubles: A Puppy

Did a fight over a puppy lead to the vote to impeach South Korea’s leader? A whistle-blower whose account has riveted South Koreans says it did.

The corruption scandal that engulfed the president, Park Geun-hye, was rooted in her friendship with Choi Soon-sil, her secretive adviser and friend for 40 years. Ms. Choi has been indicted on charges of extorting tens of millions of dollars from big businesses, and prosecutors have identified Ms. Park as a criminal accomplice, a first for a South Korean president. read more »

Unlicensed Michigan Physician Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud for Role in $6.3 Million Detroit-Based Medicare Fraud Scheme

A Michigan man pleaded guilty to fraud charges for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of approximately $6.3 million while he acted as an unlicensed physician at a Detroit in-home physician services company.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement. read more »