SF City Attorney Whistleblower Wins $2M Verdict

In a whistleblower trial pitting a former San Francisco chief trial deputy against the city attorney’s office, a jury awarded the whistleblower $2 million Friday for emotional damages and lost earnings.

After less than a day of deliberations, the unanimous panel found that City Attorney Dennis Herrera fired Joanne Hoeper because of her efforts to uncover what she suspected was a shady payment scheme run by Herrera’s claims bureau, violating the California Whistleblower and False Claims Acts. read more »

Is there a new wave of Ponzi schemes coming? There’s a possibility

One impact of the last economic downturn (like others before it) was to expose the many Ponzi schemes that were being perpetrated. The largest of them was Bernie Madoff’s multi-year, multibillion dollar scheme. Sitting in Madoff’s shadow were still well-known, but lesser lights of Allen Stanford and Stanford Financial Group and Scott Rothstein and Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler P.A.

Each of these criminal enterprises caused potential losses in the billions of dollars, and caused millions of dollars in damage to the South Florida community. They affected hundreds, if not thousands, of people — both in terms of investors who lost their investments and the innocent employees who lost their jobs.

James Gassenheimer is a partner at Berger Singerman and member of the firm’s Business Reorganization and Dispute Resolution practice groups. Isaac Marcushamer is a partner at Berger Singerman and member of the firm’s Business Reorganization practice group. James Gassenheimer is a partner at Berger Singerman and member of the firm’s Business Reorganization and Dispute Resolution practice groups

In a Ponzi scheme, no investment actually takes place. Instead the perpetrator simply repays earlier investors with the funds from new investors. The perpetrator does not create any wealth through industry or investment. Such a scheme will eventually collapse. read more »

Chicago Trader Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Misappropriating at Least $1.5 Million in Client Funds

A Chicago trader defrauded more than a dozen clients out of at least $1.5 million by pocketing their money instead of investing it, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.

RANDALL RYE, the owner of Faster Than Light Trading LLC, told investors that they would earn substantial profits from his proprietary trading program. Rye claimed that he would invest their money in options and futures contracts using a computer algorithm. In reality, Rye misappropriated the investors’ funds for his own personal expenses, such as air and hotel travel costs, including vacations to St. Lucia and Bali, tickets to sporting events, including the World Series and the Masters golf tournament, and on other luxury items and large cash withdrawals, according to the indictment. read more »

French authorities join UK in Airbus corruption probe

French authorities have joined Britain’s Serious Fraud Office to investigate allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption in the passenger jet business of Airbus, the European aerospace and defence group.

The UK’s SFO in August launched its own inquiry into Airbus’ use of third party consultants to win international aircraft orders, after the company admitted it had failed to notify export credit authorities about these agents on certain deals. The company had alerted authorities in April to the errors after an internal review of compliance. read more »

UBS and Its French Unit to Face Trial in Tax Investigation

UBS said on Monday that the Swiss bank and its French subsidiary would face trial in a long-running investigation into whether it helped French clients hide funds from the country’s national tax administration.

The announcement followed reports in the French media that UBS had rejected a proposed settlement. French prosecutors had sought a fine of 1.1 billion euros, or about $1.2 billion, in the case. read more »

South Korea's Lotte family owners go on trial for graft

Four members of the family who control South Korea's troubled retail giant Lotte, including its 93-year-old founder, went on trial Monday (Mar 20) for embezzlement, tax evasion and fraud.

The proceedings against company chairman Shin Dong-Bin, 61, his brother, sister and father - plus the patriarch's mistress nearly 40 years his junior - come as the South's fifth-biggest conglomerate endures a barrage of condemnation from China.

The company provided land to Seoul to host a US missile defence system, infuriating Beijing, and nearly 90 per cent of its Chinese Lotte Mart stores have since been forced to close by either authorities or angry demonstrations.

The trial is the latest blow to the reputations of the family-controlled conglomerates, or "chaebols", that powered South Korea's economic growth in past decades.

Houston-Area Registered Nurse Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud Medicare of More than $5 Million

A Houston-Area registered nurse pleaded guilty today for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme that resulted in losses to Medicare of more than $5 million. read more »