Teva puts aside $520 million to resolve overseas bribery probes

After four years of investigations, Teva Pharmaceuticals is setting aside about $520 million in hopes of settling allegations of paying bribes in Russia, Mexico and Ukraine.

The drug maker had disclosed an internal investigation last year after finding business practices that were likely violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Teva then began its probe after receiving subpoenas and other requests for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice Department in 2012

In its latest earnings report released on Tuesday, the drug maker noted that “advanced discussions” are under way with the feds to resolve the incidents, which took place between 2007 and 2013. Since then, Teva claims to have ended “problematic” business relationships, firing employees, overhauling management at some subsidiaries and ending operations in several countries. read more »

China's most-wanted corruption suspect surrenders after 13 years abroad

China's most-wanted corruption suspect returned to China from the United States on Wednesday after turning herself in, a major victory for the ruling Communist Party's overseas hunt for fugitive officials.

Yang Xiuzhu, a former deputy director of Wenzhou's construction bureau in the booming eastern province of Zhejiang, surrendered to Chinese authorities after spending 13 years in hiding overseas, the party's graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website.

In April last year, China published a list of 100 of its most wanted corruption suspects who had been targeted with an Interpol red notice, many living in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Yang was ranked number one on the list and is the 37th fugitive to return so far, the commission said.

Chinese officials "introduced relevant policies to Yang Xiuzhu, advising her to abandon her resistance and give herself up, and get lenient treatment in accordance with the law", it added in a separate statement. read more »

SEC approves 'Hubble Telescope' for securities markets

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Tuesday to approve a massive stock and options trading database, prompted by the 2010 "flash crash," aimed at helping regulators police the increasingly fast, fragmented and complex markets.

The creation of a Consolidated Audit Trail establishes a regulatory central database for every trade order, execution, modification and cancellation, as mandated by the SEC in July 2012.

The CAT's creation was overseen by all U.S. stock and options exchanges, as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which are known as self-regulatory organizations (SROs).

"The import of today's action cannot be overstated," SEC Chair Mary Jo White said prior to the vote. "With the approval and ultimate implementation of CAT, the Commission's regulatory capacity strongly embraces 21st Century technology, enabling the Commission and the SROs to harness data and technology to more effectively oversee market participants."

Billions of shares trade every day at near light speed and a large imbalance or glitch in the mostly automated markets can quickly snowball into a major problem. read more »

Trump’s Effort to Gut Dodd-Frank Law May Spare Whistle-Blowers

President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to tear down six years of financial regulation, may spare the whistle-blowers.

Two Republican lawmakers with sway in the Trump camp, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa and Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, have voiced support for programs meant to reward workers who bring allegations of governmental wrongdoing to U.S. officials. That gives recent whistle-blower rules a degree of political cover that doesn’t necessarily extend to other financial regulations made possible by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.

“My sense is that unless there’s a complete repeal of Dodd-Frank, the whistle-blower statute will survive,” said Jill Rosenberg, an expert on employment law and a partner at the Orrick law firm in New York. “There’s been bipartisan support for the bounty program. It hasn’t been attacked like regulatory aspects” of the law. read more »

2016 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program 

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New Jersey Cardiac Monitoring Company Agrees To Pay Over $1.35 Million To Resolve Claims It Paid Illegal Kickbacks To Physicians,

MedNet Inc., a Ewing, New Jersey-based remote cardiac monitoring company and a subsidiary of BioTelemetry Inc., has agreed to pay more than $1.35 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to induce physicians to use the company’s cardiac monitoring services, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.

According to settlement agreement:

From March 15, 2006, through Jan. 31, 2014, before BioTelemetry acquired MedNet, MedNet entered into “fee-for-service” or “direct-bill” agreements with certain hospital and physician clinic customers. MedNet charged a fee to the customers for certain services that the company performed in connection with event monitoring and telemetry, two types of cardiac monitoring services. MedNet allowed the customers to bill Medicare directly for these same services and retain the reimbursements they received from Medicare, which exceeded the fee that MedNet charged them. read more »

Navy Officer Pleads Guilty in Massive Fraud and Corruption Scandal

A retired Navy Captain pleaded guilty today for his role in a massive bribery and fraud scheme involving a foreign defense contractor for the U.S. Navy.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California, Acting Director Dermot O’Reilly of the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Director Andrew Traver of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Director Anita Bales of Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) made the announcement.

Michael Brooks, 57, of Fairfax Station, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford of the Southern District of California.  In May 2016, Brooks was charged in connection with his  interactions with Leonard Glenn Francis, the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a defense contracting firm based in Singapore.  Brooks is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 17, 2017.

According to admissions made in connection with the plea agreement, from June 2006 to July 2008, Brooks served as the U.S. Naval Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines.  In exchange for travel and entertainment expenses, hotel rooms and the services of prostitutes, Brooks used his office to benefit GDMA and Francis, including by securing quarterly diplomatic clearances for GDMA vessels, which allowed GDMA vessels to transit into and out of the Philippines under the diplomatic clearance of the U.S. Embassy.  Brooks also allowed Francis to ghostwrite official U.S. Navy documents and correspondence, which Brooks submitted as his own.  In addition, Brooks provided Francis with sensitive, internal U.S. Navy information, including billing information belonging to a GDMA competitor and U.S. Navy ship schedules. read more »