Theranos Sued for Alleged Fraud by Robertson Stephens Co-Founder Colman

Colman invested in Theranos through venture-capital firm

The lawsuit also includes a second plaintiff, Hilary Taubman-Dye

Reed Kathrein, a partner at law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in San Francisco who represents Ms. Taubman-Dye and Mr. Colman, said there might be several hundred plaintiffs who could be represented in a potential class-action suit against Theranos. read more »

An Illegal Investment With A Huge Potential Pay-Off

JPMorgan Chase & Co has agreed to pay a total of $264 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Payments will be made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

JPMorgan is no stranger to paying fines and penalties for irregular activity. You can find a list of fines and settlements it has paid, commencing in 2010. Its victims include veterans, consumers of electricity, its shareholders, its customers, LIBOR victims, and the trustees of 330 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts. read more »

South Korea’s president offers to resign if demanded by lawmakers

Embattled South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that she would allow the National Assembly to determine her fate, signaling that she would resign over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal if lawmakers so demanded

She is suspected of allowing her lifelong friend, Choi Soon-sil, to use their relationship to raise tens of millions of dollars from big businesses and letting her wield extensive influence over the running of the country. Choi has now been indicted on charges of coercion, fraud and abuse of power, and prosecutors say Park was an accomplice to the crimes. read more »

Lockheed denies link to Choi Soon-sil

U.S. defense corporation Lockheed Martin has denied allegations it has been helped by the scandal-ridden confidant of President Park Geun-hye, Choi Soon-sil, in receiving business favors from the Park government.

In a statement sent to The Korea Times, Tuesday, the company said recent reports claiming Lockheed has had engagements with Choi or Linda Kim with regards to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or F-35 fighter jets were "false."

Linda Kim was an influential arms lobbyist until the early 2000s, and is suspected of being a friend of Choi. read more »

How to Hide $400 Million

When a wealthy businessman set out to divorce his wife, their fortune vanished. The quest to find it would reveal the depths of an offshore financial system bigger than the U.S. economy. read more »

 

 

The District owes this whistleblower money, an apology and a job

A Federal jury has made it official. Eric W. Payne, as he has long maintained, was wrongfully terminated from his D.C. government job because he blew the whistle on misconduct in city contracting. Will city officials now, at long last, do the right thing, acknowledge the injustice and pay up?

Money cannot make up for the shameful way city officials treated Mr. Payne. Nor can it erase the damaging message the city sent to honest workers wondering how to respond when they see wrongdoing. read more »

Defense Department and other agencies beefing up whistleblower protections.

Companies take heed: the Defense Department is close to finalizing a rule that would allow it to withhold funds from contractors that use confidentiality agreements to deter employee whistle-blowing.

The rulemaking would implement language in the 2015 Appropriations Act to prevent the 1,000 or so companies that supply goods and services to the Defense Department from stifling whistle-blowers through confidentiality agreements or other types of employment pacts.

Under the rule proposal, defense contractors also would have to certify that they don’t require the signing of such agreements. The contractors additionally must inform employees that such restrictions in existing confidentiality agreements no longer are effective.

 

 

Coal miners settle $100 mln fraud suit with W. Virginia

Coal mining companies Alpha Natural Resources Holdings Inc and Contura Energy Inc have settled a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia regulator that accused them of engaging in a $100 million fraud, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection had accused executives of Contura, which bought Alpha's best mines in its bankruptcy, of failing to account for $100 million in liabilities that were discovered after Alpha emerged from bankruptcy.

The regulator filed a lawsuit on Nov. 17 and said it was concerned that the undisclosed liabilities threatened Alpha's viability and thus hundreds of millions of dollars of mine cleanups in the state of West Virginia. read more »