Ban Ki-sang: United States asks South Korea to arrest former UN chief Ban Ki-moon's brother

The US Government has asked South Korea to arrest a brother of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on charges that he engaged in a bribery scheme to carry out the sale of a Vietnamese building complex.

During a court hearing in federal court in Manhattan, Assistant US Attorney Daniel Noble said a request had been made for the arrest of Ban Ki-sang, who was an executive at South Korean construction firm Keangnam Enterprises.

Mr Noble said the United States plans to seek his extradition, "but as of yet, he has not been apprehended." read more »

U.S. judge orders arrest of ex-fund employee who skipped trial

A U.S. judge ordered the arrest of a former analyst at Dell Inc founder Michael Dell's investment fund on Monday after he refused to show up for trial to face charges that he made $1.5 million engaging in insider trading.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan issued a bench warrant for John Afriyie, a former MSD Capital employee, after a defense lawyer, Ezra Spilke, said that his client was in New Jersey and would not agree to come to court.

"He is going to need to bring his toothbrush," Engelmayer said in court. "Under the circumstances, while I will be happy to hear argument for bail when he is picked up, his non-appearance and non-willingness to appear is a bad fact." read more »

Citi units to pay $28.8 million for giving U.S. homeowners 'runaround': watchdog

The U.S. consumer financial watchdog said on Monday it had fined subsidiaries of Citigroup Inc (C.N) $28.8 million for giving "the runaround to borrowers" on mortgage servicing by keeping them in the dark about options to avoid foreclosure or making it difficult for them to apply for relief.

CitiMortgage will pay an estimated $17 million to compensate wronged consumers, as well as a civil penalty of $3 million, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said. CitiFinancial Services will refund approximately $4.4 million to consumers, and pay a civil penalty of $4.4 million. read more »

SEC Announces $7 Million Whistleblower Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $7 million split among three whistleblowers who helped the SEC prosecute an investment scheme.

One whistleblower provided information that was a primary impetus for the start of the SEC’s investigation.  That whistleblower will receive more than $4 million.  Two other whistleblowers jointly provided new information during the SEC’s investigation that significantly contributed to the success of the SEC’s enforcement action.  Those two whistleblowers will split more than $3 million.

“Whistleblowers played an important role in the success of this case as they helped our agency detect and prosecute a scheme preying on vulnerable investors,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.  “Whistleblowers not only helped us open the investigation but provided critical information after the investigation was already underway.” read more »

When Making a Fraud Claim, Choose Your Filing Date Wisely

The adage that timing in life is everything can be especially important when there is a claim of fraud, because the window to bring a case can close quickly and decisively under the applicable statute of limitations. This is the type of technical requirement that lawyers love to use to block a lawsuit. Failing to act on time means any chance at recovery is lost, letting a potential wrongdoer get off scot-free.

The issue of how the statute of limitations applies to claims under the federal securities laws has come up recently in two areas. The Supreme Court announced on Jan. 13 that it would decide when the Securities and Exchange Commission must file a lawsuit seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, a remedy the agency often pursues when a defendant obtains money improperly. But, in another case, the court declined to review a lower-court decision that lets the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation pursue claims against big Wall Street banks over their sale of mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. Those claims would have been blocked otherwise for being filed too late. read more »

Shipping Conglomerate and Former CFO Charged With Failure to Recognize Hundreds of Millions in Tax Liabilities

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged shipping conglomerate Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) and its former chief financial officer Myles R. Itkin with failing to recognize hundreds of millions in tax liabilities in its financial statements that had accumulated over nearly 12 years resulting from its controlled foreign subsidiary guaranteeing OSG’s debt that had been borrowed under various credit financing agreements.  As a result of the misconduct, OSG materially understated its income tax liabilities by approximately $512 million read more »

The SEC is reportedly investigating why Yahoo took so long to disclose that it was hacked

As if two massive data breaches affecting more than one billion users isn’t enough, Yahoo is now under investigation from the SEC for not disclosing the hacks sooner, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The internet giant revealed in September 2016 than a state-sponsored attacker harvested personal data belonging to “at least” 500 million users. Just three months later, it was back to confess that a separate incident store account information belonging to one billion users. Yahoo admitted that some employees were aware of the first incident as far back as 2014, yet it waited years before making a disclosure to investors. read more »

Wash. U. Fired Whistleblower for Questioning Fraud on Federal Contract, Lawsuit Alleges

Washington University receives hundreds of millions of dollars each year in federal grants and contracts, but St. Louis' flagship research institution is now facing a lawsuit alleging that its officials may have defrauded the federal government — and then fired the whistleblower who brought the scheme to a superior's attention.

Science is expensive. In 2016 alone, Washington University handled nearly $500 million in government grants and $24 million in contracts, much of it supporting research into breakthroughs in medical technology. Back in 2010, the university landed one of its largest contracts in recent history: a five-year, $18 million deal from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study how nanotechnology could be used to treat heart and lung diseases.  read more »

SF paying big bucks for outside help in whistle-blower suit

Talk about a high-stakes poker game.

Records show that San Francisco’s City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office has paid out more than $2.5 million to the law firm headed by former Police Commission President John Keker to fend off a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former top trial deputy at City Hall.

And the case hasn’t even gone to court yet.

Joanne Hoeper says she was shown the door by Herrera in 2012 for exposing kickbacks to fellow city attorney staffers who approved $10 million in allegedly unwarranted property owner claims for tree-damaged sewer lines. read more »

Rolls Royce Motor Cars Gets Confused With Namesake Aircraft Engine Supplier

Misreporting and confusion among some parts of the media have led to an unusual press release from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

these two companies may have the Rolls-Royce name in their designation, but they are different entities, and the automaker had to clarify this aspect through a press release. So, if you are an editor of another publication, regard these words: "Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has nothing to do with "Rolls-Royce plc."

Rolls-Royce plc builds power systems for aircraft, land applications, and ships. The company’s full name is "Rolls-Royce Holdings plc," and it has its headquarters in City of Westminster, London. This January, Rolls-Royce Holdings has agreed to pay £671 million to avoid prosecution in the UK, U.S., and Brazil. read more »