Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay $7 billion, including a $4 billion civil penalty, to resolve federal and state claims involving Citigroup’s misrepresentation, securitization, and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) prior to Jan. 1, 2009. The $4 billion civil penalty is the largest penalty of its kind under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement…
Novartis Accused of Kickback Tactics…Again
Kickback accusations have yet again been raised against Novartis, a company that promised four years ago to live by a new integrity code, and is already enmeshed with allegations by the Justice Department over possible kickback schemes with pharmacies. The company now faces a new whistleblower lawsuit filed by Min Amy Guo, a former executive…
Federal Contractor to Pay More than $500,000 to Resolve Overbilling Allegations
RE/MAX Allegiance Relocation Services, a Virginia-based move management company, will pay $509,807 to settle allegations that it overbilled the government for its transportation services. The company was contracted to provide moving services to federal employees being relocated within the US, and between the US and Canada. According to the allegations, the company overbilled the government…
Fifty-Five Hospitals to Pay $34 Million in Kyphoplasty Overbilling Case
The Department of Justice today announced a $34 million settlement involving fifty-five hospitals that are alleged to have overcharged Medicare for kyphoplasty procedures. Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive operation involving the injection of bone cement to repair spinal fractures. Although kyphoyplasty is frequently performed as an outpatient procedure, the hospitals involved in this week’s settlement…
HSBC Pays $10M to Settle U.S. Fraud Charges Over Inflated Foreclosure Fees
The British lender HSBC Holdings Plc agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims that it overcharged the US government by submitting inflated bills to process residential foreclosures. This is the first civil settlement resulting from an investigation by US Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan into mortgage servicers suspected of fraud relating to foreclosures on…
U.S. Bank to Pay $200 Million to Settle Allegations of FHA Mortgage Lending Violations
U.S. Bank, an Ohio-based banking services company, agreed to pay the United States $200 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by engaging in lax mortgage underwriting practices in violation of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) lending requirements. As part of the settlement, U.S. Bank admitted that, from 2006 through 2011,…
BNP Paribas to Plead Guilty and Pay $8.9 Billion for Violating US Economic Sanctions
BNP Paribas, France’s largest and the world’s fourth largest bank, agreed to plead guilty and pay an $8.9 billion penalty for conspiring to violate U.S. economic sanctions by transferring billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudan, Iran, and Cuba–all blacklisted by the U.S. According to the U.S. DOJ, BNP Paribas…
U.S. Bank to Pay $200 Million to Settle Allegations of FHA Mortgage Lending Violations
U.S. Bank, an Ohio-based banking services company, agreed to pay the United States $200 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by engaging in lax mortgage underwriting practices in violation of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) lending requirements. As part of the settlement, U.S. Bank admitted that, from 2006 through 2011,…
BNP Paribas to Plead Guilty and Pay $8.9 Billion for Violating US Economic Sanctions
BNP Paribas, France’s largest and the world’s fourth largest bank, agreed to plead guilty and pay an $8.9 billion penalty for conspiring to violate U.S. economic sanctions by transferring billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudan, Iran, and Cuba–all blacklisted by the U.S. According to the U.S. DOJ, BNP Paribas…
USAO and NY AG Intervene in Suit Against Hospitals and Operator for Improper Medicaid Claims
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and New York Attorney General’s Office filed intervening complaints in a whistleblower lawsuit against Continuum Health Partners, Inc., Beth Israel Medical Center, and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center for failing to repay money they received after improperly billing the state’s Medicaid Program. According to the…