UBS has come forward to regulators and disclosed that it colluded with other banks to rig the London interbank offered rate, also known as Libor. Libor is the average interest rate that leading banks in London charge when lending to other banks. That number is used to establish interest rates elsewhere and can affect interest-rate…
USAO Raises Fraud Allegations Against BNY Mellon to $1.5 Billion
The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan filed an amended complaint against BNY Mellon that increased the amount of the alleged fraud from hundreds of millions of dollars to $1.5 billion. BNY Mellon allegedly promised its standing instruction clients the best foreign currency exchange rates of the day but instead gave them the worst and kept…
Bureau of Land Management Anticompetitive Bidding Case Brought Under FCA; Settles for $550,000
Gunnison Energy Corporation (GEC), SG Interests I Ltd. and SG Interests VII Ltd (SGI) have agreed to pay $550,000 to resolve antitrust and False Claims Act allegations that they arranged to not compete against one another in bidding for natural gas rights leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The companies allegedly agreed…
Mass. AG Announces $40 Million Recovered Under FCA in 2011
In 2011, Massachusetts recovered over $40 million under its False Claims Act, nearly three times that collected the previous year. AG Coakley called the False Claims Act “a critically important tool for holding companies responsible that defraud the commonwealth and recovering taxpayer funds.” Fiscal Year 2012 is already seeing recoveries, with a $2.3 million settlement…
Citi Mortgage to Pay $158.3 Million for Mortgage Lending Fraud
In conjunction with the national mortgage settlement reached on February 9th, Citi Mortgage has agreed to pay $158.4 million to resolve allegations that it falsely certified that mortgage loans issued by the bank met FHA insurance requirements. According to the whistleblower who brought the case to the government’s attention, Sherry Hunt, many of Citigroup’s loans…
Oregon Sues BNY Mellon for Money Lost from Declined Stock
Oregon has initiated a class action lawsuit against BNY Mellon, contending that the bank’s alleged foreign currency exchange rate fraud harmed two statewide funds that had invested in BNY Mellon’s stock. According to the complaint, as a result of the alleged fraud the value of BNY Mellon shares held by the Oregon Common School Fund…
Kentucky Speaker Introduces FCA
The Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Greg Stumbo, has introduced legislation which would create a state False Claims Act. The bill closely mirrors the federal False Claims Act and includes treble damages and rewards for whistleblowers of 15 to 30 percent the amount collected. The Speaker pointed out that other states have recovered…
Capmark Finance to Pay $3.9 Million for Mortgage Fraud
Capmark Finance LLC had agreed to pay $3.9 million to resolve mortgage fraud allegations related to the mortgage loan applications of two nursing homes. Capmark’s loan applications allegedly included false information about the borrowers’ creditworthiness, thereby inducing HUD to insure the loans which eventually defaulted. The settlement is the result of efforts by the interagency…
San Antonio Booz Allen Office Barred from Doing Business with Federal Government
The San Antonio office of Booz Allen Hamilton, a technology and consulting services provider, has been barred from doing business with the federal government. The company is accused of receiving a competitor’s confidential pricing information from an employee who previously served as an officer in the Air Force. The employee, former Lt. Col. Joselito Meneses,…
Dava Pharmaceuticals to Pay $11 Million for Medicaid Fraud
Dava Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $11 million to settle allegations that the company defrauded Medicaid by reporting several of its brand name drugs as generics, thereby reducing the percentage rebate owed to Medicaid programs. Dava is also alleged to have reported false pricing information, which further reduced the company’s rebate liability. The whistleblower who…