Genetic Testing Kickback and Bribery Scheme
Dr. Yitzchok “Barry” Kurtzer and his wife Robin Kurtzer, who helped manage his offices, have been charged with taking kickbacks and bribes in exchange for ordering genetic tests. Yitzchok Kurtzer is also charged with health care fraud. They are both accused of soliciting cash bribes of up to $5,000 in exchange for collecting samples from […]
Senator Grassley Introduces Long-Promised Proposed Amendments to the False Claims Act
On Monday, July 26, 2021, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced a bill titled “False Claims Amendments Act of 2021” aimed...
On the Horizon? ESG Disclosure Requirements for Financial Institutions
The Securities and Exchange Commission has made a series of public statements and taken preliminary steps indicating that it likely soon will expand its climate-related disclosure requirements for all public companies, including financial institutions. To that end, the SEC’s Spring 2021 agenda included four ESG-related rulemakings in the Proposed Rule Stage, noting October 2021 for […]
Obstacles to Compliance Training
Noting that compliance training doesn’t always work, Richard L. Cassin identifies five things that can cause compliance training to fail: It’s all about the company and not the trainees. It’s just another rule book. It sounds like criticism. The bosses say one thing and do another. Compliance becomes “corporate communication.” Source: FCPA Blog: Five Obstacles […]
DOJ’s Antitrust Division Charges Seris Security and Three Executives, and Announces Plea Agreement with...
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division returned a criminal indictment against Seris Security and three executives: Danny Vandormael, CEO of Seris; Peter Verpoort, Director for Security at Seris; and Jean Paul Van Avermaet, CEO of G4S Secure Solutions, for participating in the bid-rigging conspiracy for U.S. and NATO security contracts. All of the defendants are Belgian […]
Taxi Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Fraudulent Medicaid Transportations Claims
Edward Donnell IV of Dover, New Hampshire pleaded guilty to charges related to fraudulent claims for non-emergency medical transportation services. In 2015 and 2016, Donnell, then the owner of Frank’s Taxi, conspired with his spouse and employees to obtain almost $23,000 for transportation services that were never actually provided. Donnell was sentenced to restitution and […]
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal in FCA Action But Declines to Adopt § 3730 Standard
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s decision to dismiss a False Claims Act action, finding that...
False Claims Investigations and Criminal Prosecutions: Recent Examples of Criminal Charges – a Lab...
In the fifth of a series of postings, Michael Volkov reviews a variety of recent FCA cases which demonstrate his point that companies should promptly prepare for an enforcement onslaught over the next few years. In what he describes as “a stark example”, Volkov describes a case resulting in criminal, as well as civil, charges. […]
SEC Prevails in Case Challenging its Anti-Gag Rule, a Pillar of the SEC Whistleblower...
A critical reason for the success of the SEC whistleblower program is the SEC’s adoption and enforcement of a strong anti-gag rule prohibiting any “person” from taking “any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation, including enforcing, or threatening to enforce, a confidentiality agreement […]
The Saga of the Shrinking CSAL
What’s with the shrinking Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL)? 2019 saw OFCCP give federal contractors advance notice of 4,000 compliance reviews. This included 500 Section 503 and 500 VEVRAA focused reviews, intended as streamlined audits, and 500 of the truly streamlined compliance checks. The 2021 CSAL released earlier this month notes only 750 audits. It includes […]