LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Whistleblower Legal News Articles & Interviews
U.S. v. Academy Mortgage Corp., Episode Too-Many-to-Count, “The Whistleblower Strikes Back”
August 28, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
San Francisco, CA There’s a new twist in U.S. v. Academy Mortgage Corp., a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former underwriter, Gwen Thrower. In 2016, Thrower filed a claim under the False Claims Act (FCA), asserting that Academy Mortgage was making mortgage loans that did not meet established Federal Housing Authority (FHA) credit requirements. The FHA insures the mortgage and pays the lender if the homebuyer defaults on or fails to repay the loan. Only lenders that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) approves can participate in the program.
Read [ U.S. v. Academy Mortgage Corp., Episode Too-Many-to-Count, “The Whistleblower Strikes Back” ]
U.S. v. Academy Mortgage Corp., the Whistleblower Lawsuit that Will not Die
July 27, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
San Francisco, CA Academy Mortgage Corp. has asked the Northern District of California to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former underwriter, Gwen Thrower. The lawsuit, which was initially filed in 2016, accuses Academy Mortgage of writing shaky FHA-backed mortgage loans to boost the company’s profits. In 2020, the federal government unsuccessfully sought to the lawsuit dismissed in the Ninth Circuit. In 2018, the Northern District had denied a similar motion.
Read [ U.S. v. Academy Mortgage Corp., the Whistleblower Lawsuit that Will not Die ]
The Big Story of UBS Whistleblower Lawsuit
July 7, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
New York, NY After nearly seven years in court, Trevor Murray prevailed in his whistleblower lawsuit against UBS Securities, his former employer. The latest flurry of activity is an after-the-fact attempt by UBS’s attorneys to reduce the firm’s financial liability. No harm, no foul. It’s simply what diligent lawyers try to do.
Read [ The Big Story of UBS Whistleblower Lawsuit ]
Whistleblower Outed Abbott Labs Two Years Before FDA Closed Sturgis Plant
June 20, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
Sturgis, MI Evidence of contaminated baby formula sounds like it should have been an “all-hands-on-deck” emergency for Abbott Laboratories and the Food and Drug Administration. Instead, it took the FDA nearly two years to send inspectors to the Sturgis, Michigan plant, where they found “shocking” conditions. By then two babies had died and several more had become ill. Had it not been for the dogged persistence of a whistleblower who filed federal and state OSHA complaints as well as an FDA complaint, the tainted formula could have hurt many more.
Read [ Whistleblower Outed Abbott Labs Two Years Before FDA Closed Sturgis Plant ]
Kickback Scheme Spawns Humira Whistleblower Lawsuit and Investor Backlash
May 30, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
Wilmington, DE On May 17, an investor sued AbbVie, alleging that the manufacturer of Humira defrauded investors by permitting the company to engage in an illegal “kickback scheme” that caused the value of the stock to plummet. The shareholder derivative lawsuit arises from a number of whistleblower lawsuits, including one filed in California in 2018. These brought to light AbbVie’s scheme to induce doctors to prescribe Humira by showering them with cash, meals, drinks, gifts, trips, patient referrals and the services of nurse “ambassadors.” Ranney v. Gonzalez is just the latest fallout from AbbVie’s controversial “white coat marketing” efforts.
Read [ Kickback Scheme Spawns Humira Whistleblower Lawsuit and Investor Backlash ]
The Whistleblower and H&M Unused Gift Cards - $36 Million Settlement
May 23, 2022. By Jane Mundy.
New York, NY A whistleblower is getting a big payout after he filed a lawsuit under the New York False Claims Act, accusing H&M of keeping millions of dollars in unused funds from its gift cards. Rather than transferring unredeemed gift card balances to the Abandoned Property Fund as the law stipulates, H&M lied about an out-of-state company handling its gift cards business. But H&M didn’t count on the whistleblower: greed ultimately cost the fashion retailer $36 million—from keeping about $18.4 million in unused gift cards. Clearly, deception doesn’t pay when the whistle is blown.
Read [ The Whistleblower and H&M Unused Gift Cards - $36 Million Settlement ]
Debtor-in-Possession Bankruptcy for MD Helicopters?
May 3, 2022. By Anne Wallace.
Wilmington, DE MD Helicopters Inc. appears to have secured financing that will allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy as an operating business. The company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition was, however, only the latest twist in a case that began as a whistleblower lawsuit in 2013.
Read [ Debtor-in-Possession Bankruptcy for MD Helicopters? ]
Surgical Company and its Physician Owner Settle for $3 million Whistleblower Lawsuit
February 27, 2022. By Jane Mundy.
Alpharetta, GA A federal whistleblower lawsuit claiming that Dr. Jeffrey Gallups, the owner of Milton Hall Surgical Associates in Georgia, directed his physicians—one of whom blew the whistle-- to order unnecessary tests for their patients to defraud government health programs has reached a $3 million settlement.
Read [ Surgical Company and its Physician Owner Settle for $3 million Whistleblower Lawsuit ]
Auditor Whistleblower vs. PricewaterhouseCoopers
May 7, 2021. By Jane Mundy.
San Francisco, CA Former senior manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers claims he was fired in retaliation for a whistleblower claim he made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Mauro Botta was an auditor at the behemoth auditing company for almost two decades until he was fired in 2017.
Read [ Auditor Whistleblower vs. PricewaterhouseCoopers ]
2018 Busy Year for HealthCare Whistleblowers
January 23, 2019. By Jane Mundy.
Washington, DC: Of more than $ 2.8 billion that the Department of Justice (DOJ)obtained in settlements and judgments from fraudsters in 2018, $2.5 billion involved the health care industry, and the largest recoveries came from drug and medical device manufacturers. And 2018 was a very good year for most all Whistleblowers (three whistleblower fraudsters were also busted last year.)
Read [ 2018 Busy Year for HealthCare Whistleblowers ]
- The Legal Landscape for Whistleblowers May Have Changed By Gordon Gibb (Mar-2-18)
- Medical Device Manufacturer Admits to Wrongdoing, Faces $14 Million Penalty By Gordon Gibb (Feb-2-18)
- Kmart settles healthcare fraud lawsuit for $32.3 million By Anne Wallace (Jan-20-18)
- Plaintiff Wants Appeal of Years-Long Claims, Defendant Opines to ‘Get on with It’ By Gordon Gibb (Jan-5-18)
- Why the Bid to Dismiss SEC Whistleblower Lawsuit against Wells Fargo Failed By Gordon Gibb (Dec-22-17)
- Healthcare Whistle Blower Awarded $351,000 By Brenda Craig (Dec-8-17)
- Untold Story of Opioid Epidemic: Attorney Explains Kickbacks and Billing Fraud By Anne Wallace (Nov-27-17)
- Whistleblower Healthcare Fraud Lawsuit Alleges Surgical Double-Booking By Gordon Gibb (Oct-31-17)
- Ohio Firm Loses Petition to Have SEC Lawsuit Dismissed By Gordon Gibb (Oct-21-17)
- Whistleblower Nets $2.9 Million in Healthcare Fraud Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Oct-4-17)
- Is Fired Executive’s Case an SEC Whistleblower Lawsuit? Supreme Court to Decide By Gordon Gibb (Sep-29-17)
- SEC Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits Fly under the Radar By Anne Wallace (Sep-20-17)
- Whistleblower Alleges Healthcare Fraud in Lawsuit By Gordon Gibb (Sep-7-17)
- Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawsuit Goes After “Up Coding” By Anne Wallace (Aug-28-17)
- Tipsters Play Huge Role in Rooting Out Financial Fraud By Brenda Craig (Aug-2-17)
- Healthcare Fraudsters Caught in Giant DOJ Sweep By Brenda Craig (Jul-30-17)
- Labor Department Orders Wells Fargo to Reinstate Whistleblower and Pay $577,000 in Back Wages By Deb Hipp (Jul-27-17)
- $8M Settlement Reached in Omnicare False Claims Suit By Lucy Campbell (May-18-17)
- Qui Tam Whistleblower “Double-Dipping” By Jane Mundy (Apr-6-17)
- Doctor from Dallas Collects $11.4 million for Blowing the Whistle on Healthcare Fraud By Brenda Craig (Mar-3-17)
- Qui Tam Whistleblowers and Healthcare Fraud: “It’s a Completely Criminal Enterprise” By Jane Mundy (Feb-19-17)
- Healthcare Whistleblowers Protect Patients' Rights By Heidi Turner (Jan-20-17)
- Cash for Whistleblowers in the Health Care Industry By Brenda Craig (Dec-15-16)
- Healthcare CEO Files Whistleblower Lawsuit By Heidi Turner (Feb-5-16)
- Healthcare Fraud Cost Pharmaceutical Almost $150 Million in Settlements By Gordon Gibb (Jan-6-16)
- Healthcare Whistleblower Wins $4.5 Million By Heidi Turner (Dec-7-15)
- Tax Fraud Attorney: “We’re Talking About Cheating” By Heidi Turner (Nov-10-15)
- Healthcare Fraud Whistleblowers to Split $38 Million By Gordon Gibb (Nov-2-15)
- Healthcare Fraud Lawsuit Results in $115 Million By Heidi Turner (Oct-23-15)
- Auditor Recommends Reauthorizing Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act By Heidi Turner (Sep-17-15)
- First Healthcare Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuit under Obamacare Settles for $6.88 Million By Gordon Gibb (Aug-24-15)
- Medicare Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuit Settled for $17 Million By Heidi Turner (Jul-1-15)
- Tennessee Hospital Settles Alleged Whistleblower Healthcare Fraud for $1.3 Million By Gordon Gibb (Jun-1-15)
- Florida Whistleblower Healthcare Fraud Lawsuit Settles for $7.5 Million By Gordon Gibb (May-17-15)
- Healthcare Fraud Whistleblowers Allege Medicaid and Medicare Out Millions By Gordon Gibb (Apr-12-15)
- Whistleblowers Integral to the Fight against Medical and Healthcare Fraud By Gordon Gibb (Mar-1-15)
- Settlement Reached that Doctors Over-treated and Over-billed By Jane Mundy (Jan-6-13)
- Government Whistleblower and Legal Team to Receive $20 Million By Gordon Gibb (Nov-27-12)
- Verizon Pays $93.5 Million to Settle Government Whistleblower Lawsuit By Charles Benson (Apr-8-11)
- Whistleblowers Go Directly to Attorneys—Bypass Feds By Jane Mundy (Mar-31-11)