Financial Fraud

A judgment has been issued in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Trinity Industries Inc who is accused of modifying the guardrails it had sold to the federal government for use on federal highways without disclosing those modifications, as required, and failing to properly test those modified units.

The whistleblower will receive $199 million, 30 percent of the total $663 million judgement.

Filed in March of 2012, the whistleblower case claimed that between 2002 and 2005, Trinity made a series of changes to the design and specifications of the ET-Plus guardrail and that allegedly that guardrail modification can cause the end terminal to malfunction when a vehicle strikes it from the front. Additionally, the allegation states that rather than the guardrail ribboning out to absorb the impact as it’s designed, sometimes the guardrail locks in place, spearing straight through the vehicle and any occupants to happen to be in its way.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company who is accused of knowingly issued insurance policies that were ineligible under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) federal crop insurance program and falsified documents.

The United States alleged that between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2002, Fireman’s Fund backdated policies, forged farmers’ signatures, accepted late and altered documents, whited-out dates and signatures, and signed documents after relevant deadlines.  The policies were issued by Fireman’s Fund offices in Modesto, California; Lambert, Mississippi; Fargo, North Dakota; Lubbock, Texas; Prosser, Washington; and Overland Park, Kansas.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against HSBC Holdings Plc who is accused of overcharging Fannie Mae and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration on foreclosure fees.

The $10 million settlement resolves allegations listed above.  However,  HSBC admitted that it failed, contrary to FHA program requirements, to create or maintain an adequate FHA quality control program to review the fees and charges submitted by outside counsel and other third-party providers, which HSBC then submitted to FHA for reimbursement.

A Judgment has been entered in a Lawsuit brought against BNP Paribas who is accused of submitting false claims for payment guarantees issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The judgment of $80 Million against BNP Paribas was entered July 24, 2014.

Originally filed in October 2011, the complaint alleged that, from 1998 to 2005, BNP Paribas participated in a sustained scheme to defraud the Supplier Credit Guarantee (SCG) Program. It was claimed that American exporters and Mexican importers who were under common control improperly obtained SCG Program export credit guarantees for transactions between the affiliated exporters and importers. In some cases, the underlying transactions were fraudlent and did not involve any real shipment of grain. BNP Paribas accepted assignment of the credit guarantees from the American exporters, even though it knew that the affiliated exporters and importers were ineligible for SCG Program financing, and a BNP Paribas vice-president, Jerry Cruz, received bribes from the exporters. Beginning in April 2005, when the Mexican importers began defaulting on their payment obligations, BNP Paribas submitted claims to the USDA for the resulting losses.

A settlement has been reached stemming from a whistleblower investigation alleging that Hewlett-Packard overcharged the U.S. Postal Service during a 10-year contract for computers and services.

The settlement resolved the allegations without a lawsuit and without admission of any wrongdoing.

The contract in question was originally granted to Compaq and was taken over by HP after HP acquired Compaq in 2002.

The Justice Department said it alleged HP overcharged the Postal Service by violating pricing terms of the contract, including a requirement that the company provide prices that did not exceed those offered to other HP customers with comparable contracts.

The department also alleged HP made misrepresentations during contract negotiations regarding its pricing and its plans to ensure it would provide the required most-favored-customer pricing.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Chartwells and Thompson Hospitality, which formed a joint venture that provided food services for schools in the District starting in 2008.

Chartwells agreed to make $14 million in credits and payments to the school system and committed to provide $5 million in philanthropic support for DC area schools.

Filed July 8, 2013, the whistleblower lawsuit alleged that that the company overcharged the city and mismanaged the school meals programs, with food often arriving at schools late, spoiled or in short supply.

A settlement has been reached with a whistleblower in relation to a class action lawsuit brought against UBS Bank that was originally settled 3 years prior.  

The whistleblower's award is $104 Million of the original $780 Million recovery settlement.

The whistleblower helped the IRS reach a settlement in 2009 with UBS which involved the bank turning over account information on thousands of US clients who were being investigated for tax evasion.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against DuPont who is accused of having a public safety hazard in a phosgene reactor at the Chambers Works in Deepwater.

The settlement provides for $724,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages for the whistleblower.

Filed in 2008, the lawsuit alleges that DuPont Chambers Works employees retaliated against the whistleblower in 2003 when he raised concerns about what he believed was a potential public safety hazard in a phosgene reactor.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Office Depot Inc who is accused of selling office supply products to federal agencies manufactured in countries not permitted by the Trade Agreements Act.

The whistleblowers in this suit will receive $712,500.

Filed in 2003, the whisteblower lawsuit alleges that Office Depot Inc sold products from countries, such as China and Taiwan, that do not have reciprocal trade agreements with the U.S. Office Depot was required by its contract with the General Services Administration to prevent such items from being offered for sale to U.S. government agencies.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against OfficeMax Inc who is accused of selling office supply products to federal agencies manufactured in countries not permitted by the Trade Agreements Act.

The whistleblowers in this suit will receive $1.47 million.

Filed in 2003, the lawsuit alleges OfficeMax Inc submitted false claims when it sold office supply products manufactured in countries not permitted by the Trade Agreements Act to United States government agencies.