Financial Fraud

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Bollinger Shipyards.

The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed Bollinger Shipyards misrepresented the longitudinal strength of patrol boats it delivered to the Coast Guard that resulted in the boats buckling and failing once they were put into service.  "None of the vessels possessed the longitudinal strength represented by Bollinger," the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit also stated, Bollinger Shipyards provided false engineering calculations of longitudinal strength of the boats, ran calculations three times and only provided the Coast Guard with the highest and most inaccurate of the three calculations, and failed to follow the quality control procedures that were mandated by the contract that would have ensured against such engineering miscalculations.

Bollinger Shipyards is a constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels.

On December 3, 2015, U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson announced that the Western District of Missouri collected more than $25.5 million in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2015. This included more than $8.8 million collected in criminal actions, more than $6 million collected in civil actions and more than $10.6 million collected through the seizure of assets that were forfeited to the government from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Franklin American Mortgage Company.

The Justice Department announced today that Franklin American Mortgage Company has agreed to pay the United States $70 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by deliberately originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration that did not meet applicable requirements.

The head of the Justice Department's Civil Division announced today that the Department of Justice has obtained more than $3.5 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases relating to fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against University of Florida.   The allegations arose claiming that the University of Florida improperly charged the United States Department of Health and Human Services for salary and administrative costs on hundreds of federal grants. The grants in question were administered from the University of Florida campuses in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Education Management Corp. The whistleblowers share of the settlement will be $11.3 million. The allegations arose from lawsuits claiming Education Management Corp created a high pressure boiler room environment where admissions personnel were paid based on how many students they enrolled, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Coast Produce Company. The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $920,000. The allegations arose from a lawsuit, which was filed in 2008 and claimed that Coast Produce overcharged the military on the delivered prices by inflating quotes for produce, charging the DoD more than it paid for bananas and pineapples under long-term fixed-price supply contracts and submitting high quotes to the DoD from suppliers that Coast Produce did not buy from.

A former investment firm employee who tipped the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with information that began an investigation which exposed fraudulent activity was awarded more than $325,000. The Whistleblower, after leaving the firm, fully exposed the individuals behind the misconduct and illegal behavior to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. If the Whistleblower had come forward sooner, the award could have been higher. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower program has paid millions to whistleblowers who provided them with valuable information that contributed to a successful enforcement action. By law, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against United Parcel Service Inc The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $3.75 million The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed United Parcel Service Inc employees recorded incorrect delivery times or inappropriately applied certain exemption codes on packages sent by governmental customers through next-day delivery services, this resulted in premium-priced next day services that appeared to have been delivered by their guaranteed commitment times even though shipments did not arrive in a timely manner.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Fluor Hanford LLC who is accused of using federal funds for lobbying.

The whistleblower will receive $200,000 of the government’s settlement.

The case, filed in February 2011, alleged that Fluor used Department of Energy (DOE) funds to lobby Congress and other federal officials to increase funding for the HAMMER Center, in violation of a federal law known as the Byrd Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for lobbying.

Between 2005 and 2009, Fluor contracted with the DOE to manage and operate the Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Center. The HAMMER Center provides homeland security and emergency response training to first responders and law enforcement personnel.