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Omnicare, Inc., a supplier of drugs to nursing homes, agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit claiming it paid a kickback in buying a pharmacy company and that it submitted false claims for reimbursement to government health insurers. The whistleblower lawsuit was filed in 2007. The whistleblower asserted that Omnicare’s $25 […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced on October 1, 2012 that three American Express subsidiaries will refund $85 million to approximately 250,000 customers in connection with illegal credit card practices. An investigation found that at every stage of the consumer experience, from marketing to enrollment to payment to debt […]

CareAll Management, LLC (formerly known as Diversified Health Management, Inc.) and related entities have agreed to pay $9.375 million to the federal government to resolve a whistleblower suit filed under the False Claims Act. The complaint alleged that the defendants caused Medicare to pay out money through mistake of fact […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) recently announced that it will issue rules to govern prepaid cards, a largely unregulated market targeted at unbanked consumers and those with spotty credit. Although prepaid cards claim to be “prepaid,” some permit purchases that exceed the balance or are used to deliver costly […]

The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) awarded a former UBS banker an award of $104 million for his assistance in helping expose the fraudulent conduct of UBS. The whistleblower provided the federal government insider information about UBS’s illegal offshore banking scheme. The whistleblower award, known as a relator’s share, is believed […]

The State of New York Attorney General recently announced an $18 million settlement with food management services provider Compass Group USA, Inc. (“Compass”) for improperly overcharging New York schools and school districts. Compass secured discounts from food vendors with which it worked, but did not pass on those savings to […]

Pinnacle Medical Solutions, a Mississippi-based medical equipment company, has agreed to pay approximately $1.8 million to resolve a 2009 whistleblower lawsuit. The whistleblower lawsuit was brought by two former Pinnacle employees pursuant to the False Claims Act. The lawsuit asserted that Pinnacle defrauded government insurance groups out of money for […]

The documentary film, “Hot Coffee: Is Justice Being Served?” revisits the famous McDonald’s “spilled coffee” case and describes the propaganda about the case created by business interests. The documentary film chronicles how business interest groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and “tort reform” activists misrepresented the facts of this […]

The Florida Commissioner of Insurance announced an investigation into premium pricing and practices in the force-placed insurance market. Force-placed insurance is often purchased by banks when mortgage borrowers stop paying for their own homeowner’s insurance. Florida regulators announced that they will look into claims by consumer advocates that banks are […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has proposed new rules to govern the activities of mortgage servicers. Mortgage service companies are the entities which collect mortgage payments from homeowners on behalf of lenders. The practices of mortgage servicers have been under increasing scrutiny as reports of servicing abuse – from […]