Morgan Stanley & Co. suffered a $4.5 million arbitration loss before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) after a customer complained that the brokerage firm had committed fraud. The customer, Banamex, claimed Morgan Stanley improperly pledged the assets of a wealthy family. Banamex acted as the family’s trustee. The family’s trust claimed the trustee never […]
Israeli Tax Cop Indicted for Fraud, Theft
We normally don’t write stories about corrupt cops. But when the cop is a lead investigator in the Israeli Tax Authority and the Israeli Police, we take notice. When we learn that he allegedly targeted the victims of cases he was assigned, we really take notice. The Times of Israel reported earlier this summer that […]
Court Denies Hedge Fund Loss In Ponzi Scheme Case
A federal judge in Tampa has barred a Swiss hedge fund from making claims against an alleged Ponzi scheme. In an opinion that could have far reaching implications in other investment fraud cases, the court said the fund shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the claims process because it missed too many red flags before […]
FIRREA – An Overlooked Whistleblower Tool?
I chuckled this morning when reading the paper. The big financial news this week is the Department of Justice suit against Bank of America for the sale of residential mortgage backed securities. The article claims the plaintiff’s bar “is abuzz” over the government’s use of a little known law called the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery […]
Heads on Beds – Assisted Living Facility Whistleblowers Post
[Post Updated through 2019] Whistleblowers play a critical role in the fight against rising healthcare costs. The biggest area of fraud – one that costs the government billions of dollars in fraud annually – is the Medicare program. Because Medicare is subsidized with tax dollars, healthcare providers that bill for unnecessary or poor quality services […]
Whistleblowers to Receive $361,000 in Land Mine Detector Case
Two former executives of CyTerra Corporation became whistleblowers and are now slated to receive $361,000 for their efforts in uncovering pricing problems with their former company. CyTerra manufactures portable land mine detectors for the U.S. military. Earlier this month federal prosecutors settled with the company for $1.9 million. In 2003, the Army contracted with CyTerra […]
Whistleblowers Key to Fighting Government Fraud
The federal government loses billions of dollars to fraud every year. Mortgage companies falsify documents in order to earn commissions on loans. When the borrower can’t pay, the FHA or Fannie Mae steps in – your tax dollars. Ditto for doctors that bill Medicare for unnecessary services or services not even performed. Same for vendors […]
Ex San Diego Mayor Squanders $1 Billion But Too Ill To Stand Trial (Fraud Post)
by Brian Mahany Politicians can be greedy like anyone else. Unfortunately, society is filled with people who would rather steal, cheat and commit fraud… anything but a hard days work. Former San Diego Mayor, Maureen O’Connor, is a bit different. She inherited millions after her husband Robert Peterson died in 1994. (Peterson was the founder […]
Fraud Auditor Steals From Fraud Group
by Brian Mahany This is a story we simply couldn’t pass up. Robin Howard, former president of the Washington DC chapter of he Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), has been accused of embezzling $30,000 from the Institute! An arrest warrant has issued. The job of an internal auditor is to insure adequate internal controls are […]
Choices In A Modern Day World – Fraud Recovery Blog
by Brian Mahany Some say that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. Leaving aside whether the sex trade even qualifies as a “profession,” we believe that prostitution certainly wasn’t a crime until relatively recently. There were no “ladies of the night” roaming around during the stone age but fraud was around back then and can […]