Category: corporate corruption

Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced today to 155 months (12 years, 11 months) in federal prison for fraud that risked patient health by misrepresenting the accuracy of Theranos blood analysis technology and that defrauded Theranos investors of millions of dollars, announced United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp, Food and…

Ocenture LLC, a privately held company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and its subsidiary, Carelumina LLC (collectively, “Ocenture”), have agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that they caused the submission of false claims to Medicare by paying and receiving kickbacks in connection with genetic testing samples. The United States alleged that Ocenture participated in a genetic testing fraud scheme…

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment that was unsealed yesterday charging eight men with conspiracy to commit securities fraud for a long-running, social media-based “pump and dump” scheme. According to court documents, Edward Constantinescu, aka Constantin, 38, of Montgomery, Texas; Perry “PJ” Matlock, 38, of The Woodlands, Texas; John Rybarczyk, 32, of Spring,…

Thrower alleged that from January 2008 through April 2017, Academy had an underwriting process that led employees to disregard FHA rules and falsely certify compliance with underwriting requirements. Thrower further alleged that, as a result of Academy’s knowingly deficient mortgage underwriting practices, the government paid insurance claims on loans improperly underwritten by Academy.

“Lenders that knowingly cause the government to guarantee loans that are materially deficient put both homeowners and the public fisc at risk,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The settlement announced today is a result of the relator’s efforts to develop this case in litigation and complements the department’s actions to prevent abuse of government programs designed to foster home ownership.” 

A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an indictment today charging Samuel Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, 30, of Stanford, California, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations. The charges in the indictment…

Danske Bank A/S (Danske Bank), a global financial institution headquartered in Denmark, pleaded guilty today and agreed to forfeit $2 billion to resolve the United States’ investigation into Danske Bank’s fraud on U.S. banks. According to court documents, Danske Bank defrauded U.S. banks regarding Danske Bank Estonia’s customers and anti-money laundering controls to facilitate access to the U.S. financial system…

States must apply effective arms-control measures to prevent the diversion of weapons supplied to Ukraine, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as some Council members defended their decision to continue providing military support to Kyiv while others detailed the danger of doing so. Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said that the transfer of materiel…

French financial prosecutors say a Paris court has approved an agreement with Airbus that will see the plane maker pay a 15.8-million-euro ($16.3 million) fine A Paris court on Wednesday approved an agreement under which Airbus will pay a 15.8-million-euro ($16.3 million) fine to end a corruption probe focusing on sales to Libya and Kazakhstan over a decade ago, French…

Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey pleaded guilty today to violating campaign finance laws and conspiring to defraud the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as part of a scheme to benefit his 2016 campaign for U.S. Congress. According to court documents, Kelsey, 44, of Germantown, admitted that he conspired to, and did, secretly and unlawfully funnel money from multiple sources, including his…

The Federal Trade Commission is sending payments totaling more than $830,300 to 1,376 people who began their enrollment at Saint James School of Medicine between Fall 2016 and Summer 2021. The for-profit medical school in the Caribbean and its Illinois-based operators allegedly misled prospective students about their chances of success—both in passing a medical school standardized test and in matching…

The Federal Trade Commission and State of California are taking action against home improvement financing provider Ygrene Energy Fund Inc. for deceiving consumers about the potential financial impact of its financing, and for unfairly recording liens on consumers’ homes without their consent. The FTC and California allege that Ygrene and its contractors falsely told consumers that the financing wouldn’t interfere with…

In a letter dated August 16, 2022, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey addressed FDIC acting chairman Martin Gruenberg to inquire about some recent FDIC actions that came to light by way of whistleblower reporting. Toomey said that the affected parties came forward to reveal that their banks received letters from the FDIC discouraging the bank from doing business with legitimate crypto…

UK week ending 5 August 2022 Video and notes by Dr. John Campbell 799 deaths involving COVID-19 registered (6.5%) – Down from 923 in the previous week (7.3%) – (First decrease following six weeks of increases) – Lag of three weeks between infection and dying as a result of infection – Total number of deaths registered in the UK, W/E…

Aug 5, 2022.  Violence in Enga, Hela and Southern Highlands Provinces – The violent episodes that broke out in the provinces of Enga, Hela and Southern Highlands last May have since escalated, resulting in a humanitarian situation. According to unofficial estimates, over 300 people died, 25,700 students are unable to attend school, and 557,800 people have no or limited access…

Why do we care? China considers Taiwan to be part of China and doesn’t appreciate the political U.S. visit, which China sees as showing support for Taiwan’s democracy. This is exactly what Pelosi just tweeted: Our visit reiterates that America stands with Taiwan: a robust, vibrant democracy and our important partner in the Indo-Pacific. See Tweet by @SpeakerPelosi China, a…