Category: enforcement archive

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Transportation Department said Thursday that it fined Middle Eastern airline Emirates $1.8 million for flights in regions off-limits to U.S. airlines while it allowed JetBlue Airways to sell seats on the planes. The fine involves a “significant number” of flights from December 2021 to August 2022 that passed over Iraq on their way between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. UAE-based Emirates was fined $400,000 in 2020 for similar flights and agreed not to…

The bloc’s top court also hit Hungary with a €1 million-a-day penalty until the asylum law is fully implemented by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to pay €200 million ($216 million) for failing to comply with EU asylum rules. In addition to the one-off penalty, the Luxembourg-based court also ruled that Budapest must pay €1 million per day until it fully implements the legislation. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has criticized the ruling as “outrageous and unacceptable.” “It seems…

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $700m to settle lawsuits in the United States that accused the pharmaceutical giant of deceiving customers about the safety of its talcum-based powder products. J&J’s payout resolves an investigation by more than 40 US states into the marketing of baby powder and other talc-based products that contained traces of cancer-causing asbestos. “Targeting communities with cosmetic products that contain dangerous substances is not just illegal, it is very cruel,” New York Attorney General Letitia…

NEW YORK – Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon will pay US$4.47 billion (S$6 billion) to resolve a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit over the company’s 2022 collapse, which wiped out US$40 billion in investor assets and shook the cryptocurrency world. The SEC on June 12 asked a federal judge in New York to approve the settlement. The deal was reached after a jury in April found Terraform and Kwon liable for fraud following a two-week civil…

The lead manager in a funds scandal that led to a $6bn settlement between Germany’s Allianz and US authorities has pleaded guilty to investment adviser fraud, two years after two other managers pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. The scandal at one of its US asset management units rocked Allianz, one of the world’s biggest insurance groups, casting doubt over its control functions and triggering an apology from its chief executive. Gregoire Tournant pleaded guilty on Friday to…

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials warned parents to avoid powdered infant formula sold by a Texas dairy producer, because a dangerous bacteria was found in one of the company’s products. The Food and Drug Administration issued the alert Friday on Crecelac Infant Powdered Goat Milk Infant Formula, after a sample collected from a Texas store tested positive for cronobacter, which can cause deadly infections in babies. The same bacteria sparked recalls and shortages of infant formula in 2022 after…

It was the first time a former U.S. president was ever tried or convicted in a criminal case, and was the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial. Prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to bury stories that might torpedo his 2016 White House bid. At the heart of the charges were reimbursements paid to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment…

BOSTON – Magellan Diagnostics, Inc., a medical device company headquartered in Billerica, Mass., has agreed to resolve criminal charges relating to its concealment of a device malfunction that produced inaccurately low lead test results for potentially tens of thousands of children and other patients.  As part of the criminal resolution, Magellan will plead guilty to violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and pay a $21.8 million fine, $10.9 million in forfeiture and a minimum of $9.3 million to compensate patient victims….

NEW DELHI: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada is a “rule-of-law country” following the arrest of three Indian nationals in a case linked to killing of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated a terrorist by India. “This is important because Canada is a rule-of-law country with a strong and independent justice system, as well as a fundamental commitment to protecting all its citizens,” Trudeau said. “As the RCMP stated, the investigation remains ongoing, as does a…

A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of ignoring manufacturing defects on the 737 Max died on Tuesday. The former Spirit AeroSystems employee Josh Dean, 45, died after contracting a sudden illness, according to reports by family members on social media, The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. Josh’s aunt, Carol Parsons, told the outlet that Dean went to the hospital after he had trouble breathing some two weeks ago. His mother is said to have written on Facebook that he…

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. The company said Tuesday that the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment. Norfolk Southern added that individuals and businesses will be able to use…

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women who had argued that their government’s inadequate efforts to combat climate change put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. The European court’s decision on the case, brought by more than 2,000 women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation argued on the basis…

A unit of defunct lender Credit Suisse will seek to overturn an order to pay US$743 million (S$1 billion) to a billionaire client over the actions of a notorious rogue banker at Singapore’s top court on April 8. The sum was awarded after a lower court earlier ruled that the bank’s trust had failed to safeguard the assets of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia. It was revised down from an initial US$926 million in a sprawling case…

NEW YORK – An executive at a Swiss holding company did not get prison time for participating in a scheme to help US taxpayers hide more than US$60 million (S$81 million) in assets in a fraudulent arrangement known as the “Singapore Solution”. Daniel Walchli, 56, pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for his role in setting up a structure for American clients of Privatbank Ihag to evade scrutiny by tax authorities….

Chemical manufacturer 3M will begin payments starting in the third quarter to many U.S. public drinking water systems as part of a multi-billion-dollar settlement over contamination with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and several consumer products, the company said. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M announced Monday that last year’s lawsuit settlement received final approval from the U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina. The agreement called for payouts through 2036. Depending on what additional contamination is found, the amount…

KAZAN: A Russian court on Monday extended until June 5 the pre-trial detention of US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who faces 15 years in prison on charges of spreading “false information,” according to her employer. In court in the central city of Kazan on Monday, Kurmasheva smiled but complained about the poor conditions in which she was being held. “This cell is five square metres for two people. There is no hot water. Instead of a toilet there is a hole…