Lawrence Hoskins, a UK citizen and former Alstom executive, was convicted last Friday on 11 of 12 counts for his role in a bribery scheme involving Indonesian officials.  Hoskins conviction took years to secure because of jurisdictional challenges and appeals.  Hoskins was originally indicted in 2013.  The jury deliberated for one day – a resounding victory for DOJ prosecutors.  Hoskins’ defense team launched an unusual defense, claiming that...

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is not known for its aggressive enforcement record.  But that may be changing. FINRA recently fined BNP Paribas for $15 million for anti-money laundering deficiencies in the broker-dealer unit’s operations that allowed billions of dollars’ worth of suspicious penny stock and foreign currency transactions. BNP’s senior management failed to respond to repeated warnings from staff that the firm’s minimal AML...

Two charitable foundations that helped patients pay for drug co-payments settled anti-kickback charges for $6 million.  The Patient Access Network Foundation (PANF) agreed to pay $4 million and Good Days agreed to pay $2 million to resolve AKS allegations.  The charitable foundations were used as pass throughs for Denderon, Astellas, Amgen and other drug companies to funnel money to Medicare patients taking their drugs.  The...

The Justice Department announced that three Unaoil executives entered FCPA guilty pleas last year.  The three executives cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of other companies and individuals.  In March 2018, the former Unaoil CEO, Cyrus Ahsani, and former Unaoil chief operations officer, Saman Ahsani, plead guilty to one count of FCPA conspiracy for paying millions in bribes to foreign officials in...

The Justice Department has aggressively continued to pursue False Claims Act prosecutions against healthcare companies and physicians.  By the mid-point of 2019, DOJ had collected over $800 million against pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals.  In the last few months, DOJ has brought several significant prosecutions. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews recent healthcare fraud enforcement cases.

In today’s aggressive enforcement environment, corporate board members have a target on their respective backs.  Even with robust liability insurance, corporate boards are operating in a state of “ignorance is bliss.”  Chief compliance officers face enormous challenges, and perhaps their greatest challenge is enlisting and securing the support of the corporate board.  We often hear about  happy-talk about senior management and board support – but...

In this Episode, Tom Fox and Mike Volkov discuss the Marx Brothers movie, Coconuts, and the new OFAC Compliance Framework. Listen HERE Tom and Mike address the following issues: Why has Mike Volkov called the OFAC Compliance Framework a ‘game-changer’? How does the OFAC Framework illustrate regulatory convergence? What are some of the highlights of the OFAC Framework? What are some of the key lessons...

Corporate board members have an obligation to oversee and monitor a company’s compliance program.  In two recent cases, Delaware courts have tightened the standard governing board liability under the Caremark decision.  Several months ago, in a case involving the Blue Bell Ice Cream listeria outbreak, the Delaware Supreme Court applied a heightened standard when relating to “mission-critical” issues involving food safety to a food company.  In another...

The Justice Department, in coordination with HHS-OIG and the FBI recently announced the arrest and prosecution of 35 individuals for a massive genetic testing fraud scheme involving dozens of telemedicine companies and cancer genetic testing laboratories (CGx). The defendants fraudulently billed Medicare more than $2.1 billion for CGx testing.  Among those charged were 10 medical professionals, including nine doctors.  In addition, CMS took administrative action...

Just to repeat myself – pharmaceutical and medical device firms face extraordinary risks of enforcement under the False Claims Act.  While everyone likes to write and focus on FCPA or anti-corruption risks for global drug and device firms, a relative risk analysis is likely to reveal that False Claims Act risks significantly outweigh FCPA risks (not to diminish FCPA risks, but relatively speaking). As an...