Tagged: fraud

SEC and DOJ Charge SafeMoon Cryptocurrency and its Executives For Multi-Million Dollar Fraud

Matt Stankiewicz, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, provides a post on the latest fraud charges in the cryptocurrency industry, brought against SafeMoon. Matt can be reached at [email protected]. On November 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought charges against cryptocurrency project SafeMoon LLC and its U.S. subsidiary SafeMoon US LLC, along with its three executives,...

U.S. Department of Justice Unseals Indictment against Celsius Network’s Alexander Mashinsky

On July 13, 2023, U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Alexander Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of beleaguered Celsius Network LLC (“Celsius”) charging him with securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud.  The DOJ alleges that Mashinsky defrauded customers by misleading them about Celsius’s operations, specifically related to the company’s success and profitability, along with the investments that Celsius ultimately made utilizing customer funds. ...

The Challenge of Healthcare Compliance Programs (Part I of II)

If you are a compliance officer for a healthcare provider (e.g. hospital, HMO, skilled nursing facility, hospice center), you must sometimes feel that no one understands or feels your pain.  When you consider the number and extent of risks, it can be mind-boggling.  I am sure there are times that compliance officers in the healthcare industry look wistfully or even with envy at a compliance...

Rockwell Automation Executives Arrested for Fraudulent Scheme

Little problems can become big ones.  A failure to respond to a risk – whether it is a conflict of interest violation or a weakness in internal controls – can become even more significant depending on the size and scope of the problem. A recent criminal prosecution of two Rockwell Automation executives underscored the nature of this phenomena.  Last month, federal prosecutors arrested and charged...

Episode 212: DOJ Returns Indictment Against Former Boeing Chief Technical Pilot in 737 MAX Safety Scandal

The Justice Department announced the indictment of Mark Forkner, a former Chief Technical Pilot for Boeing for his role in the 737 MAX scandal. Specifically, Forkner is charged with deceiving the FAA’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (“FAA AEG”) relating to Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane and defrauding Boeings U.S.-based airline customers to earn millions of dollars for Boeing. Boeing’s 737 MAX scandal is tragic and disturbing. In January...

Contech Engineered Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay $8.5 Million for Bid-Rigging and Fraud

The Antitrust Division has pushed bid-rigging and price-fixing prosecutions of government contractors.  It is long overdue – fraud enforcement has uncovered a number of bid-rigging and price-fixing schemes among government contractors.  To focus on this enforcement priority, DOJ created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, which was initiated in November 2019, and consists of a multi-agency task force designed to uncover antitrust price-fixing schemes. The case...

Steve Bannon and Three Defendants Indicted for $25 Million “We Build The Wall” Fraud Scheme

In a surprise indictment, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Steve Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were indicted for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in response to the “We Build The Wall” online fundraising campaign.  The indictment charges the defendants in defrauding donors from more than $25 million. As charged, the defendants defrauded hundreds...

Episode 75 — 2018 False Claims Act Review

The Justice Department reported its 2018 fraud statistics showing $2.8 billion in recoveries under the False Claims Act.  While this number is staggering, fiscal year 2018 recoveries were down from than $500 million from fiscal year 2017.  Nonetheless, companies in the healthcare, defense and financial industries continue to face significant False Claims Act risks. In this episode, Michael Volkov interviews Jessica Sanderson, Of Counsel, at...

Doctor and Two Medical Equipment Officers Head to Jail for Illegal Kickback Scheme

The Justice Department’s commitment – resources and public statements – has continued at a steady pace in the Trump Administration.  Some might diminish the effort by recognizing that fraud is so pervasive that it is like shooting fish in a barrel.  In the end, however, criminal cases require investigation, organization, resources and hard work. As you would expect, Florida is a prime geographic target for...

COSO Framework: Fraud, Corruption and Compliance (Part I of II)

Global companies need to actively work to prevent fraud and corruption. Fraud and corruption go hand-in-hand. To commit bribery, bad actors have to gain access to money for unauthorized (illegal) purposes. A failure to prevent fraud and corruption can have significant legal, financial and reputational consequences. Luckily, companies are devoting additional resources to assess fraud and bribery risks with specific focus on internal financial and...