West Virginia Hospital Agrees To Pay $50 Million To Settle Allegations Concerning Improper Compensation To Referring Physicians

DOJ

Wheeling Hospital Inc., an acute care hospital located in Wheeling, West Virginia, has agreed to pay the United States a total of $50,000,000 to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to the Medicare program that resulted from violations of the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Anti‑Kickback Statute, the Justice Department announced today.

The settlement announced today stems from a whistleblower complaint filed in 2017 by a former Executive Vice President of Wheeling Hospital, Louis Longo, pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private persons to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government and to share in the proceeds of the suit.  The Act also permits the government to intervene and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case as to some of Longo’s allegations.  Longo will receive $10,000,000 of the settlement. read more »

Philippines probes 57 persons of interest over Wirecard scandal

REUTERS

Philippine authorities are investigating 57 foreign and local "persons of interest" potentially involved in a scandal at German payments firm Wirecard AG, an official at the country's anti-money laundering agency said on Friday.

The Southeast Asian nation became embroiled in the collapse of Wirecard in June, with the payments firm initially claiming it kept $2.1 billion in two Philippine banks, which the central bank and the lenders denied. read more »

Rio Tinto exits seen reverberating across boardrooms

REUTERS

The departure of Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques over the destruction of ancient Aboriginal heritage sites in Australia has put mining executives globally on notice – ignore cultural and social issues at your peril.

Tens of billions of dollars have been poured into companies based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors giving ethically-minded investors greater clout in how companies handle corporate crises. read more »