Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder

Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product. But internal documents examined by Reuters show that the company's powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that J&J kept that information from regulators and the public. read more »

$2.7m Awarded In First-Ever Washington Civil Medicaid False Claims Trial

Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a judgment of more than $2.79 million in his lawsuit against a Marysville company that defrauded taxpayers nearly $1 million over a period of years. This is the first trial in a Medicaid False Claims Act case in Washington state history. Ferguson’s agency-request legislation renewed the act in 2016.

“Medicaid dollars are a precious resource meant to care for the most vulnerable among us,” Ferguson said. “This result will help future efforts to fight fraud and ensure Medicaid funds go toward Washingtonians’ health care needs.”

The conduct came to light because of a whistleblower. A former bookkeeper reported the company’s conduct in a complaint to the court. read more »

SEC Charges Former New York Investment Advisor and Daughter With Conducting a Ponzi Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former Rockland County, New York-based investment adviser and his daughter with conducting a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme that defrauded local community members as well as members of their family and close friends.

The SEC alleges that Hector May, an investment adviser representative and the president and chief compliance officer of the now-defunct Executive Compensation Planners Inc., and his daughter Vania Bell, who served as ECP’s controller and senior compliance administrator, misappropriated more than $7.9 million in a Ponzi scheme involving bonds.

According to the SEC’s complaint, with Bell’s help, May lied to investors by promising to invest their money in bonds when they actually used the money to pay for personal and business expenses, as well as extravagant items, such as jewelry, furs, vacations, and a limousine driver. To conceal the fraudulent scheme, they sent bogus account statements to clients referencing the bonds that had never been purchased. read more »

Barclays, a Hedge Fund and Two Traders’ Hidden $400 Million Loss

A hedge fund’s lawsuit has unearthed some trading losses that Barclays Plc might have preferred to forget.

Two metals traders at Barclays were dismissed seven years ago after racking up losses of $396 million, according to documents disclosed in a court case. The losses -- some of the biggest ever disclosed by a bank in the commodities markets -- were denied by Barclays at the time. read more »

Facebook discovers bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million users

Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Friday it has discovered a bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million people who used Facebook login to grant permission to third-party apps to access photos.

The company said in a blog that the problem has been fixed but that it may have affected up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers.

The bug is the latest in a string of privacy problems the tech giant disclosed this year, including the massive Cambridge Analytica data scandal in April and a data breach of nearly 30 million accounts in October. read more »