Anti-Fraud Law’s Repeal Hurts Taxpayers

Wisconsin taxpayers have missed out on millions of dollars in settlements after state officials quietly eliminated one of the most effective tools for rooting out fraud in the $9 billion-a-year state Medicaid program, interviews and public records show.

It is a glaring exception to Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s crusade aimed at eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in state government.

Wisconsin would have qualified for an estimated $11 million in additional settlement money from companies found to have defrauded the Medicaid program since 2013 if legislators and Walker had not weakened and then repealed the state False Claims Act. read more »

SocGen investigated over possible French anti-corruption law breach

Societe Generale said the French financial prosecutor had opened a preliminary investigation into possible violations by the bank of French anti-corruption laws, and had requested documents on its ties with the Libyan Investment Authority.

SocGen is also currently in discussions with U.S. authorities in order to reach an agreement to resolve an investigation into potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in connection with certain transactions involving Libyan counterparties, including the Libyan Investment Authority. read more »

London - Banking Whistleblowers Being Gagged and Hunted Down

Whistleblowers in banking are being gagged and risk ending up broke and unemployed despite reforms introduced since the financial crisis, a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday.

Lord Cromwell, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, said the American system of compensating whistleblowers should be looked at given the financial hardship that people who speak face.

"What actually happens to whistleblowers in our system is they become unemployable, they have their lives trashed, and they are heavily persecuted in the most intimidatory way," Cromwell told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on conduct in banking.

Cargill fined $10 million for inaccurate swaps information

Cargill Inc will pay a $10 million fine for providing inaccurate information on swaps to protect its revenue, and for failing to supervise the company’s swap dealers, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday.

The CFTC said that beginning in 2013, Cargill did not comply with regulations on thousands of complex swaps that affected hundreds of counterparties. Swaps are utilized in varying financial markets by companies to manage risk outside of futures and options markets.

Cargill, one of the largest agriculture commodities traders in the world, provided inaccurate marks that concealed as much as 90 percent of its mark-up. read more »

AmerisourceBergen sets aside $575 million to settle claims, civil charges

Drug distributor AmerisourceBergen has set aside $575 million to settle civil charges for distributing oncology support drugs from a facility not registered with the Food and Drug Administration. read more »