Whistleblower gets $2.5M award for exposing Cargill pricing misdeeds

Cargill paid a $10 million fine but didn't admit it provided misleading information related to swap trades.

"Our client stood on principle, and is appreciative of the exhaustive work done by the CFTC," Shayne Stevenson, partner at Hagens Berman law firm, which represented the whistleblower, said in a statement. "We are pleased to have maximized our client's whistleblower claim and to have protected the whistleblower's anonymity and best interests." read more »

U.S. Probes Claims of Poultry Price-Fixing

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into allegations that chicken processors, including Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Sanderson Farms Inc., conspired to fix prices.

Prosecutors disclosed the grand jury probe in a court filing Friday in Chicago, where civil lawsuits against more than a dozen companies in the industry are pending. Tyson, Pilgrim’s and Sanderson alone control almost half of the U.S. chicken market. read more »

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. a global commodities trading business, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the government’s investigation into a multi-year scheme by MLCI precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a separate settlement with MLCI today in connection with related, parallel proceedings.  Under the terms of the resolution with the CFTC, MLCI agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $11.5 million, along with other remedial and cooperation obligations in connection with any CFTC investigation pertaining to the underlying conduct. read more »

TechnipFMC Plc and U.S.-Based Subsidiary Agree to Pay Over $296 Million in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery Case

TechnipFMC plc a publicly traded company in the United States and a global provider of oil and gas services, and its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Technip USA, Inc. have agreed to pay a combined total criminal fine of more than $296 million to resolve foreign bribery charges with authorities in the United States and Brazil.

The charges arose out of two independent bribery schemes:  a scheme by Technip to pay bribes to Brazilian officials and a scheme by FMC to pay bribes to officials in Iraq.  Technip USA and Technip’s former consultant pleaded guilty today in connection with the resolution.  In 2010, Technip entered into a $240 million resolution with the Department over bribes paid in Nigeria. read more »

New Jersey/Pennsylvania Doctor Indicted For Accepting Bribes And Kickbacks From A Pharmaceutical Company In Exchange For Prescribing Powerful Fentanyl Drug

Kenneth Sun, M.D a doctor who practiced in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a scheme to receive bribes and kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for prescribing large volumes of a powerful fentanyl narcotic.

The indictment alleges that Sun solicited and received more than $140,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics read more »