Informatica Agrees to Pay $21.57 Million for Alleged False Claims Caused by Its Commercial Pricing Disclosures

Informatica LLC f/k/a Informatica Corporation has agreed to pay $21.57 million to resolve allegations that it caused the government to be overcharged by providing misleading information about its commercial sales practices that was used in General Services Administration (“GSA”) contract negotiations, the Justice Department announced today.  Informatica is a software development company, headquartered in Redwood City, California that sells tools for establishing and maintaining data warehouses.

The allegations resolved by this settlement arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act.  The act permits private citizens to sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.  The whistleblower, who is a former employee of Informatica, will receive $4,314,000. read more »

FAA reportedly didn’t review crucial safety assessments of Boeing 737 Max system before fatal crashes

The Federal Aviation Administration’s internal probe of Boeing’s 737 Max approval process has reportedly found that senior agency officials failed to review key safety assessments of the plane’s flight-control systems that was later implicated in two fatal crashes.

The preliminary findings, reported by the Wall Street Journal, are the first to shed light on how the faulty design of the so-called MCAS system, which led to crashes that killed 346 people in October and March, remained in the Max fleet. Boeing’s Max jets have been grounded since March.

Officials said the results also suggest that during the Max certification, Boeing failed to label the stall-prevention feature as a system in which a malfunction would be disastrous, the Journal reported. That designation would have led to greater examination of the system. read more »

U.S. Executive Sentenced to Prison for Role in Conspiracy to Violate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The owner of a Hawaii-based engineering and consulting company was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday for his involvement in an international bribery conspiracy.

Frank James Lyon, 53, a U.S. citizen residing in Hawaii, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan O. Mollway of the District of Hawaii.  Lyon pleaded guilty on Jan. 22 to a one-count information filed in the District of Hawaii charging him with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit federal program fraud.

According to admissions made as part of his plea agreement, between 2006 and 2016, Lyon and his co-conspirators paid bribes to foreign officials in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and to Hawaii state officials in exchange for those officials’ assisting Lyon’s company in obtaining and retaining contracts valued at more than $10 million.  The bribes included, among other things, cash to FSM officials and Hawaii officials, and vehicles, gifts and entertainment for FSM officials. read more »

Ex-Autonomy CFO jailed for five years over Hewlett-Packard fraud

Sushovan Hussain also fined $4m by US district judge over role of sale in British firm to Hewlett-Packard

The former chief financial officer of Autonomy has been jailed for five years, after a US jury found him guilty of fraud over the $11.1bn (£8.5bn) sale of the British software company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Hussain and former Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch are also defendants in a $5bn civil fraud trial in London’s high court, where Hewlett-Packard claimed they caused it to overpay for Autonomy by fraudulently inflating its value. read more »