OxyContin maker Purdue reaches $270 million settlement in Oklahoma opioid case

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP and members of the wealthy Sackler family that own the company have reached a $270 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit by the state of Oklahoma accusing Purdue of helping fuel the opioid abuse epidemic, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. read more »

Former Head of Organization Backed by Chinese Energy Conglomerate Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for International Bribery and Money Laundering Offenses

Schemed to Bribe the President of Chad and the President and Foreign Minister of Uganda

Chi Ping Patrick Ho, aka “Patrick C.P. Ho” and “He Zhiping,” was sentenced today to serve 36 months in prison for his role in a multi-year, multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe top officials of Chad and Uganda in exchange for business advantages for CEFC China Energy Company Limited.

Ho was convicted of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering, and conspiracy to commit the same. read more »

Duke University settles research misconduct lawsuit for $112.5 million

Duke University will pay $112.5 million to the U.S. government to settle a lawsuit brought by a former employee who alleged that the university included falsified data in applications and reports for federal grants worth nearly $200 million. The university will also take several steps “to improve the quality and integrity of research conducted on campus,” including the creation of a new advisory panel that will provide recommendations to the president, the Durham, North Carolina, institution said in a statement released today.

It involved a federal whistleblower law, the False Claims Act, that has rarely been used to address scientific misconduct. Under the law, Duke biologist Joseph Thomas, who filed the lawsuit in 2014, could receive as much as 30% of any settlement reached between the United States and the university. read more »

U.S. Probes Commodity Traders

The multitude of investigations echoes the early 1980s, when then-U.S. attorney Rudy Giuliani prosecuted Rich, founder of the company that became Glencore, for tax evasion and buying oil from Iran in defiance of sanctions. The saga, which brought Rich infamy beyond the obscure world of commodity trading, has long haunted public perception of the industry.

Commodities trading executives now fear U.S. authorities including the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are zeroing in once again, according to a dozen interviews with industry officials, bankers and consultants.

The U.S. commodities futures regulator, which hasn’t traditionally enforced foreign bribery laws, has also signaled that it could step into the arena. This month, its enforcement head highlighted what he said was the problem of foreign bribery in commodities markets. read more »

Five major real estate firms face far-reaching antitrust lawsuit

In what could be the most far-reaching antitrust lawsuit for the real estate market in decades, the National Association of Realtors and four of the largest realty companies have been accused of a conspiracy to systematically overcharge home sellers by forcing them to pay commissions to the agents who represent the buyers of their homes.

The class-action suit, filed in federal district court in Chicago, focuses on a rule it says has been imposed by the NAR. The rule requires brokers who list sellers’ properties on local multiple listing services (MLSs) to include a “non-negotiable offer” of compensation to buyer agents. That is, once a home seller agrees in a listing to a specific split of the commission, buyers cannot later negotiate their agents’ split to a lower rate. That requirement, the suit alleges, “saddle[s] home sellers with a cost that would be borne by the buyer in a competitive market,” where buyers pay directly for the services rendered by their agents.

In overseas markets where there is no such mandatory compensation rule for buyer agents, total commission costs tend to be lower — averaging 1 percent to 3 percent in the United Kingdom, for example — vs. the 5 percent to 6 percent commonplace here. read more »