Purdue Pharma, facing thousands of lawsuits and bankruptcy, wants to pay ‘certain employees’ $34 million in bonuses

The company ‘is not an easy place to work right now,’ its attorneys told the judge

Officials at troubled drugmaker Purdue Pharma say “certain employees” should be paid more than $34 million in bonuses for meeting and exceeding goals over the last three years, even though the company is facing thousands of lawsuits over its role in the nation’s opioids-litigation and earlier this week filed for bankruptcy.

In a legal filing, attorneys for Purdue Pharma asked a judge to authorize millions in payments to employees who have met “target performance goals.”

It is not clear from the company filings why employees would be eligible for bonuses because, while the bonuses are supposed to be partly contingent on the company’s financial performance, the company has filed for bankruptcy. read more »

SEC Halts Alleged $125 Million Offering Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against three individuals and three entities in connection with an alleged fraudulent, ongoing international trading program that has placed at risk more than $125 million of investor funds.

According to the SEC's complaint, beginning in March 2016, Mediatrix Capital Inc. and its three principals, Michael S. Young, Michael S. Stewart, and Bryant E. Sewall, induced investors to invest by falsely representing that their money would be invested using a highly profitable algorithmic trading strategy that had never experienced an unprofitable month and had returned more than 1,600% since inception. In truth, the complaint alleges, the defendants' trading strategy consistently lost money—losing more than $18 million from its trading in 2018 alone. In addition to repeatedly misrepresenting the profitability of the trading, the complaint alleges defendants also misled investors by falsifying account statements and making Ponzi-like payments, all while misappropriating more than $35 million of investor money for defendants’ personal use, including to purchase luxury properties and vehicles. read more »

Charges Brought Against 34 Individuals for Alleged West Coast Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Schemes Totaling $258 Million

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today a health care fraud enforcement action in the state of California, involving charges brought against a total of 26 individuals in the Central District of California for their alleged involvement in Medicare and Medicaid fraud schemes resulting in $257 million in billings.  Of those charged, 14 were doctors or medical professionals.    In addition, in the states of Arizona and Oregon, eight defendants, including three licensed medical professionals, have been charged with defrauding the Medicaid program out of over $1 million.  These cases were investigated by each state’s respective Medicaid Fraud Control Units read more »