Whistleblowers deserve our thanks — and protection, too

Since the American civil war, the US government has relied on private whistleblowers to help it ferret out overcharging and other fraud by government contractors. Filed under the False Claims Act, these qui tam lawsuits allow individuals to sue on behalf of the federal government and then share in the proceeds if the claims hold up.

In the 2017 fiscal year, the government recovered $3.7bn, much of it from the healthcare industry, and 90 per cent was due to whistleblowers. The qui tam programme has been so successful that other parts of the government, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, have sought to replicate it. read more »

Shell, Eni preempt any U.S. probe over Nigeria with filings

Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Eni have voluntarily filed to U.S. authorities internal probes into how they acquired a giant field in Nigeria as the companies seek to fight corruption allegations in Europe and Africa

The filings, to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, do not mean U.S. authorities are investigating Shell or Eni.

But the move shows the companies are trying to preempt questions from the United States as they face one of the oil industry’s biggest-ever graft trials in Italy, to begin in May in Milan, a pending trial in Nigeria and an investigation in the Netherlands. read more »

Bitcoin Is Ridiculous. Blockchain Is Dangerous

The true believers won’t stop until they’ve remade the world. Some of it will be thrilling. Some of it will keep us up at night.

There’s no easy way to explain Bitcoin, but let me wave my hands and try: When you go to the ATM at a store and get money to buy a six-pack, you put in your bank card. The transaction processor verifies it somewhere in the ether, takes a fee, and spits out cash. It’s all powered by software. OK, deep breath. Acquiring Bitcoin is like using an ATM, except instead of government-backed money you get proof that a computer somewhere solved an automated puzzle faster than other computers, and instead of using an ATM card you’re using an auto-generated token that only you have, and instead of connecting to a bank you’re connecting to a decentralized network of computers that collectively maintain and update copies of a massive historical database of transactions—and that also collectively validate transactions, using, well, math, and spit out new Bitcoins from time to time, to reward the puzzle solvers. Slow exhale. Almost there. And instead of buying a six-pack from someone behind a counter, you’re transferring some amount of Bitcoin to another anonymous token. Over time, all the transactions that people make get lumped into blocks and validated, and they get a special code that takes into account all the codes in the blocks that came before, and thus you have it: a blockchain. read more »

U.S. charges foreign affiliates of KPMG, Deloitte and BDO for improper audits

The top U.S. securities regulator on Tuesday charged foreign affiliates of three major accounting firms - KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and BDO - for conducting audits without proper oversight from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that the firms agreed to settle the charges by paying penalties and disgorging profits from the audits. None of the affiliates, in Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe, admitted or denied the findings that included failing to register with the PCAOB and relying on unregistered auditors to complete the work. read more »

Trucking Company and Its Principals Agree to Settle Civil False Claims Act Allegations

Beam Bros. Trucking Inc. and its principals Gerald Beam and Garland Beam, have agreed to pay $1,025,000 to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that BBT overcharged the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on contracts to transport mail.  BBT is a trucking company located in Mt. Crawford, Virginia.

“The Department of Justice takes seriously its role in protecting the federal procurement process from false claims,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “This settlement demonstrates that we will hold accountable federal contractors engaging in fraud, and will ensure that federal funds are protected from overcharges and abuse.” read more »