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The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the mayor of Harvey, Ill., has agreed to pay $10,000 and never participate in a municipal bond offering again in order to settle whistleblower fraud charges. The SEC alleges that Eric J. Kellogg was connected to a series of fraudulent bond offerings by the city. Investors were told that their money would be used to develop and construct a Holiday Inn hotel in Harvey, but instead city officials diverted at least $1.7 million in bond proceeds to fund the city's payroll and other operational costs unrelated to the hotel project.

WHISTLEBLOWER QUOTES OF THE DAY: "Employees are often best positioned to witness wrongdoing. When they report specific and credible tips to us, we will leverage that inside knowledge to advance our enforcement of the securities laws and better protect investors and the marketplace."

WHISTLEBLOWER QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Whistleblowers can receive an award not only when their tip initiates an investigation, but also when they provide new information or documentation that advances an existing inquiry."

M&T Bank Corp. (M&T Bank) has agreed to pay the United States $64 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements, the Justice Department announced today. M&T Bank is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

WHISTLEBLOWER QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Issuers of securities offerings must make truthful disclosures about the company and its business operations so investors know what they're getting into when they buy the stock."

Whistleblowers perform a unique public service when they inform authorities that a company is violating the law by stealing money from the government. Commonly, in order for a whistleblower to support allegations of fraudulent activity, he or she must bring company documents to the authorities. Companies, of course, don't like this and fear whistleblowers doing that very thing.

Citing the public's interest in shielding whistleblowers from retaliation, a federal judge Monday threw out a counterclaim filed against a man who accused his employer of defrauding the government. In a written opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier dismissed without prejudice the counterclaim LifeWatch Services Inc. brought against Matthew Cieszynski after he sued LifeWatch under the False Claims Act.

GAO Audit: Feds Failed To Rein In Medicare Advantage Overbilling - Private Medicare Advantage plans treating the elderly have overbilled the government by billions of dollars, but rarely been forced to repay the money or face other consequences for their actions, according to a congressional audit released Monday.

The whistleblower who accused Abbott Laboratories of improperly marketing bile duct stents for off-label use asked a Texas federal judge Friday to grant a new trial after a jury in April cleared the medical device maker in a False Claims Act suit that sought $219 million in damages.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against 10 individuals involved in schemes to trick investors into buying shares of a particular company stock.

False Claims Act penalties would double under a federal regulation released this week. Under the rule, minimum per-claim penalties would rise to $10,781 from $5,500, and maximum per-claim penalties would rise to $21,563 from $11,000.

In an era of automated, algorithmic trading dominance, the battle against those who spoof on futures and derivative exchanges has intensified. The 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which outlawed spoofing by name in these exchanges, has given the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the DOJ

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a decision Friday that a Florida eye doctor's clinic overbilled Medicare by nearly $9 million by extracting multiple doses from a single-dose vial of medication, agreeing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the charges were not medically reasonable.

Adrien Costa of the Axeon Hagens Berman Cycling Team became the first American to win Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste in its 50-year history Sunday while racing for USA Cycling's Under 23 squad

Allowing companies to escape or face reduced liability from FCA actions because they have 'checked the boxes' on how to establish a compliance program will merely encourage companies to game this requirement the same way they game contract and regulatory requirements. Such gaming does not reduce fraud; it enables fraud.

"Whistleblowers risk their careers and reputations by reporting waste, fraud, and abuse to the proper authorities in order to promote accountability, integrity, honesty, fairness, and transparency. The commemoration of July 30 as national Whistleblower Day recognizes the first law protecting whistleblowers and it recognizes the importance of whistleblowers to our nation's transparency and accountability."

"Next week's hearing will examine the False Claims Act's success, but also what more can be done to prevent, detect, and eliminate false claims costing taxpayer dollars, while ensuring fair and just results. Meritless cases hurt the cause of whistleblowers everywhere. This hearing will explore ways of improving how we root out fraud."

The Dodd-Frank whistleblower programs of the SEC and the CFTC include significant protections for anonymity. A whistleblower can submit his or her complaint anonymously and both agencies will go to great lengths to protect that anonymity in perpetuity. But it is not a guarantee. Put simply, these whistleblower programs cannot guarantee anonymity because there are times where the SEC or CFTC must disclose the identity of a whistleblower. Those cases are the exception, and not the rule.

"By providing robust financial incentives and enhanced protections to whistleblowers, the Commission incentivizes people to come forward with high quality information about serious violations of the law that we might not otherwise uncover. An award this size shows the importance that the Commission places on incentivizing future whistleblowers."

Hagens Berman's Whistleblower Team compiles relevant whistleblower headlines in today's news. A potential Medicaid funding fix that's being overlooked | Grassley Fixes to IRS Whistleblower Treatment, Taxpayer Rights Improvements Win Key Committee Approval | LuxLeaks whistleblower trial to begin in Luxembourg | NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Is Suing Norway To Prevent Extradition To US