For investors seeking quick—and virtually unrestricted—cash without having to sell their investments, securities-backed lines of credit (“SBLOC”) have emerged as an exceedingly popular option. The SBLOC concept is simple. For monthly interest-only payments, brokerage firms extend to investors a revolving line of credit that is collateralized against assets in the investors’ portfolios. With SBLOCs, investors [...]
Over the past several years, a number of colleges and universities have faced significant fines, penalties, and liabilities for unlawfully inducing students into enrolling using falsified or exaggerated graduation and employment data or by paying recruiters by the enrollee. For instance, several U.S. law schools were named in a recent lawsuit alleging employment and [...]
Over the past several years, there have been several lawsuits and allegations made involving for-profit universities essentially swindling unsuspecting college students out of their tuition money in exchange for a sub-par education that does not meet general academic standards. For instance, several claims have been made about Tier 4 law schools taking thousands of [...]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court engaged the U.S. Solicitor General to provide additional information and background about the pleading requirements contained within the False Claims Act. The Court is particularly interested in the level of factual background necessary in a whistleblower’s initial Complaint in order for the case to continue. As you may [...]
We regularly report about cases involving false claims for reimbursement under the False Claims Act. But did you know there are several other statutes providing for whistleblower causes of action? The following article explores some other areas of fraud, including tax, securities and commodities trading fraud. Each of these statutes allows for qui tam plaintiffs [...]
As we reported earlier last week, the trial has begun against Bank of America regarding allegations of impropriety surrounding the underwriting and approval processes for sub-prime loans – the processes that contributed to the massive housing market meltdown. On Thursday of last week, a former Bank of America executive testified that the practices in question [...]
Federal and state officials have uncovered billions of dollars in healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act. This statute allows for private citizens, known as qui tam plaintiffs, to sue as whistleblowers on behalf of the federal government. A qui tam a action is designed to not only help the U.S. recover money lost to [...]
Let’s face it: whistleblowers do not embark on the qui tam lawsuit labyrinth expecting the experience to be without conflict. Earlier this summer, a former employee of ITT Educational Services, Inc. commenced a lawsuit against the for-profit nationwide university under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in response to her decade-long exposure [...]
The False Claims Act is designed to protect American taxpayers from fraud, waste and abuse by those holding contracts with the United States government. Known as whistleblowers, these individuals stand to gain a sizable portion of any recovery obtained by the government – usually between 15 and 25 percent of the settlement or verdict. In [...]
