With all the focus on nuclear plants from the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a whistleblower at one of California’s nuclear plants has stepped forward with claims of retaliation after reporting safety concerns.
With increasing drug violence, the Mexican Attorney General’s office is instituting a new program for whistleblowers on money-laundering. The whistleblowers stand to collect up to one fourth of the total recovery.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/06/mexico-whistleblower-idUSN0620658120110406
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments about whether the False Claims Act provision that seals lawsuits from public disclosure violates the First Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision that extending the 60-day seal period does not violate the constitution.
In Cafasso v. General Dynamics, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FCA complaints can not merely allege “unsavory conduct…[U]nsavory conduct is not, without more, actionable under the [False Claims Act].” The court goes on to say that FCA actions must “state with particularity the circumstances constitute fraud or mistake,” as well as, “plead plausible allegations.” The court’s decision forces FCA cases to clear a higher bar.
The whistleblower who revealed the tax fraud at Enron is in for a big pay day. The IRS Whistleblower Office will be giving him or her $1.1 million. Unfortunately for the whistleblower, this payout is under older rules that give less money. Today, if you blow the whistle and the IRS recovers over $2 million, you can get up to 30% of the recovered money. According to the whistleblower’s firm, Phillips & Cohen, this person wishes to remain anonymous, but we do know that he or she is a Wall Street banker.
Read more at MSN:http://money.msn.com/tax-tips/post.aspx?post=d776e6a3-2464-43a1-8a97-250b9a875b6a