kickbacks

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Whistleblower Wins $51M in Medical Device Kickback Case

Ex-compliance officer for Olympus says doctors, administrators got grants, trips

(Newser) - A whistleblower who worked for Olympus Corporation of the Americas for 20 years will receive $51 million from the company after it admitted to a scheme of bribery and kickbacks and agreed Tuesday to pay $646 million in fines, CNNMoney reports. John Slowik was named the company's compliance officer...

Former Apple Exec Headed to Prison
Former Apple Exec
Headed to Prison

Former Apple Exec Headed to Prison

Paul Devine sentenced last week for selling secrets

(Newser) - While working as an Apple executive, Paul Devine owned a Porsche Cayenne and held $950,000 across several bank accounts. Only problem: He was getting kickbacks by illegally handing out secrets to Apple suppliers that helped them negotiate better deals with Apple, 9to5Mac and Mac Observer report. Devine, a former...

Navy Paid $1.6M for $8K Silencers

Senior intelligence officials under investigation for fraud

(Newser) - A word of advice: Do not trust the US Navy to scope out Black Friday sales. Federal prosecutors are investigating three senior Navy intelligence officials for an alleged scheme in which the Navy paid $1.6 million for a batch of homemade gun silencers that cost about $8,000 to...

Johnson & Johnson Will Pay $2.2B Over Kickbacks

It's the third-largest US settlement involving a drugmaker

(Newser) - Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries have agreed to pay more than $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations of promoting three prescription drugs for off-label uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Justice announced today. The allegations include paying kickbacks to physicians...

Russia to Officials: Bribes Aren't Tax Deductible

Arms exporters, commodity companies told to take note

(Newser) - Sorry, shady Russian arms dealers: Bribes may be the cost of doing business in some parts of the world, but they aren't actually a legitimate business expense. You might think that would go without saying, but apparently it doesn't, because Russia's Foreign Ministry has released a statement...

Doctors Made Referrals for Kickbacks: Feds

15 health professionals charged in New Jersey

(Newser) - Federal authorities charged more than a dozen doctors today in an alleged kickback scheme, accusing them of receiving cash payments for referring patients to a northern New Jersey diagnostic facility for tests. Fifteen doctors and other health care providers were charged with receiving bribes in exchange for referring mostly Medicaid...

Rattner Pays $10M to Settle Pension Fund Case

He admits no wrongdoing in case brought by Cuomo

(Newser) - New York's nasty legal fight between Andrew Cuomo and investment banker Steven Rattner—two of the city's major players in Democratic circles—is finally over. Rattner, who also served as President Obama's point man for the auto bailout, will pay $10 million to settle accusations that his company paid kickbacks...

Apple Manager Accused of Kickback Scheme

He allegedly gave inside info to suppliers

(Newser) - A little corporate intrigue in Apple land: A midlevel manager is accused of giving Asian suppliers inside info so they could negotiate better deals with the company, reports the San Jose Mercury News . It paid well, too. Paul Shin Devine of Sunnyvale, Calif., is accused of receiving more than $1...

Clinton-Led Recovery Is the Last Thing Haiti Needs

Unofficial aid czar has a record of corrupt dealings

(Newser) - Bill Clinton's high-profile, perpetually teary-eyed presence on the ground in Haiti has snagged him the unofficial role of aid czar in the rebuilding effort, Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in the Wall Street Journal , and that's very bad news for Haitians. As president, O'Grady writes, Clinton did plenty to show he...

Johnson & Johnson Charged Over Drug Kickbacks

Firm paid pharmacy tens of millions to push its drugs: feds

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors filed a complaint today against Johnson & Johnson, charging that it paid “tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks” to a major national pharmacy serving nursing homes. In exchange, the government alleges, that pharmacy, Omnicare Inc., would boost the sales of J&J’s drugs, including the...

Madoff May Have Paid Off Austrian Banker

She's accused of sending him investors' cash, getting kickbacks

(Newser) - The head of Bank Medici is being probed by authorities in the US, the UK, and her native Austria over alleged kickbacks she received from Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sonja Kohn is believed to have pocketed $40 million in return for turning three funds she managed into...

NYC Probes Rattner's Firm in Pension Scandal

Quadrangle paid finders fees to indicted adviser's company

(Newser) - New York City authorities are investigating whether Quadrangle Group, formerly led by Obama car czar Steven Rattner, deceived managers of the city's pension funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rattner's firm, Quadrangle, paid finders fees to Searle & Co., which had been headed by now-indicted political adviser Hank Morris,...

Rattner, Obama's Auto Chief, Caught Up in Kickbacks Probe

Source says Rattner linked to pension fund pay-for-play deal

(Newser) - Steven Rattner, the head of President Obama's auto task force, is involved in an SEC probe of a kickback scandal involving New York state's pension fund, a source tells the Wall Street Journal. Rattner is not accused of any wrongdoing, but is believed to have directed a $1.1 million...

Court Scraps Pa. Juvenile Convictions

Corrupt judge took kickbacks from detention centers

(Newser) - Pennsylvania's highest court today overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from youth detention centers. The state Supreme Court ruled that former judge Mark Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youth offenders who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers between...

FDA OKs Drug for Kids Despite Justice Probe

Firm wooed docs to illegally prescribe antidepressant: feds

(Newser) - The FDA has approved an antidepressant called Lexapro for kids, just weeks after the Justice Department accused its maker of marketing it illegally—for kids. Prosecutors say Forest Laboratories for years sweet-talked pediatricians into prescribing Lexapro and the similar Celexa by offering spa visits, event tickets, and fishing trips, even...

Halliburton Will Pay $559M in Nigerian Bribery Fines

The settlement is the second-largest under the current law

(Newser) - Halliburton will shell out $559 million in fines—the largest federal penalty ever paid by a US company for bribery—to the Justice Department and the SEC to settle claims that its former KBR unit greased the palms of Nigerian officials to help get a gas liquefaction facility built, along...

CEO Arrested in Plan to Use Homeless in Medicare Scam

Scheme recruited LA's skid row denizens to bilk feds for unnecessary service fees

(Newser) - The CEO of a Los Angeles hospital was arrested today for defrauding Medicare by using the city’s homeless to fill empty beds, the AP reports. The FBI says Rudra Sabaratnam, of City of Angels hospital, recruited the homeless in a scheme to charge for unnecessary health services and keep...

Law Firm Escapes Criminal Charges in $75M Deal

Milberg will pay $75M, admit wrongdoing

(Newser) - Ducking criminal charges, law firm Milberg LLP will pay the government $75 million and admit wrongdoing in a settlement following a 2-year-old indictment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm, which deals with shareholders' class-action lawsuits, acknowledges it paid kickbacks to attract clients between 1979 and 2005, enabling the firm...

Irish PM Resigns in Kickback Scandal

Ahern was most successful PM in decades

(Newser) - The prime minister of Ireland announced his resignation today in the face of a growing scandal over his personal finances, reports the Irish Times. Bertie Ahern, a key player in the Northern Ireland peace deal once tipped to be the first permanent EU president, admitted no wrongdoing in the surprise...

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