Contingency Business Litigation Attorney Blog

A federal lawsuit out of Atlanta claims that several big banks and mortgage companies ripped off military veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in order to hide what they call illegal fees, the Associated Press reports.

Whistleblower lawsuits mean that workers or people with inside knowledge of a scam bring forward the information in the form of a lawsuit in order to stop the company from committing the illegal acts. Under the Federal False Claims Act, a qui tam action can result in the whistleblowers collecting a portion of the penalty, if successful at trial.

But this isn't an endeavor someone should attempt on their own. An experienced whistleblower attorney must be consulted. A whistleblower often faces job loss at a minimum and in some cases may even be in physical danger. Poorly handled cases can result in ruined careers and financial devastation.

On the flip side, a business often finds itself in need of legal advice. Business litigation on a contingency fee basis can provide management and board members with experienced legal counsel without upfront legal costs.

In this case, two mortgage brokers claim 13 banks and mortgage firms over-charged veterans who were applying for special home loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rules set by the federal government allow lenders to charge "reasonable and customary" fees and taxes, but they can't charge veterans attorneys' fees and settlement closing costs on the loans. The lawsuit claims the banks changed attorneys' fees and called them "title examination" or "title search" fees to hide them.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo and Bank of America are all listed as defendants. In court documents, they have denied wrongdoing.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2006, but it was sealed for five years while the case was being investigated. It was unsealed recently. The lawsuit seeks to recover damages and penalties on behalf of the federal government, which has said it won't intervene.

The Associated Press reports that more than 1.2 million refinanced loans have been made to veterans and their families in the last decade and up to 90 percent were handled with these excess fees. In each case, between $300 and $1,000 may have been collected.

This has the makings of a major lawsuit on behalf of military veterans everywhere.

In a situation where military veterans are allowed some perks -- to get a home loan free of excess fees -- banks are accused of tricking them by changing the name of the fee and charging them more than they should be charged under federal laws.

Whistleblowers are increasingly important as big corporations are willing to break rules to make money and hope they don't get caught. They consider the possible penalties they will have to pay later an after-thought and the price of doing business. Conversely, firms making legitimate business decisions must protect themselves against such allegations.

This is why our country needs whistleblowers -- people willing to stand up to what is good and right and willing to risk their reputation and friends to do it. And these people require solid legal representation at every step of the way in order to ensure justice is done.

Continue reading "Whistleblower Lawsuit Claims Banks Added Fees to Veterans in Miami, Nationwide" »

Recently, our attorneys handling False Claims Act cases and whistleblower lawsuits discussed the entitlement to qui tam a whistleblower enjoys for bringing a successful suit over taxpayer fraud.

The law dates to the Civil War and permits those with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring a claim, which ultimately entitles them to a significant portion of the recovery. As we reported recently on our Contingency Business Litigation Attorney Blog, the reward typically ranges from 15 to 30 percent. Cases often involve fraudulent billing practices involving health care, the military or other government spending programs.

Such cases can save the government billions in wasted tax dollars and the reward to the whistleblower can be quite substantial:

One of the most recent and most successful examples of such a claim is the $51.5 million awarded to a Pfizer Inc. sales representative for his role as a whistleblower in the company's marketing of the drug Bextra. The pharmaceutical company pled guilty to civil and criminal charges and paid more than $2 billion to the government. The sales rep and his attorneys filed the lawsuit under the False Claims Act in 2004, alleging that Pfizer was systematically violating federal anti-kickback laws, as well as the government's off-label marketing provision.

The qui tam payment resulted from the government's purchase of the drug through state and federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

The law was amended in 1986 and the government witnessed a substantial increase in cases over the next decade. Thirty-three cases were brought in 1987; by 1995 that number had grown to 274. The majority of cases were defense related (48 percent), followed by health care fraud (36 percent), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Other major qui tam awards and False Claim Act verdicts include:

-In October 2010, GlaxoSmithKline paid $600 million for selling contaminated doses of medication made at a plant in Puerto Rico.

-In July 2006, Tenet Healthcare paid $900 million for fraudulent billing issues.

-IN 2000, HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, paid more than $731 million under the False Claims Act for improperly billing the government for health care costs. Three years later, it paid $631 million under the False Claims Act.

-Northrop Grumman paid $325 million after a qui tam lawsuit alleged a subsidiary sold the government faulty electronic components. It was the largest qui tam case involving a defense contractor.

-Quest Diagnostics paid $302 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit over selling medical lab tests that gave faulty results.

Continue reading "Qui Tam Rewards can be Substantial for Whistleblowers under the False Claims Act" »

As we deal with record budget deficits and the cut-spending-raise-taxes debate in Congress, those with knowledge of fraud against the government may help save tax dollars and be eligible to make a claim as a whistleblower through a writ of Qui Tam under the False Claims Act.

False Claims Qui Tam lawyers represent whistleblowers to help ensure their rights are protected and that they receive their fare share of the proceeds by bringing to the government's attention allegations of fraud or waste of tax dollars.

As we reported recently on our Contingency Business Litigation Attorney Blog, four former federal prosecutors handle Qui Tam claims for the Ferraro Law Firm.

Anyone with knowledge of fraud against the government may bring a whistleblower claim. Typically, such claims are brought by an employee of a company working for the government, but may also be brought be a competitor, subcontractor or other person with knowledge of fraud against the government. By filing under the False Claims Act, the whistleblower is entitled to recover damages, typically ranging from 15 to 30 percent. Claims typically involve fraudulent billing in health care, military or other government programs.

Consulting an experienced whistleblower attorney with the resources to handle claims anywhere in the nation is critical to protecting your rights and ensuring that you are fairly compensated for bringing the claim to the attention of the government.

Fraud against the government is as old as time. During the Civil War, fraud against the government marked both sides of the campaign; some say the False Claims Act originated because of bad mules. The act passed Congress on March 2, 1863 -- the reward, or qui tam provision, permitted citizens who sued on behalf of the government to claim a percentage of the recovery.

Once a claim is filed, it will be sealed --which means it will not be available to the public and even the defendants charged with fraud will not know about the lawsuit. After an investigative period, which by law lasts 60 days or longer, the U.S. Attorney General's Office will decide whether to pursue the lawsuit. In such cases, the government would partner with the whistleblower's attorney. If the government declines to intervene, the lawsuit may still go forward and the whistleblower's attorney handles the case.

In either event, the False Claims Act protects whistleblowers from retaliation by employers. Timing is critical, as the first person to file a case under the False Claims Act preempts all other cases. A statute of limitations may also apply and can be as short as six years. Other restrictions also apply -- for instance, the claims brought by the whistleblower cannot be known to the general public unless the whistleblower is the original source of the information.

Continue reading "Knowledge of Fraud Against Government May Entitle You to Qui Tam as Whistleblower under False Claims Act" »

The Ferraro Law Firm has expanded, and now is actively handling False Claims Act Qui Tam Whistleblower matters.

The firm's Qui Tam group is headed by four former federal prosecutors with a combined 55 years experience in the Department of Justice at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. This includes Jeffrey H. Sloman, whose distinguished 20 year career as a federal prosecutor included being the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in his final year of service. The United States Attorney is the district's chief law enforcement officer whose responsibility is to enforce and defend the laws of the United States. The Southern District of Florida is the third largest federal prosecutor's office in the United States. Prior to serving as United States Attorney, Mr. Sloman served as the district's Criminal Division Chief and First Assistant United States Attorney, the number 2 and 3 positions in the Office. Alan B. Kaiser served twice as Chief of the Major Crimes Division and also as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Division. During their careers as federal prosecutors, Mr. Sloman and Mr. Kaiser, along with Russell Koonin and Melissa Damian Visconti handled a wide array of complex and high profile cases, ranging from matters of national security, to complex white-collar fraud matters, including health-care fraud, to violent crime and narcotics matters, amongst others.