Whistleblower Blog Archives - Page 27 of 35

Whistleblower Blog

IRS Whistleblower Officials Explain Details of New IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program

September 21, 2007
Michael Sullivan

IRS officials explained long-awaited details of how the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program will work to whistleblower attorneys gathered last week at the annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Conference in Washington.

This whistleblower lawyer blog author had the pleasure of appearing with the Director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, in a panel discussion on the new IRS Whistleblower Program. I enjoyed spending time with Director Whitlock and with the other participants, Professor Dennis Ventry of American University’s Washington College of
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Whistleblower Law Attorneys to Gather for Symposium on False Claims Act, State False Medicaid Claims Act, and New IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program

September 18, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Some of the country’s leading attorneys in qui tam whistleblower cases and IRS Whistleblower cases will gather for the “First Annual Whistleblower Law Symposium,” which will take place at the Georgia State Bar Headquarters on Thursday, September 20, beginning at 9:00 a.m. (See Agenda below). This Whistleblower Law Symposium is organized and co-chaired by the authors of this whistleblower lawyer blog, Michael A. Sullivan and Richard W. Hendrix.

The presenters will include the very successful Pat O’Connell of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, whose group has recovered more than $216 million in health care fraud cases since 1999; and Jim Breen, who has represented relator Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc. in many very substantial qui tam cases, including the action that led to last week’s announcement by DOJ of a settlement with Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In addition, Steve Cowen of King & Spalding, LLP will chair a discussion of issues in defending False Claims Act cases; Marlan Wilbanks and other relators’ counsel will speak as well; and Charlie Richards of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and Georgia’s Inspector General Doug Colburn will discuss the new Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act.

We will also discuss the bill introduced last week by Senators Grassley, Durbin, Specter, and Leahy to make substantial modifications to the federal False Claims Act, the “False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007.” (See http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=fac0a482-1321-0e36-ba6f-0150b8a2b182&Month=9&Year=2007).

Further, my partner Richard Hendrix and I will explain and discuss the new IRS Whistleblower Program created by Congress in December 2006. I spent several hours this past week in Washington with the Director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, to prepare for and appear in a panel discussion to explain the new IRS Whistleblower Program. I also enjoyed lunch with the lead IRS official responsible for IRS Whistleblower claims in the financial services industry, Stuart Mann, and with Nicole Cammarota, an IRS official who is working on the new regulations. There is a great deal of excitement about this new IRS Whistleblower program, which rewards citizens who report large tax fraud, tax evasion, and other tax law violations to the IRS. (Our firm is pursuing a variety of IRS Whistleblower cases across the country.)

For anyone who believes that taxpayers pay too much to allow fraud against the federal and state governments, these exciting new developments in the law are important.

We are excited to be hosting this Whistleblower Law Symposium, and to discuss recent developments in the False Claims Act, the new state False Claims Acts, and the new IRS Whistleblower Program. The Agenda for the Symposium is below.
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False Claims Act New Amendments Proposed: Senators Grassley and Durbin Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Restore False Claims Act and Its Qui Tam Provisions to Encourage Whistleblowers to Protect Taxpayer Funds Against Fraud

September 12, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Senators Specter and Leahy to Co-Sponsor Pro-Taxpayer Law to “Correct” Recent Court Decisions That Limited Effectiveness to Government of Qui Tam Whistleblower Law, the False Claims Act

In one of the most potentially significant developments ever discussed on this whistleblower lawyer blog, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) announced today that he and Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) are co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill designed to restore the government’s primary tool for fighting fraud against taxpayers, the False Claims Act, to its intended effectiveness.
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New IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program Explained at National Conference with Its Director, Stephen Whitlock

September 8, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Tomorrow in Washington, this whistleblowerlawyerblog author is looking forward to participating in a panel discussion with the Director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office, Stephen Whitlock, to explain how the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program works.

We will speak at the Taxpayers Against Fraud Annual Conference in Washington at 6 p.m. on September 9. Leading the panel discussion will be Paul Scott. I am also looking forward to the presentations by Erika Kelton and Professor Dennis Ventry of American University’s Washington
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New State False Claims Act Trend Is Evaluated at Southeastern Health Care Fraud Conference in Atlanta

September 8, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Yesterday I enjoyed leading a panel discussion of the new State False Claims Acts, at the Southeastern Health Care Fraud Conference in Atlanta. Of particular interest to this audience was the new Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act that became law in May 2007, which has qui tam whistleblower provisions similar to the federal False Claims Act.

Our audience of health care attorneys heard a detailed account of Florida’s successes with its State False Claims Act by Mark S. Thomas, the Chief
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Confidentiality of IRS Tax Whistleblowers or Informants–Federal Regulation on Keeping Whistleblowers Confidential

August 22, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Our potential tax whistleblower clients–who call our attorneys about participating in the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program–regularly ask before they proceed if the IRS will keep their identities confidential.

Across the country, the IRS Special Agents we have been dealing with in representing our tax whistleblower clients (for example, in New York, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Atlanta, to name a few) have consistently answered the question the same way. Confidentiality is addressed by Treasury Regulations applicable to the IRS, which provide in part
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Whistleblower Lawyer Blog Update: Kickback Allegations Lead IBM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers to Settle False Claims Act Liability

August 21, 2007
Michael Sullivan

One of the many types of fraud and false claims that whistleblowers can report to whistleblower attorneys is unlawful “kickbacks” paid by companies that do business with the federal government.

The Justice Department has announced a settlement with IBM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers for more than $5.2 million, to resolve allegations that these firms violated the False Claims Act through business arrangements that allegedly constituted unlawful kickbacks. The announcement followed a whistleblower suit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which
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Reverse False Claim Act Case Settlment Announced by Justice Department

August 17, 2007
Michael Sullivan

The Minerals Management Service of the U. S. Department of Interior is responsible for the collection of royalties on federal and Indian leases. Companies who have such leases are required to report to the Department of Interior the value of natural gas produced (or minerals mined) from federal and Indian leases and to pay a percentage to the government as royalties. When the entity that has the duty to pay the royalties files a false report and misstates what the collected revenues were, this is
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Whistleblower Lawyer Update: Medicaid Fraud Investigation Into Fraudulent Pharmacy Billings Produces Recovery in Missouri

August 13, 2007
Michael Sullivan

Medicaid Fraud Recovery Announced by Missouri Attorney General
False and fraudulent billings were uncovered in a Missouri Medicaid fraud investigation that has produced a recovery by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Billings like this typically violate the False Claims Act or the various state False Claims Acts.

Prescriptions that had not been authorized by physicians were submitted and paid for by the Medicaid program. Once the suspicious activity was reported, the Attorney General’s Office’s investigation followed and produced
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Statute of Limitations for a Tax Whistleblower Case Under the IRS Whistleblower Program

August 9, 2007
Michael Sullivan

From potential clients seeking information about the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program that our attorneys have written about extensively, questions have been asked about the statute of limitations for tax whistleblower cases.

If a whistleblower informant possesses information concerning false of fraudulent tax returns filed with the intent to evade taxes, 26 U.S.C. § 6501(c)(1) provides for no statute of limitations. In the case of a willful attempt in any manner to defeat or evade income tax obligations, once again, the IRS may
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