B&H Education, the operator of a chain of beauty and massage schools known as the “Marinello School of Beauty,” which are located in the state of California, paid over $8 million dollars to settle a False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit brought by employees-turned-whistleblowers. The False Claims Act, originally enacted in…
A West Palm Beach, Florida-based mortgage company has agreed to a $30 million settlement to rid itself of False Claims Act violation allegations. Ocwen Financial Corp will pay $15 million to the federal government and $15 million to cover the attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by whistleblowers who brought the…
Last week, M&T Bank (“M&T”), headquartered in Buffalo, New York, agreed to pay $64 million dollars to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act. Whistleblower Keisha Kelschenbach initiated the suit by alleging M&T knowingly originated and underwrote mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and…
Walter Investment Management Corporation has agreed to settle a False Claims Act (FCA) allegation for $29.63 million. It was alleged that Walter Investment had been submitting false claims to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for years. These submissions were made by three subsidiaries of Walter Investment…
Education Affiliates (EA) was involved in a lawsuit for violating the False Claims Act (FCA) according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Five whistleblowers came forward with information regarding the for-profit education company, stating that EA was submitting false information to the Department of Education to receive federal student…
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against Quicken Loans, alleging that Quicken’s approval of inappropriate loans resulted in millions of dollars in loss to the government. Michigan-based Quicken Loans, the third-largest mortgage lender in the country, allegedly made hundreds of these loans from September 2007…
First Tennessee Bank, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the bank’s actions during the mortgage crisis between 2006 and 2008. The False Claims Act case alleged that First Tennessee Bank knowingly originated and underwrote mortgage loans that should never have been…
On Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied Wells Fargo Bank N.A.’s (“Wells Fargo”) attempt to dismiss a complaint filed by two relators alleging that the company defrauded veterans with excessive fees on loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”). The relators brokered thousands of VA…
A former human resources director of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) has asked a New York federal judge for permission to amend his False Claims Act complaint against the multinational insurance company, alleging that it defrauded the federal government in connection with the restructuring of the debt that it owed…
A qui tam complaint unsealed in New York federal court this week alleges that Commerzbank AG (“CBK”) violated the False Claims Act in connection with a $350 million loan that it secured from the Federal Reserve Bank as a result of the 2007 financial crisis. In response to the crisis,…