Government contract fraud news - Phillips & Cohen

<body bgcolor="white"> <div align="left"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="500"> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top"><p align="center"><a href="AF_frm.htm" target="_top">About the Firm</a> | <a href="fca_f.htm" target="_top">The False Claims Act</a> | <a href="wr_f.htm" target="_top">Whistleblower's reward</a> | <a href="caintr_f.htm" target="_top">Have a case?</a><a href="story_f.htm" target="_top"><br> Whistleblowers' stories</a> | <a href="resman_f.htm" target="_top">Resources</a> | <a href="what_f.htm" target="_top">What's new</a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td><font SIZE="4" COLOR="#333366">Other types of fraud</font> </td> <td VALIGN="TOP"><img src="../../GIF/PC_url.GIF" width="143" height="14" align="right"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">  <p>Here is a list of articles about some of the qui tam cases brought by John R. Phillips, Mary Louise Cohen and the firm that involve fraud other than defense and health care fraud. The whistleblower lawsuits discussed were brought against:<ul> <li>CoreStates Financial Corp. (Meridian Securities) </li> <li>Baker & Taylor </li> <li>Lazard Freres </li> <li>CSX Transportation Inc. </li> </ul> <p><b>CoreStates Financial Corp.: </b><i>CoreStates paid the federal government $3.7 million in April 1998 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that charged Meridian Securities, which CoreStates had acquired, defrauded the federal government through "yield-burning." Investment banks are said to "burn the yield" on bond transactions made on behalf of municipalities when they pocket proceeds that should have gone to the federal government. </i><ul> <li>"CoreStates settles whistleblower suit that municipal bond issuers were overcharged," <i>Federal Contracts Report</i>, 4/27/98. </li> <li>"CoreStates settles bond case with U.S. for $3.7 million," David Barboza, <i>The New York Times</i>, 4/24/98. </li> <li>"CoreStates settles in muni tax fraud case," Thomas S. Mulligan, <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, 4/24/98. </li> <li>"CoreStates pays $3.7 million to end yield-burning case," Lynn Stevens Hume, <i>The Bond Buyer</i>, 4/24/98. </li> <li>"First joint yield burn case is seen," John Connor and Charles Gasparino, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, 4/23/98. </li> </ul> <p><b>Baker &Taylor:</b><i> The Justice Department joined in February 1997 a whistleblower case against Baker & Taylor, one of the countrys largest book wholesalers. The lawsuit charged that the company systematically overcharged libraries, universities and schools by as much as $200 million over a decade. </i><ul> <li>"Book wholesaler charged with fraud," Julie L. Nicklin, <i>The Chronicle of Higher Education</i>," 2/14/97. </li> <li>"Whistleblower suit claims B&T cheats libraries," Calvin Reid, <i>Publishers Weekly</i>, 2/10/97. </li> <li>"Justice Dept. joins suit against book wholesaler," David Streitfeld and David Segal, <i>The Washington Post</i>, 2/4/97. </li> <li>"U.S. joins suit against book wholesaler," Timothy L. OBrien, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, 2/4/97. </li> <li>"Firm inflated book prices, suit alleges," Seth Rosenfeld, <i>San Francisco Examiner</i>, 2/4/97. </li> <li>"Book merchant accused of giant fraud," Tori Minton, <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>, 2/4/97. </li> </ul> <p><b>Lazard Freres & Co.:</b><i> A former managing director of Smith Barney, filed a False Claims Act lawsuit under California law against Lazard Freres on behalf of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMTA). The lawsuit, unsealed in April 1996 when the LAMTA joined the action, alleged Lazard secretly and illegally overcharged LAMTA by more than $3 million in the price of securities it sold to LAMTA as part of a municipal bond refunding deal. The lawsuit charges that Lazard breached its fiduciary obligations by defrauding LAMTA, its financial advisory client. </i><ul> <li>"Feeling burned by Wall Street; firms accused of bilking government in securities deals," David Barboza, <i>The New York Times</i>, 12/31/97. </li> <li>"U.S. considers suing dealers to recoup yield burning losses," Michael Stanton, <i>The Bond Buyer</i>, 4/29/97. </li> <li>"L.A. authority study shows rampant yield burning abuse," Michael Stanton, <i>The Bond Buyer</i>, 4/22/97. </li> <li>"Municipal bond dealers face scrutiny," Peter Truell, <i>The New York Times</i>, 12/17/96. </li> <li>"Required reading," <i>Grants Municipal Bond Observer</i>," 5/17/96. </li> <li>"The big sleaze in muni bonds," Terence P. Pare, <i>Fortune</i>, 8/7/95. </li> <li>"About whistleblowing and bridge-burning," Michael R. Lissack, <i>The New York Times</i>, 7/16/95. </li> <li>"Wall St. firms overcharged it, MTA says," Scot J. Paltrow, <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, 7/11/95. </li> <li>"Accuser in the muni bond industry," Michael Quint, <i>The New York Times</i>, 3/3/95. </li> </ul> <p><b>CSX Transportation Inc.:</b> <i>CSX paid $5.9 million in September 1995 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that said the company had inflated labor and equipment charges for work done to maintain and repair highway railroad crossings for the government.</i> <ul> <li>"CSX will pay whistleblower $1.18 million," Barry Meier, <i>The New York Times</i>, 9/30/95. </li> <li>"CSX to settle $5.9 million claim," Charles Slack, <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, 9/30/95. </li> <li>"CSX unit to settle ex-employees suit for $5.9 million," Daniel Machalaba, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, 10/2/95. </li> <li>"Deals and suits: United States ex rel. Nelson v. CSX Transportation Inc.," Jonathan Groner, <i>Legal Times</i>, 10/9/95. </li> </ul> <p align="center"><br> <br> <font SIZE="1">© 1998 Phillips and Cohen. All rights reserved<br> <a HREF="cred_f.htm" TARGET="_top">Credits</a></font> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>