Category: Fraud Law

October 15, 2015

Jumping To Judgment on For-Profit Education

  If you didn’t know any better, you might have gotten pretty fiery over for-profit education after reading one of the front page stories of Tuesday’s New York Times. The lengthy article titled “For-Profit Colleges Fail Standards, but Get Billions” is all about accusations of greedy institutions bilking taxpayers and taking advantage of students through… Read More

February 18, 2015

The Government’s [Subpoena] Power is Not Infinite

It’s not every day that a federal court likens an Assistant U.S. Attorney’s argument to that “of a grade schooler seeking to avoid detention.” But, in a recent opinion, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the D.C. District Court did just that. In so doing, he reminded us that—despite the government’s (admitted) routine abuse of its… Read More

February 5, 2015

Closing the Loop: The Proposal of New Subcontracting Limitations on Small Businesses

Many small business government contractors may have to rethink the way they do business. The Small Business Administration issued a proposed rule at the end of December to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013. The NDAA, which was signed into law in January 2013, requires several significant modifications to the rules… Read More

November 19, 2014

Celebrity Endorsements, Online Poker and the FTC

Last week, without much attention, four new regulations affecting online gaming operations in New Jersey became effective under the authority of the Division of Gaming Enforcement. The rules include changes to directives on funding from social games, requirements for exclusivity, and operator server locations. However, the fourth rule is an addition which deals specifically with… Read More

October 3, 2014

School Scams: FTC Cracks Down on Florida Online Diploma Mills

  Online diploma mills, which require little or no coursework to complete a degree have recently garnered much attention within the online education realm.  Websites which offer questionable diplomas for hundreds of dollars target vulnerable consumers seeking a degree to improve their life prospects, while simultaneously casting a shadow over legitimate online educational institutions which… Read More

September 19, 2014

Broken Promises: A Glimpse at the Dark Side of Crowdfunding

The fact is that social media has connected us to each other in ways which seemed unimaginable only a few decades ago.  Take for example the progression of social activism through online fundraising.  Over the course of two short months the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (“IBC”) went viral with millions of videos being posted by… Read More

June 10, 2014

Higher Ed False Claims Act Suits – Pass or Fail?

Career Education Corporation, like a host of other for-profit education companies, has found itself spinning on the courthouse revolving door. The latest legal challenge for CEC: a False Claims Act suit filed in federal court in New Jersey on May 16. The lawsuit alleges that CEC defrauded the federal government by (1) falsifying job placement… Read More

April 16, 2014

Offshore Accounts? IRS is Watching

If you have unreported income from offshore accounts, now may be the best time to come forward and report those earnings; otherwise, you may be susceptible to criminal prosecution. The IRS initially began this open-ended Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) in 2009 and later renewed it in 2011. Due to strong interest from previous years,… Read More

March 27, 2014

Herbalife Hit with Civil Investigative Demand – Is the FTC Finally Turning up the Heat on Multi-Level Marketers?

For many, the announcement two weeks ago that the Federal Trade Commission has commenced a formal investigation into Herbalife was not terribly interesting.  After all, nutritional supplement company Herbalife has been the focus of intermittent media attention since December 2012 when Wall Street hedge fund manager Bill Ackman claimed that it was  an illegal pyramid… Read More