ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Whistleblowers May Uncover Violations of Numerous Laws
Large Verdict Under FIRREA, Federal Banking Laws and False Claims Act
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) and the Federal Claims Act (“FCA”) both offer rewards to whistleblowers with original information about certain fraudulent conduct by financial institutions and their employees. Sometimes a whistleblower’s information leads to cases under both acts. Earlier this year, a federal court of appeals upheld a $298 million judgment in a combined FIRREA/FCA whistleblower case against two mortgage companies for allegedly defrauding the government by fraudulently obtaining FHA insurance for loans that later defaulted.[1] If you have original information of false claims and bank fraud and other violations of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 in California call the FIRREA/FCA whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. Our lawyers can organize your information into a whistleblower application or declaration under the relevant rules with the goal of a potential reward to you for your efforts.
In the reported case, a branch manager at one of the defendant companies filed a whistleblower/qui tam action under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act and the Federal Claims Act for various allegedly illegal practices by his employer in securing federal insurance for home mortgages. The case went to trial and a jury found that the defendants misrepresented their compliance with FHA underwriting guidelines and were liable under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 for false certifications. The district court awarded treble damages and penalties under the FCA against one company and the owner totaling $23.1 million, against the other company totaling $268.8 million, and FIRREA penalties of $2.2 million against each defendant. Defendants appealed and the appellate court affirmed the judgments. United States ex rel. Hodge v. Allquest Home Mortgage Corp. et al., No. 17-20720 (5th Cir. Aug. 8, 2019).
Whistleblower information may often lead to various causes of action where the alleged fraud violates more than one set of laws. Our litigators can represent whistleblowers in all types of whistleblower cases brought under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 and False Claims Act for false claims for government payments; Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower cases for securities fraud (related to stocks, bonds, private placements and variable annuities for example); Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower cases for tax fraud, particularly offshore tax avoidance schemes; and Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) cases involving fraud in the trading of commodities, futures, options, currencies and virtual currencies (like Bitcoin). Government whistleblower programs protect you from employer retaliation for blowing the whistle on fraud and our attorneys can represent you in any case for retaliation or wrongful termination in addition to representing you in your underlying whistleblower action.
Contact Us
If you have information regarding a whistleblower/qui tam case in San Francisco or elsewhere in California involving bank fraud under FIRREA/FIAFEA, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, False Claims Act cases, the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Office, the FINRA Whistleblower Office and the California False Claims Act, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys also have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance, equity indexed life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case.
