Claire Beniga, Author at Keller Grover

Federal Covid Emergency is Ending, But PPP Fraud is Still Being Brought to Light

The federal Coronavirus emergency is set to expire this spring, but the process of clawing back improperly gained funds from pandemic relief efforts like the Paycheck Protection Program continues. The first lender accused of PPP fraud under the False Claims Act settled their case last fall. Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with locations in Texas and Oklahoma, agreed to pay $18,673.50 to resolve allegations it improperly processed a $213,400 PPP loan on behalf on an ineligible customer who … [Read more...]

FTC Wants to Join California in Banning Noncompete Clauses

The Federal Trade Commission in January proposed a new rule that would prohibit employers from imposing noncompete clauses on workers. These clauses, which block workers from taking a job at a competing employer within a period of time or within a geographic location, are already unenforceable in California as well as in two other states, North Dakota and Oklahoma. According to the FTC, one in five American workers—about 30 million people—are still subject to noncompete clauses. Under … [Read more...]

Whistleblower 101: What Is The False Claims Act and How Can It Help Me If I Witness Fraud?

As Kate Scanlan, a whistleblower attorney at Keller Grover, says: Where there is government funding, there is likely to be fraud. Case in point: government procurement programs. The United States is the largest purchaser in the world, buying everything from pencils to aircraft carriers. Most contracts it enters into are carried out with diligence and honesty, but with so many billions of dollars involved every year, there are bound to be unscrupulous contractors who defraud the government — … [Read more...]

NLRB rules employees affected by labor law violations are entitled to more compensation

A December ruling by the National Labor Relations Board paves the way for broader compensation awards to wrongfully terminated employees and other victims of unfair labor practices. In a 3-2 decision issued in Thryv, Inc., the NLRB clarified its “make-whole” remedy to include payment for “direct or foreseeable” harm suffered as a result of labor law violations. In addition to direct costs such as the loss of earnings and benefits, the ruling says victims of unfair labor practices must be … [Read more...]

Whistleblowers Expose Millions of Dollars Lost to Alleged Fraud at Healthcare Facilities Taken Over by Private Equity

Private equity money is flooding into healthcare in the United States — and with it comes demands for increased profits and the potential for fraud. In 2021, $206 billion was spent on more than 1,400 private-equity healthcare acquisitions, according to industry tracker PitchBook. And research by the University of California-Berkeley found several metropolitan areas where private equity firms have taken over more than two-thirds of the market for anesthesiology and gastroenterology … [Read more...]