Tax violations have received unique treatment in the whistleblower world. The federal government’s primary whistleblower statute, the False Claims Act, bars cases alleging violations of federal tax laws. Only in 2006 did Congress provide for the creation of an agency-based tax whistleblower program, administered within the Internal Revenue Service, in an effort to collect unpaid taxes.
News
Stay up to date on the latest legal developments and trends. Here you will find firm news, published articles, and press releases on a variety of topics and practice areas.
- 10/24/23 | Firm News
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Kirby McInerney announces CFTC settlement of whistleblower claims related to Ceres Global’s attempted manipulation of oats futures contractsOctober 24, 2023 NEW YORK - The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP is proud to announce that it represented a whistleblower who provided support to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”). In connection with that matter, the CFTC obtained a $3 million settlement.
Newsday has published an article covering the results of a New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) probe, initiated in 2021, concerning the conduct of Covanta, a waste incineration company, at its Brookhaven landfill in Westbury, Long Island between 2007 and 2013. The probe, which was initiated further to a case brought by KM whistleblower client Patrick Fahey and, later, a Newsday investigation of the alleged conduct, found that the company had indeed repeatedly violated environmental law.
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected efforts by employers to impose new hurdles to whistleblower retaliation claims. For whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Court rejected an argument by employers that tried to read into the law a requirement that did not exist in the language of the Act. See Murray v. UBS Sec., LLC, No. 22-660, 2024 WL 478566, at *1 (U.S. Feb. 8, 2024).
Whistleblower programs offer awards to persons who bring forward information about tax violations that resulted in the underpayment of taxes due. Anyone thinking about bringing tax-related whistleblower claims will, as an initial step, want to think about finding an attorney to represent them. Potential whistleblowers should consider their prospective lawyers as their first audience to consider their claims.
Using information first disclosed to the government in a case filed by Kirby McInerney, the New York Attorney General has won the criminal conviction of Long Island doctor Payam Toobian and his radiology business America’s Imaging Center. In the Attorney General’s prosecution, the jury returned guilty verdicts on most of the criminal counts against Toobian and his company, including counts concerning healthcare fraud, falsifying business records, and paying kickbacks to physicians to get them to refer patients to Toobian’s radiology business.
Kirby McInerney is proud to report that it has been ranked in the 2024 edition of Chambers Regional Spotlight for Dispute Resolution in New York.
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