United States Department of Justice

Cummins agrees to pay record $1.67 billion penalty for modified engines that created excess emissions

23Dec

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Cummins agrees to pay record $1.67 billion penalty for modified engines that created excess emissions

Cummins Inc. has agreed to pay an over $1.67 billion penalty to settle claims by regulators that the engine manufacturer unlawfully altered hundreds of thousands of pickup truck engines to bypass emissions tests.According to the U.S. Justice Department, which announced the agreement in principle Thursday, Cummins' alleged actions violated the Clear Air Act — a federal law that requires car and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits.The $1.675 billion fine would be the largest civil penalty the Justice Department has secured under the Clear Air Act to date and second largest environmental penalty ever secured. The Justice Department accuses Cummins of installing defeat devices —d which can bypass or defeat emissions controls — on 630,000 201...

Texas-based housing developer accused of targeting Hispanic borrowers in predatory lending scheme, lawsuit says

20Dec

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Texas-based housing developer accused of targeting Hispanic borrowers in predatory lending scheme, lawsuit says

Washington — A Texas-based housing developer and mortgage lender is accused of targeting members of the Houston area's Hispanic community by offering loans to people who could not pay them back, selling them land in disrepair and taking advantage of language barriers.Prosecutors allege Colony Ridge Development, LLC, and its subsidiaries carried out a predatory lending scheme in which foreclosures were part of the business model, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. The developers — who handled over 40,000 lots across 33,000 acres — were sued by the Justice Department Wednesday in what was the first effort by civil rights prosecutors to confront predatory mortgage lending in the U.S. File: A model home in the Colony Ridge development Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in ...

Cigna to pay $172 million to settle charges it overcharged Medicare Advantage plans

3Oct

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Cigna to pay $172 million to settle charges it overcharged Medicare Advantage plans

Health insurance giant Cigna will pay more than $172 million to settle federal claims that it knowingly submitted false diagnosis codes under the federal Medicare Advantage program.Federal prosecutors alleged in a lawsuit last year that Cigna submitted inaccurate and untruthful codes for Medicare Advantage between 2016 and 2021. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Saturday that Cigna violated the False Claims Act by failing to delete or withdraw incorrect codes. "Cigna knew that these diagnoses would increase its Medicare Advantage payments by making its plan members appear sicker," said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "The reported diagnoses of serious and complex conditions were based solely on cursory in-home assess...

Justice Department sues SpaceX for alleged hiring discrimination against refugees and others

27Aug

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Justice Department sues SpaceX for alleged hiring discrimination against refugees and others

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued SpaceX, the rocket company founded and run by Elon Musk, for alleged hiring discrimination against refugees and people seeking or already granted asylum.The complaint, filed in an administrative court within the department, asserts that SpaceX wrongly claimed that federal export control laws barred it from hiring anyone but U.S. citizens and permanent residents. As a result, it discouraged refugees and asylum seekers and grantees from applying for jobs at the company, according to the complaint.Export controls typically aim to protect U.S. national security and to further national trade objectives. They bar the shipment of specific technologies, weapons, information and software to specific non-U.S. nations and also limit the sharing or rele...

Feds are launching another crackdown on robocalls

19Jul

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Feds are launching another crackdown on robocalls

Federal regulators on Tuesday announced a broad crackdown on what they called a "tide of illegal telemarketing calls" plaguing U.S. consumers. Samuel Levin, Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the effort will target telemarketers that continue to flout laws against robocalls as well as so-called consent farms, or firms that provide people's phone numbers to robocallers while falsely claiming that consumers have agreed to receive calls. Federal and state authorities will also target providers of internet phone service that enable illegal robocalls, he added.The FTC — along with officials from the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice as well as state prosecutors from Ohio and Illinois — have already filed complaints agai...