Oct 29, 2020 | Whistleblower
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making individuals aware that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently announced an award of over $114 million to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions.
The $114 million award consists of an approximately $52 million award in connection with the SEC case and an approximately $62 million award arising out of the related actions by another agency. The combined $114 million reward marks the highest award in the program’s history, and eclipses the next highest award of $50 million made to an individual in June 2020.
The SEC also recently announced an award of over $10 million to a whistleblower whose information prompted the opening of an investigation and provided substantial, ongoing assistance to SEC staff throughout the investigation. In more than a dozen communications with the staff, the whistleblower provided key evidence, helped decipher communications, and distilled complex issues.
The SEC has awarded approximately $687 million to 109 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
Do You Qualify as An SEC Whistleblower?
If you voluntarily provide original, high-quality information (i.e., information derived from your independent knowledge, NOT facts derived from publicly-available information) about the possible violation of the federal securities laws that has occurred, is ongoing or is about to occur AND which leads to a successful SEC enforcement action, resulting in an order of monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million, then you MAY be eligible for an SEC whistleblower award of between 10% and 30% of the monetary sanctions collected in actions brought by the SEC and related actions brought by certain other regulatory and law enforcement authorities.
Remember, information is voluntarily provided if you provide information to the SEC or another regulatory or law enforcement authority before a) the SEC requests it from you or your lawyer or b) Congress, another regulatory or enforcement agency or self-regulatory organization asks you to provide the information in connection with an investigation or certain examinations or inspections.
Can You Submit Information Anonymously to the SEC?
Yes, however, if you wish to submit information to the SEC anonymously, you MUST be represented by an attorney in connection with the anonymous information submission to be eligible for an award.
If so, please know that Kehoe Law Firm’s legal team understands the issues associated with making the difficult decision to voluntarily come forward with information about securities fraud or other wrongdoing. Moreover, the Firm’s legal staff has extensive experience investigating and prosecuting fraud, as well as interacting with sources of information, especially brave, honest individuals who are willing to expose fraud committed against the United States government.
If you have questions or concerns about voluntarily providing information as a whistleblower to the SEC about violations of the federal securities laws, including questions about whistleblower award eligibility or the form and manner in which the information is required to be provided to the SEC, please contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. by completing the form above on the right or sending an e-mail to [email protected], [email protected]. If you prefer to speak privately with an attorney, please contact either Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, or John Kehoe, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801.
Oct 29, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that the Federal Trade Commission has issued the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2020. The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry (“DNC Registry”) lets consumers choose not to receive most legal telemarketing calls. The data show that the number of active registrations on the DNC Registry increased by two million over the past year, while the total number of consumer complaints decreased for the third year in a row.
FY 2020 Registration & Complaint Data
According to the FTC’s Data Book, at the end of FY 2020, the DNC Registry contained 241.5 million actively registered phone numbers, up from 239.5 million at the end of FY 2019. The number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls decreased, from 5.4 million in FY 2019 to nearly four million in FY 2020. Of those complaints, 71 percent were about robocalls, roughly the same percentage as last year, and 24 percent were about live telemarketing. In six percent of reports, the call type was not reported.
During the past fiscal year, the FTC continued to receive many consumer complaints about telemarketing robocalls, but the total number of complaints decreased significantly. In FY 2020, the Commission received 2.8 million complaints about robocalls, down from 3.79 million in FY 2019. For every month in the fiscal year, robocalls—defined under FTC regulations as calls delivering a prerecorded message—made up the majority of consumer complaints about DNC violations, with the most, 332,000, coming in September of this year.
FY 2020 Data Highlights
Imposters were the topic of the robocalls consumers reported the most, with more than 423,000 complaints received; however, this represents a decrease from FY 2019, when the FTC received approximately 493,000 such complaints. This decrease is representative of the decreasing number of consumer complaints overall in FY 2020, compared to the previous year. Warranties and protection plans comprised the second-most commonly reported topic, with consumers filing more than 237,000 robocall complaints.
Calls about supposed debt-reduction made up the third-most commonly reported topic, followed by complaints about medical and prescription issues, and computers and technical support.
Registration & Complaint Data by State
With respect to state data, New Hampshire continues to top the nation in active DNC registrations per capita (93,791). The states reporting the most complaints per 100,000 population changed in FY 2020: the top five states were Arizona (1,770 per 100k population), Virginia (1,668 per 100k population), Maryland (1,644 per 100k population), Delaware (1,608 per 100k population), and Colorado (1,504 per 100k population).
Finally, to make the information in the FY 2020 Data Book more accessible for the public, updated and interactive DNC data dashboard visualizations are available at ftc.gov/exploredata. The Data Book includes the following features:
The number of DNC complaints about robocalls versus live callers.
Information For Consumers
Information for consumers about the DNC Registry, company-specific DNC requests, and telemarketer caller ID requirements can be found on the FTC’s website, and consumers can sign up for the DNC Registry for free. Other information about robocalls and what consumers can do about them is also available. To report unwanted telemarketing calls, consumers can file a complaint at www.donotcall.gov or call (888) 382-1222.
Source: Federal Trade Commission – FTC.gov
Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?
If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.
Oct 28, 2020 | Securities Class Action Archive
DEADLINE ALERT: NANO-X IMAGING LTD INVESTORS WITH LOSSES GREATER THAN $100,000 ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT KEHOE LAW FIRM, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of investors of Nano-X Imaging Ltd. (“Nano-X” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NNOX) to determine whether the Company engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
INVESTORS OF NANO-X IMAGING LTD. HAVE UNTIL NOVEMBER 16, 2020 TO MOVE THE COURT TO SERVE AS LEAD PLAINTIFF. To be a member of the class action, you do not need to take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice; or you can take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel, unless you retain an attorney. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
NANO-X INVESTORS WHO PURCHASED, OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED, THE COMPANY’S COMMON STOCK BETWEEN AUGUST 21, 2020 AND SEPTEMBER 15, 2020, BOTH DATES INCLUSIVE (THE “CLASS PERIOD”), AND SUFFERED LOSSES GREATER THAN $100,000 ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE KEHOE LAW FIRM’S SECURITIES CLASS ACTION QUESTIONNAIRE OR CONTACT MICHAEL YARNOFF, ESQ., (215) 792-6676, EXT. 804, [email protected], [email protected], TO DISCUSS THE SECURITIES INVESTIGATION OR POTENTIAL LEGAL CLAIMS.
On September 16, 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against Nano-X. According to the class action complaint, the Nano-X Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, because they misrepresented and failed to disclose the following adverse facts pertaining to the Company’s business, operational and financial results, which were known to Defendants or recklessly disregarded by them.
The Nano-X Defendants, according to the complaint, made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Nano-X’s commercial agreements and its customers were fabricated; (2) Nano-X’s statements regarding its “novel” Nanox System were misleading, as the Company never provided data comparing its images with images from competitors’ machines; (3) Nano-X’s submission to the FDA admitted the Nanox System was not original; and (4) as a result, the Nano-X Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.
Oct 28, 2020 | Securities Class Action Archive
DEADLINE ALERT: WRAP TECHNOLOGIES INVESTORS WITH LOSSES GREATER THAN $50,000 ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT KEHOE LAW FIRM, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of investors of Wrap Technologies, Inc. (“Wrap” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WRTC) to determine whether the Company engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
INVESTORS OF WRAP TECHNOLOGIES HAVE UNTIL NOVEMBER 23, 2020 TO MOVE THE COURT TO SERVE AS LEAD PLAINTIFF. To be a member of the class action, you do not need to take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice; or you can take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel, unless you retain an attorney. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
INVESTORS WHO PURCHASED, OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED, THE COMMON STOCK OF WRAP TECHNOLOGIES BETWEEN APRIL 29, 2020, 2020 AND SEPTEMBER 23, 2020, BOTH DATES INCLUSIVE (THE “CLASS PERIOD”), AND SUFFERED LOSSES GREATER THAN $50,000 ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE KEHOE LAW FIRM’S SECURITIES CLASS ACTION QUESTIONNAIRE OR CONTACT KEVIN CAULEY, (215) 792-6676, EXT. 802, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], TO DISCUSS THE SECURITIES INVESTIGATION OR POTENTIAL LEGAL CLAIMS.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Wrap. According to the lawsuit, during the Class Period, the Wrap Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company had concealed the results of the LAPD BolaWrap pilot program, which demonstrated that the BolaWrap was ineffective, expensive, and sparingly used in the field; and (2) as a result, the Wrap Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times. Investors were damaged, according to the class action lawsuit, when the true details entered the market.
Oct 23, 2020 | Securities Class Action Archive
Super Micro Computer Investors Who Have Held Their Stock Continuously Since At Least October 2017 Encouraged To Contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duty claims involving certain officers and/or directors of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (“Super Micro” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SCMI).
The investigation concerns whether certain officers and/or directors of Super Micro breached their fiduciary duties by, among other things, improperly recognizing revenue, concealing sales and accounting misconduct, and issuing false statements regarding the accuracy of the Company’s financial reporting.
If you have continuously held Super Micro stock since at least October 2017 and wish to discuss Kehoe Law Firm’s investigation or have questions about your potential legal rights, please contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], to learn more about the investigation or potential legal claims.
