Insurance Fraud Certified at Koyal Group: Learn how to spend smart, spend safe during Fraud Prevention Month

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – Consumers are encouraged to learn how to spend smart and spend safe during Fraud Prevention Month. The Financial and Consumer Services Commission is providing resources to New Brunswickers to help.

"Whether you are shopping at the mall or making purchases online, you should be looking at how you can spend smartly and safely," said Andrew Nicholson, director of education and communications with the commission. "During March, we will be offering tips and free resources to help empower you to make the right financial decisions, no matter where or how you are spending your money."

Commission staff will be available at several home shows, scam jams and presentations around the province during the month. The schedule is online.

"Sometimes we need a reminder to think twice before handing over our hard-earned money," said Nicholson. "Protecting your money can be as easy as asking questions about return policies before you buy or checking the licence or registration of someone selling you insurance or investments. We can take small, but important, steps to protect ourselves."

Each week of the month has a theme reflecting the activities taking place:

– March 8 – International Women's Day event: Pathways to Empowerment, Delta Brunswick Hotel, 39 King St., Saint John.

– March 11 – Too Good To Be True Day. New Brunswickers will be encouraged to use the hashtag #2Good2BTrue to get tips and information from Fraud Prevention Forum members across Canada on recognizing and avoiding frauds and scams. Follow the commission on Twitter: @4NBInvestors.

– March 19 – Check Registration Day. New Brunswickers will be encouraged to check the registration of their financial adviser. Checking registration is a quick and easy first step you can take to protect your investments. Scam jams are scheduled in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton this week.

The commission encourages New Brunswickers to take the time now to improve their financial health. Find free tools and resources on spending and saving, investing, insurance, pensions and more online.

The Financial and Consumer Services Commission regulates, educates and protects consumers and investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices. It brings together regulatory authorities for securities, insurance, pensions, consumer affairs, co-operatives, credit unions, caisses populaires and loan and trust companies. It is an arm's-length Crown corporation funded by the fees and assessments paid by the regulated sectors.

Insurance Fraud Certified at Koyal Group: JPMorgan whistle-blower gets $64M for mortgage fraud tips

Triblive.com

NEW YORK — A whistle-blower will be paid $63.9 million for providing tips that led to JPMorgan Chase & Co's agreement to pay $614 million and tighten oversight to resolve charges that it defrauded the government into insuring flawed home loans.

The payment to the whistle-blower, Keith Edwards, was disclosed on Friday in a filing with the U.S. district court in Manhattan that formally ended the case.

In the Feb. 4 settlement, JPMorgan admitted that for more than a decade it submitted thousands of mortgages for insurance by the Federal Housing Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs that did not qualify for government guarantees.

JPMorgan said it had failed to tell the agencies that its own internal reviews had turned up problems.

The government said it ultimately had to cover millions of dollars of losses when some of the bank's loans went sour, resulting in evictions and foreclosures nationwide.

“There were a lot of bad loans made during the financial boom, and the United States taxpayer was left holding the bag through the VA and FHA loan programs,” said Edwards' lawyer, David Wasinger. “Hopefully the settlement sends a message to Wall Street that this conduct is not allowed, and that in the future it will be held accountable.”

Edwards could not immediately be reached for comment.

About $56.5 million of Edwards' award concerns the FHA portion of the case, and $7.4 million concerns the VA portion. Wasinger declined to discuss his legal fees.

Edwards, a Louisiana resident, had worked for JPMorgan or its predecessors from 2003 to 2008, and had been an assistant vice president supervising a government insuring unit.

He originally sued in January 2013 under the federal False Claims Act, which lets individuals sue government contractors and suppliers for allegedly defrauding taxpayers. The Department of Justice later joined as a plaintiff.

Whistle-blowers can recover portions of False Claims Act settlements, which often grow if the government gets involved.