Andersen, et al. v. Gigapix Studios, Inc. was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento on January 13, 2022 seeking civil damages for claims of fraud and misrepresentation.

Plaintiffs are a group of individuals who invested in Defendant Gigapix Studios, Inc. (“Gigapix”).  Gigapix is an animation company that solicited investors by advertising that it would generate large profits from prospective projects.

Plaintiffs allege that Gigapix was founded by Christopher Blauvelt and led by David Pritchard, who purchased investor lead lists and hired telemarketers to solicit potential investors.  Investors were told that Gigapix was an animation company on the verge of an initial public offering or reverse merger with a public company that would net high returns for investors.  In reality, however, Plaintiffs allege that Gigapix was a Ponzi scheme that materially misrepresented the funds that would be spent on producing shows and movies, the anticipated timing of returns on investment, the level of risk involved, and the success of prior Gigapix projects.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) announced that it recovered over $5.6 billion under the False Claims Act (FCA) in Fiscal Year 2021.[1] That is a massive headline haul that is second only to the roughly $6 billion recovered under the FCA in FY 2014, when there were $3.1 billion in settlements with large banks and other financial institutions alleged to have made false statements to federally insured mortgage and loan programs. The FY 2021 recoveries are similarly inflated by a single $3 billion settlement. As indicated in our review of the 2020 FCA statistics, a $3 billion settlement with a pharmaceutical company that manufactures opioids (and several key individuals), was finalized three weeks after the end of FY 2020, on October 21, 2020. The net effect of this mega-settlement executed in early-FY 2021 was a slightly-deflated FY 2020 total recovery and a corresponding bump for FY 2021 recoveries.[2] Take out that settlement, which accounted for more than half of the FY 2021 recoveries, and the 2021 numbers look fairly pedestrian—slightly higher than FY 2020 recoveries but about 20% lower than the average recoveries from the last five years. Though the large wave of enforcement activity that many predicted would result from the change in administration and the massive spending associated with pandemic-relief efforts has yet to materialize, that may still occur once a new head of DOJ’s Civil Division is nominated and confirmed, and pandemic relief fund-related investigations mature.

Aldrich Capital Partners has committed to investing $75 million in Compliancy Group, according to a news release.

Compliancy Group, based in Greenlawn, N.Y., is a healthcare compliance software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. Founded in 2005, the company’s solution, The Guard, is intended to help businesses meet HIPAA compliance requirements.

Aldrich Capital Partners, based in Tower…

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it recovered more than $5.6 billion under the False Claims Act in fiscal year 2021 — an enormous total, second only to 2014 recoveries.

Read the latest post on “Subject to Inquiry” for analysis of the reported 2021 statistics, how they compare to previous years’…

Broad Sky Partners has acquired Thomas Scientific from The Carlyle Group, according to a news release.

Thomas Scientific, based in Swedesboro, N.J., and founded in 1900, is a provider of supplies to the healthcare, biotech, clinical diagnostics and life sciences industries.

Broad Sky Partners, based in New York City, is a private equity firm…

The Seventh Circuit recently reversed a lower court’s ruling that an amended complaint in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act (FCA) alleging fraudulent anesthesiology billing practices failed to meet the pleading standard under Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In U.S. ex. rel. Mamalakis vs. Anesthetix Management LLC, — F.4th —-, 2021 WL 5818476 (Dec. 8, 2021), the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal and held that the amended complaint included enough detail to satisfy Rule 9(b)’s pleading benchmark, allowing the case to move forward.

In late January 2022, the Federal Reserve released “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation,” its much-anticipated discussion paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In the paper, the Federal Reserve provides a framework and summary of its initial analysis on the potential adoption of a U.S. CBDC and invites the public and other stakeholders to provide their views. The paper does not advance a specific policy outcome or signal any imminent action; rather, it marks an important first step in public debate and engagement on the issue of CBDCs.

Schwartz v. McGregor was filed in the District Court of Denver County, Colorado on January 10, 2022, seeking relief under Colorado’s Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, C.R.S. § 38-8-101-112 (“CUFTA”), including a turnover and accounting and damages for actual and constructive fraud.

Plaintiff Gary Schwartz is a court-appointed Receiver (“Receiver”) on behalf of a multi-million-dollar fraudulent investment scheme perpetrated by Mark Ray (“Ray”).  The Receiver was appointed over Mark Ray, Custom Consulting & Product Services, LLC, MR Cattle Production Services, LLC, Universal Herbs, LLC, DBC Limited, LLC, RM Farm & Livestock, LLC, Sunshine Enterprises (the “Estate entities”). Defendant Eric McGregor (“Defendant”) was an investor in the Ponzi scheme who allegedly received numerous avoidable transfers from the Estate entities.