New York Paralegal Blog

A recent court case shines a light on a major scheme involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – a government program designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of it was an individual named Hockridge and her partners, who have been found guilty of serious charges related to defrauding the system. What happened? Stephanie Hockridge and her co-conspirators created a "personalized service" called "VIPPP." This service promised to help people apply for PPP loans. Sounds helpful, right? The problem is, they coached borrowers to submit applications with false information to get bigger loans. In return, Hockridge and her team took a "kickback" – a percentage of the loan money received by the borrowers, plus extra fees from the banks that processed the loans. Think of a kickback as an illegal payment given in exchange for a favor. In this case, it was for helping people cheat the system to get money they weren't e...

SACRAMENTO --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has signed a friend-of-the court brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in support of the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Health care reform saves lives, and that is why I am determined to protect this law," Attorney General Harris said. The filing comes one week after the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama. It was the first federal appeals court ruling to address the constitutionality of the landmark health care law. Attorney General Harris and nine other attorneys general argued in the brief that the Constitution grants Congress broad powers to regulate interstate commerce - and that the decision to purchase health insurance has a significant impact on interstate commerce because it allows the formation of risk pools, lowers heal...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected a challenge by the National Roofing Contractors Association to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's December 2010 directive on the use of fall protection in residential construction. The directive withdrew an earlier one that allowed certain residential construction employers to bypass some fall protection requirements. "Fall protection saves lives," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "There are effective means available to protect residential construction workers from falls. We applaud the court's decision upholding this updated, commonsense directive." Data from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that an average of 40 workers are killed each year as a result of falls from residential roofs. One-third of those deaths represent Latino workers, who often lack sufficient access to safety information and protections. Latino workers co...

Washington, D.C. April 12, 2011 — The staffs of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced that they intend to hold a two-day joint public roundtable on May 2-3, 2011, to discuss the schedule for implementing final rules for swaps and security-based swaps under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Dodd-Frank Act gives the CFTC and SEC certain flexibility to set effective dates and a schedule for compliance with rules implementing Title VII of the Act, which involves oversight of swaps and security-based swaps, so that market participants have time to develop the policies, procedures, systems and processes needed to comply with the new regulatory requirements. Public comments on Title VII have helped inform the Commissions as to what requirements can be met sooner and which ones will take more time. The roundtable is intended to supplement the comments received to date and help inform...

CHICAGO - A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervisor at Midway International Airport will be arraigned this week on federal charges alleging that he received $52,000 in bribes to allow foreign restaurant workers and their spouses to remain in the United States. These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). William Mann, 50, a former CBP supervising officer at Midway, allegedly received about $700 to $2,000 per person from more than 30 restaurant employees and their spouses. Mann allegedly altered a law enforcement database and provided false immigration and travel documents showing that the restaurant workers and their spouses had just entered the United States and were eligible to legally stay in the country for another year. Rogerio Charu, part owner and general manager of the f...

Today the Federal Trade Commission is hosting a public event on consumer protection issues in debt collection proceedings. This is the second in a series of FTC roundtable discussions on these topics. WHAT: “Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Arbitration and Litigation: A Roundtable Discussion” WHEN: September 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration at 8 a.m.; Seating limited WHERE: San Francisco State University Downtown Campus 835 Market Street, Rooms 675 and 676 San Francisco, CA 94132 A live webcast, agenda, and information about the participants are available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/debtcollectround/index.shtm .

(FTC) Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Sony Music) has agreed to pay $1 million as part of a settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Commission’s implementing Rule. The Commission’s complaint alleges that, through its music fan Web sites, Sony Music improperly collected, maintained and disclosed personal information from thousands of children under the age of 13, without their parents’ consent. The civil penalty to be paid by Sony Music matches the largest penalty ever in a COPPA case. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, represents hundreds of popular musicians and entertainers, including numerous artists popular with children and teenagers. The company operates over 1,000 Web sites for its musical artists and labels. Sony Music requires users to submit a broad range of personal information, together with date of birth, in order to register for these sites. ...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today announced a foreclosure moratorium in 34 parishes throughout Southern and Central Louisiana and offered support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following Hurricane Gustav. This foreclosure relief will help families living in presidentially declared disaster areas whose damaged homes are insured through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Last evening, President Bush issued a disaster declaration throughout Louisiana including Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana Parishes. More...