Consumer Protection and Fraud
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Sanford Wittels & Heisler has represented individuals who have been defrauded, scammed, overcharged, or otherwise cheated by consumer fraud or predatory lending schemes, as well as individuals who have brought whistleblowing claims in cases under the False Claims Act.
Consumer Fraud
Sanford Wittels & Heisler’s attorneys are experienced in fighting for victims of consumer fraud. Consumer fraud encompasses unfair or deceptive business practices, perpetrated by companies profiting illegally at the expense of consumers. These companies often engage in unscrupulous practices against thousands of consumers.
Consumer fraud can occur when a company or its representative employs high-pressure or deceptive sales tactics, misrepresents or lies about the capabilities, functioning, or quality of a product or service, offers one product but delivers another (“bait and switch”), uses fine print to defraud consumers, improperly bills for a product or service, offers a defective product, and more.
Sanford Wittels & Heisler defends innocent victims of fraud though individual and class action lawsuits. Sanford Wittels & Heisler is currently prosecuting consumer fraud class actions against an array of consumer service providers, including in the wireless phone, banking, brokerage, courier, home electronics and home energy industries.
Predatory Lending
Predatory lending is the practice of convincing borrowers to agree to unfair and abusive loan terms. Predatory industries generally target racial minorities, women, and the elderly, but victims of predatory lending are represented across all demographics.
Predatory lending normally occurs on loans backed by some kind of collateral, such as a car or house, so that if the borrower defaults on payment, the unscrupulous lender can profit by selling the repossessed or foreclosed property. Other types of predatory lending include payday loans, credit cards, and overdraft loans, in which the interest rates are considered unreasonably high.
False Claims Act / Whistleblowing
Good citizens become whistleblowers
Sanford Wittels & Heisler has filed fraud actions against large corporations for their fraudulent billing and off-label marketing practices and is now pursuing those matters in collaboration with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
A person may bring an action against a government contractor or service provider that the individual suspects, or knows, is committing an act of fraud against the U.S. government. Such an action is known as a qui tam lawsuit.
Through qui tam lawsuits, whistleblowers may recover the government’s losses on the government’s behalf. In return for filing and pursuing a successful qui tam lawsuit, the law rewards the whistleblower 15-30% of the damages recovered – sometimes tens of millions of dollars.
Many people who file qui tam lawsuits are employees or former employees of unethical companies that commit fraud. But anyone who has direct and independent knowledge, previously undisclosed to the public, of an instance in which the government has made a payment based on false claims can file a qui tam lawsuit. The whistleblower can be, for example, a competitor, a customer, a subcontractor, or even a patient.
Sanford Wittels & Heisler will not charge the qui tam plaintiff any legal fees unless he or she recovers damages from the defendant, whether through settlement or a verdict.
Is your employer engaging in any of these fraudulent practices against U.S. taxpayers?
You may be able to bring a qui tam claim and share in the recovery.
- Double billing
- Over charging
- Final billing for unfinished contracts
- Delivering poor quality products
- Unnecessary services or product features
- Excess markup on outside vendor products or services
- Dubious quality control practices
- Non-conformance to federal wage and employment laws
- Deliberate production or delivery delay for contracted services
- Financial bookkeeping not in compliance with GAAP
- Non-conformance to contract specifications