This whistleblower lodged a complaint which led to the largest criminal fine in American history

An ethics think tank has named John Kopchinski, a Pfizer Inc. whistleblower, as 2009’s most influential person in business ethics.

Ethisphere, which focuses on business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability, ranked Kopchinski first on its list of the 100 most influential people in business ethics, according to its Web site.

According to the organization, “Kopchinski blew the whistle on Pfizer’s marketing activity and received $51.1 million of the penalty that Pfizer paid for illegally marketing some of its drugs. Four other whistleblowers received some of the award as well, but Kopchinski earned the largest piece of the pie for his role. Officially turned whistleblowing into big business.”

As a former sales representative for Pfizer, Kopchinski exposed the company’s illegal sales and marketing campaign for the prescription painkiller Bextra for off-label uses and in doses that endangered patients’ health and lives.

Acording to Phillips & Cohen LLP of Washington, D.C., which represented Kopchinski, the Food & Drug Administration approved Bextra to treat arthritis as well as menstrual pain in very limited doses. Phillips & Cohen specializes in representing whistleblowers in cases involving fraud against the government, tax matters and securities violations.

Kopchinski alleged in his lawsuit – which the government joined – that Pfizer promoted Bextra for uses and in doses that far exceeded what the FDA had approved, putting patients at risk for heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). Bextra was withdrawn from the market in 2005.

In a statement Friday, Pfizer reiterated its denial of the civil allegations set forth in the multiple complaints, but acknowledged “certain improper promotional conduct related to Zyvox and the Bextra conduct involved in the plea agreement.”

Pfizer paid $1.8 billion in September to the government to settle Kopchinski’s lawsuit and a related criminal charge. The company settled four other whistleblower lawsuits at the same time, bringing the total settlement to $2.3 billion. It was the largest health care fraud settlement ever and the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S.

Pfizer Whistle Blower

Sandy Hutchens: Whistleblower website will be used to report on bribes and kickbacks, embezzlement, falsification or destruction of documents and improper use of city property.

The code of ethics for city councillors and contractors should be given more clout, a report recommended.

Contractors that breach the code should be banned from bidding on municipal work for five to 10 years. The ban should extend to the businesspeople running the company, and not only the company, it adds.

The report, by Pierre Bernier, a professor at the École nationale d’administration publique, and retired law professor Jacques Boucher, was distributed at a city council meeting last night.

The experts also call on the city to extend the definition of conflict of interest for a councillor to include real or perceived benefits to members of a councillor’s political staff, and not only members of a councillor’s family. They also recommend the city urge the Quebec government to pass legislation providing for sanctions against councillors who breach the ethics code during a period of time after they leave office.

Also at last night’s council meeting, a member of the Montreal city administration declared a moratorium on development on Mount Royal.

The councillor, Richard Bergeron, is leader of the opposition Projet Montréal party, but he’s also responsible for urban planning on the powerful city executive committee.

“Consider us in a moratorium period,” Bergeron said of two controversial residential projects, one for townhouses and condos on the former grounds of Marianopolis College on the mountain’s southern flank on Côte des Neiges Rd., and the other for condos in a former convent on the northern slope in Outremont.

Bergeron announced the freeze in response to a question by a member of a residents’ group fighting the condo project planned for the former convent of the Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie at 1420 Mount Royal Blvd. in Outremont.

Mayor Gérald Tremblay appointed Bergeron and another member of the opposition, Vision Montreal councillor Lyn Thériault, to the executive committee after the new council was sworn into office last month, to shake things up at city hall in the wake of a series of corruption and conflict-of-interest scandals.

The whistleblower hotline is at 1-866-232-8803, while the website is at www.ethiqueverificateurmtl.ca

Sandy Hutchens: whistleblower alerts taxman about an avoidance scheme which is cheating charities out of funds.

The informant lifted the lid on the scheme, marketed in advance of formal disclosure to HMRC under the anti-avoidance rules, which could be keeping £200m out of the UK’s coffers.

HMRevenue &Customs said the promoters of the scheme are aiming it at the UK’s highest earners searching for ways to avoid paying tax on income of £150,000 and above.

HMRC could not be more precise as to how much the scheme was worth, since it is unknown at this time how many people are involved.

Estimates of the cost to the Exchequer for a similar scheme in the past, were in the region of £200m.

The scheme operates by attaching an option to an acquisition of listed shares. The option then provides the seller a choice to buy back the shares in return for the buyer paying a reduced amount to purchase the shares.

However, the donor is able to claim relief on the full value when donating these to charity.

The value of relief is far in excess of what was paid for the shares, or their value to the charity,” HMRC warned.

“The Government has today closed down an abusive tax avoidance scheme, which attempted to exploit tax relief’s for charitable giving,” an HMRC spokesman said.

“The written Ministerial statement by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, made it clear that HMRC is determined to ensure that tax reliefs for charitable giving are not abused by the tax avoidance industry.

“These tax reliefs provide valuable incentives to encourage people to give and provide support to the charity sector.

“This targets those who use avoidance schemes and will not impact on genuine charities or donors. HMRC will be consulting with charities on the draft legislation which will be included in Finance Bill 2010.”

Another Charity Fraud