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July 2, 2018
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FTC charges related to privacy shield participation settled

The Federal Trade Commission reports how ReadyTech Corporation, a California-based company, falsely claimed it was in the process of being certified as complying with the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement​ which establishes a process to allow companies to transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States in compliance with EU law.  

According to the FTC’s complaint, the Commission alleges that ReadyTech Corporation, which provides online training services, falsely claimed on its website that it is “in the process of certifying that we comply with the U.S.-E.U. Privacy Shield Framework.” While ReadyTech initiated an application to the U.S. Department of Commerce in October 2016, the company did not complete the steps necessary to participate in the Privacy Shield framework. The Department of Commerce administers the framework, while the FTC enforces the promises companies makewhen joining the Privacy Shield.   ReadyTech Corporation has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission

“Today’s settlement demonstrates the FTC’s continuing commitment to vigorous enforcement of the Privacy Shield,” FTC Chairman Joe Simons commented. “We believe Privacy Shield is a critical tool for ensuring transatlantic data flows and protecting privacy that benefits both companies and consumers.”

 

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Ban for City associate who inflated exam grades on CV

A solicitor who hoped to become a ‘successful and dynamic’ banking lawyer at global firm DLA Piper has been struck off for inflating her academic achievements and claiming to have received high marks in subjects she did not study.

In a judgment published this week, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) said Tania Ruby Bains’s ‘deliberate, calculated and repeated’ embellishment of her credentials on her CV and on a training contract application were dishonest. She was ordered to pay £6,000 in costs.

Bains, born in 1986 and admitted to the roll in 2015, trained with national firm Weightmans in 2013 before joining DLA Piper as an associate in 2015. However, her application for a training contract at Weightmans, and the CV she sent to DLA Piper via a recruitment agency, contained false and misleading information.

According to the SDT, in her application for the training contract Bains claimed to have qualifications in six areas of law which she had not studied and inflated her grades in all but one of the subjects she did study. In her application to join DLA Piper she copied lines from the CV of two solicitors and claimed to have carried out work that was actually done by a Weightmans partner.

Giving evidence she said the embellishment was down to an ‘honest mistake’ and that she was trying to remember off-hand what her grades were in each subject she studied.

However, the SDT said it was ‘not plausible’ that Bains would guess that all of her grades (except one) would be higher than the actual grades she had achieved. The tribunal added: ‘There were so many inaccuracies in her application, all of which made her appear to be better academically than she actually was.’ The tribunal said that it considered imposing a suspension but was not confident that the conduct would not be repeated.

According to the judgments, Weightmans said that after Bains left the firm it found information on its IT systems and reported its concerns to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).  DLA Piper also reported concerns to the SRA after becoming aware of Weightmans’ discovery.

A DLA Piper spokesperson said: 'Ms Bains left our firm in February 2016, a few months after she joined, following an internal investigation into this matter. Whilst regrettable for the individual concerned, we fully respect the decision of the SDT.’

A Weightmans spokesperson said: 'In line with our values of diligence and integrity, and in compliance with our regulatory obligations, we disclosed concerns regarding Bains to the SRA. The hearing and outcome remain a matter for the SRA to comment further.'

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Fake NHS boss ordered to sell boat to repay earnings

Ex-social worker Jon Andrewes, 64, invented fake degrees to land jobs running a hospice and two NHS trusts.  He admitted deception and fraud and was jailed for two years in 2017.

On Thursday at Exeter Crown Court he was ordered to pay back £97,737.24 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.  Andrewes, from Totnes, ended up as chairman of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.  He also misled St Margaret's Hospice in Taunton, where he was chief executive from 2004 and Torbay Care Trust when he became chairman in 2007.

The court heard the fraud led to Andrewes being overpaid by £643,000 over more than a decade.  Recorder Martin Meeke QC rejected Andrewes's claim that he was entitled to keep the pay because he had worked hard and effectively, regardless of how he came to get the jobs.  He set the amount by which Andrewes had benefited as £643,000 but assessed his available assets as only £97,737.24.

The judge ordered him to pay this sum within three months or go back to jail for a further year.  He said: "I bear in mind the defendant was narrowly preferred to another candidate when he was appointed to the hospice and those who appointed him considered honesty and integrity to be central to the result.  "These were qualities which he clearly lacked."

The assets he must sell include a half share in a Dutch barge, a share of his profit from the sale of the house in Topsham, an insurance payout for a Seat Leon car, premium bonds, and a pension plan.

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