Whistleblower News From The Inside — April 18, 2016
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Freedom Mortgage Corporation Agrees to Pay $113 Million to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Liability Arising from FHA-Insured Mortgage Lending — The settlement resolves allegations that Freedom Mortgage Corporation failed to comply with certain FHA origination, underwriting and quality control requirements, certifying mortgage loans for FHA insurance that did not meet HUD underwriting requirements. DOJ
Warner Chilcott Sentenced to Pay $125 Million for Health Care Fraud Scheme — The sentence was in accordance with Warner Chilcott’s guilty plea in October, 2015. DOJ (D. Mass.)
Dermatologists to Pay $1.9 Million to Settle False Claims Act Investigation into Overbilling Medicare for Evaluation and Management Services — The US had alleged that the doctors improperly billed for evaluation and management services along with procedures where no significant and separately identifiable service was performed, and upcoded E&M services to higher levels than were appropriate, leading to overpayments by Medicare. DOJ (N.D. Ga.)
Podiatrist Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison for Health Care Fraud Scheme — Neil Van Dyck submitted over $2.8 million in fraudulent claims, falsely claiming that he performed more expensive procedures than he actually performed, or that the routine foot care that was provided was justified because of illness or symptoms that were not present. Often the treatments were performed by unlicensed staff. In 2011, in response to a request for documents from an investigator for Medicare, Van Dyck altered patients’ medical records to justify his fraudulent bills. DOJ (E.D. Cal.)
West Virginia Hospitals Settle U.S. Claims they Unlawfully Agreed to Allocate Territories for Marketing Health Care Services — The government’s complaint, filed the same day as the proposed settlement, alleges that Charleston Area Medical Center (“CAMC”) and St. Mary’s Medical Center curtailed competition for years by agreeing to geographic limits on the marketing of competing healthcare services, including agreements to restrict print and outdoor advertisements in certain counties. Huntington News
New Jersey Man Indicted for Medical Insurance Fraud — A former North Jersey chiropractor who was stripped of his license to practice more than a decade ago, has been charged with masterminding a medical fraud ring that allegedly bilked nearly $4 million from numerous insurance carriers. NJ AG
Irish bank AIB faces investigations following whistleblower report to Regulators — The whistleblower was employed by AIB, handling impaired loans, and claims AIB has overstated progress on dealing with the loans, in order to suggest greater progress had been made in terms of restructuring the debts. Irish Times