Whistleblower News From The Inside -- August 14, 2017
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Deion Sanders Sanctioned For Discovery No-Show In FCA Suit – A Texas magistrate judge on Friday slapped former Dallas Cowboys star Deion Sanders with a $2,200 sanction after he skipped a discovery hearing in a whistleblower False Claims Act suit tied to his charter school despite being ordered to personally attend. U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez on Friday allowed Sanders’ attorneys to withdraw from representing him after they told the court it would be “impossible to continue” in light of Sanders’ failure to respond to discovery or to attend settlement conferences in the case. And the judge ordered Sanders to turn up at a Sept. 1 show cause hearing at which he faces the potential to have all his pleadings be stricken and a default judgment entered against him after he failed repeatedly to turn over requested documents. Law360
Owner of Home Health Agency Sentenced to 75 Years in Prison for Involvement in $13 Million Medicare Fraud Conspiracy – The owner and director of nursing of a Houston home health agency was sentenced today to 75 years in prison for her role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme. Marie Neba, 53, of Sugarland, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon of the Southern District of Texas. In November 2016, Neba was convicted after a two-week jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, one count of payment and receipt of health care kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of making health care false statements. DOJ
Lithuanian court upholds extradition of man to U.S. in $100 million fraud case – Lithuania’s top appeals court on Friday upheld a decision to extradite to the United States a Lithuanian man accused of defrauding Facebook and Google out of more than $100 million. According to a U.S. indictment made public in March, Evaldas Rimasauskas is charged with wire fraud and money laundering, which each carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. A further charge of identity theft carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years. The alleged crimes took place in 2013-2015. Rimasauskas will be handed over to the United States within 10 days, the Lithuanian general prosecutors office told Reuters. He had appealed against an extradition ruling made in July. Rimasauskas allegedly swindled $23 million from Google and $99 million from Facebook, the Lithuanian court said in a statement. Reuters