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Military Contractors Get Prison Sentence for Bid Rigging Scheme

Posted 08/30/23

Military Personnel and Businessman Shaking Hands

Two military contractors were recently sentenced to prison time for bid-rigging violations, which the government said involved more than $17 million in government dollars, according to a DOJ press release. This is the latest in the broader crackdown by the DOJ’s “Procurement Collusion Strike Force,” a joint effort to combat antitrust violations and government fraud. Bid rigging is when two or more...

Tagged in: Antitrust Enforcement, Bribery and Bid-Rigging, Criminal Proceedings, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

In Service of Justice – The Importance of Whistleblowers

Posted 08/30/23

Whistleblowing takes courage. Whistleblower matters also require patience to file and wait, often several years, to see if the government will intervene and then pursue a matter. There is rarely much transparency, so the whistleblower remains somewhat in the dark and can feel a lack of control. Retaliation for speaking up in the workplace is a significant concern. Yet the interests of justice are served by those...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Reporting to Government, Whistleblower Case,

SEC Awards $18 Million Whistleblower Award

Posted 08/25/23

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today (August 25) a whistleblower award of $18 million "to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action." Due to the agency's commitment to keeping the identity of its whistleblowers strictly confidential, it did not disclose who the whistleblower is, or the enforcement action to which the reward is tied. All we...

Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

DOJ Smackdown of COVID-19 Fraud

Posted 08/25/23

On Wednesday (August 23), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced significant progress in its ongoing effort to combat COVID-19 fraud. The agency reported a nationwide, coordinated three-month sweep resulting in more than 700 enforcement actions involving hundreds of defendants, covering more than $800 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud. According to the government, these actions largely involved going after...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, COVID-19, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Whistleblower Eligibility,

SEC Awards $104 Million to Seven Whistleblowers

Posted 08/16/23

Earlier this month (August 4), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its award of $104 million to seven whistleblowers "whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action and related actions brought by another agency." It follows a string of blockbuster awards under the SEC Whistleblower Program, which provides whistleblowers who provide information leading to a successful...

Tagged in: SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

Grassley Leads Bipartisan Effort to Shore Up CFTC Whistleblower Program

Posted 07/28/23

On Wednesday (July 26), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced his bipartisan charge to adopt legislation to strengthen the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Program. This is the program that both encourages and protects individuals for coming forward with information relating to potential violations of the Commodities Exchange Act and rewards them with up to 30 percent of any government...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets,

Catch of the Week: Booz Allen Hamilton

Posted 07/24/23

Businessman Giving Contract to Person to Sign

This week's catch of the week goes to Virginia-based military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation. On Friday (July 21), the company agreed to pay the United States a whopping $377 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by billing the government for costs unrelated to its government contracts. Government contractors may only charge the government for costs directly related to a...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Contract Non-Compliance, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

District Court Rules that Broad Measure of Damages Applies in False Claims Act Case, Greatly Increasing Defendants’ Exposure

Posted 07/21/23

Several aspects of the federal False Claims Act incentivize the government and relators to bring fraud claims to recover damages to the government. In addition to awarding relators typically between 15% and 30% of the proceeds of the action or settlement; awarding reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs; and applying statutory penalties for each false claim submitted; the act also provides for treble...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Court Decision, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud,

IRS Whistleblower Office Issues Fiscal Year 2022 Report: Challenges Persist but Program Recovers $172.7 Million Nonetheless

Posted 07/17/23

The IRS Whistleblower Office has released its Annual Report to Congress for the 2022 fiscal year. The report describes the tax fraud tips sent by whistleblowers to the IRS Whistleblower Program, the proceeds collected thanks to those tips, and the whistleblower awards made by the Program from October 2021 through September 2022. While the Program’s collected proceeds and whistleblower awards increased slightly...

Tagged in: IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Statistics, Tax Fraud,

Catch of the Week: NextGen Healthcare

Posted 07/14/23

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to electronic health record (EHR) technology vendor NextGen Healthcare Inc. Today, DOJ announced the company has agreed to pay $31 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting to the government the capabilities of its EHR software and providing kickbacks to its users to induce them to recommend NextGen’s software. The...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, Electronic Health Records, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

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Military Contractors Get Prison Sentence for Bid Rigging Scheme

In Service of Justice – The Importance of Whistleblowers

SEC Awards $18 Million Whistleblower Award

DOJ Smackdown of COVID-19 Fraud

SEC Awards $104 Million to Seven Whistleblowers

Grassley Leads Bipartisan Effort to Shore Up CFTC Whistleblower Program

Catch of the Week: Booz Allen Hamilton

District Court Rules that Broad Measure of Damages Applies in False Claims Act Case, Greatly Increasing Defendants’ Exposure

IRS Whistleblower Office Issues Fiscal Year 2022 Report: Challenges Persist but Program Recovers $172.7 Million Nonetheless

Catch of the Week: NextGen Healthcare

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