Whistleblower Group

June 24, 2015

Juan Carlos Delgado and Nereyda Infante, husband and wife owners of an Orlando health care clinic pleaded guilty to engaging in a $2.5 million health care fraud scheme.  They owned and operated several health care clinics under variations of the name Prestige Medical and from February 2012 to September 2014 they fraudulently billed Medicare on behalf of the Prestige clinics for services that never were administered.  DOJ

June 24, 2015

For-profit education company Education Affiliates agreed to pay $13 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Department of Education for federal student aid.  The Maryland-based company operates 50 campuses under various trade names, including All State Career, Fortis Institute, Fortis College, Tri-State Business Institute Inc., Technical Career Institute Inc., Capps College Inc., Driveco CDL Learning Center, Denver School of Nursing and Saint Paul’s School of Nursing.  According to the government, the company engaged in a variety of fraudulent acts to increase admissions including admitting unqualified students, creating false high school diplomas, falsifying students’ federal aid applications, and referring prospective students to “diploma mills” to obtain invalid online high school diplomas.  The allegations first arose in five whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  As part of this resolution, the five whistleblowers will receive whistleblower award payments totaling approximately $1.8 million.  Whistleblower Insider

June 19, 2015

Karen L. Finley, the former chief executive officer of a red light camera vendor, pleaded guilty to participating in an eight-year bribery and fraud scheme.  As part of her plea agreement, Finley admitted that, between 2005 and 2013, she participated in a scheme in which the company made campaign contributions to elected public officials in the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati through a consultant retained by the company.  DOJ

June 18, 2015

Edward Berman, a physician with a practice in Ridgefield, Connecticut, agreed to pay $218,633 to resolve allegations he violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for skilled nursing facility services that were not performed in accordance with Medicare requirements.  Specifically, the government alleges that Berman “upcoded” certain services, submitting claims to Medicare by using a higher-paying billing code when services with lower-paying billing codes were actually provided.  DOJ

June 18, 2015

Non-profit hospice care provider Covenant Hospice Inc. agreed to pay $10,149,374 to reimburse the government for alleged overbilling of Medicare, Tricare and Medicaid for hospice services.  According to the government, Covenant Hospice improperly submitted hospice claims for general inpatient care that should have been billed at the routine home care level.  The government further alleged that Covenant Hospice’s medical records did not support the medical necessity of the general inpatient care.  DOJ

June 17, 2015

Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd, operator of the M/V Murcia Carrier, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and providing false statements to the US Coast Guard concerning the vessel’s garbage record book.  The company was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $750,000 and placed on three years of probation.  DOJ

June 16, 2015

Florida defense and government contracting company IAP Worldwide Services Inc. agreed to pay a $7.1 million penalty to resolve charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by conspiring to bribe Kuwaiti officials in order to secure a government contract there.  DOJ

June 16, 2015

Hebrew Homes Health Network Inc., a Florida-based operator of rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities, along with its former president and executive director William Zubkoff, agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by improperly paying doctors for referrals of Medicare patients requiring skilled nursing care.  It is the largest settlement involving alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute by skilled nursing facilities in the US.  The allegations against Hebrew Homes first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Stephen Beaujon, a former CFO of Hebrew Homes, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a whistleblower award of $4.25 million.  Whistleblower Insider

June 16, 2015

Jacksonville, Florida-based home health company Advanced Homecare, Inc.agreed to pay $1,293,169 to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by billing the government for millions of dollars of medically unnecessary services.  According to the government, Advanced Homecare accepted and treated patients who were not actually homebound and did not have a valid physician certification of home health need, as required by Medicare.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Advanced Homecare former employee Marsha Yandell under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Ms. Yandell will receive a whistleblower award of more than $200,000.  DOJ

June 15, 2015

Joseph Sigelman, the former co-chief executive officer of BVI oil and gas company PetroTiger Ltd., pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to a foreign government official in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  At his plea hearing, Sigelman admitted to conspiring with co-CEO Knut Hammarskjold, PetroTiger’s former general counsel Gregory Weisman, and others to make illegal payments of $333,500 to David Duran, an employee of the Colombian national oil company, Ecopetrol.  Sigelman admitted to making the payments in exchange for Duran’s assistance in securing a $45 million oil services contract for PetroTiger. DOJ