Whistleblower Group

August 4, 2014

A North Carolina couple, Jessica Anne Brown and Jason Dean Brown, pleaded guilty for leading a Costa Rican sweepstakes fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans. DOJ

August 1, 2014

Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, a registered nurse and former owner of Lutemi Medical Supply, a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company, was found guilty of health care fraud relating to a 10-year scheme in which Medicare was fraudulently billed more than $8 million for DME that was not medically necessary. The trial evidence showed that between September 2003 and January 2013, Fadojutimi and others paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for DME, such as power wheelchairs, that the Medicare patients did not actually need. DOJ

August 1, 2014

Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to pay $32.5 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that HP overcharged the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for products between October 2001 and December 2010. According to the government, HP overcharged USPS by failing to comply with pricing terms of its USPS contract, including a requirement that HP provide prices that were no greater than those offered to HP customers with comparable contracts. DOJ

July 31, 2014

Shingo Okuda, the former Engineering and Sales Division Manager for Japanese auto parts maker G.S. Electech, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve 13 months in a U.S. prison for his role in an international conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices on auto parts used on antilock brake systems installed in U.S. cars. DOJ

July 29, 2014

Armando Buchillon, former director of nursing for now defunct home health care company Anna Nursing Services Corp., pleaded guilty to participating in a $7M health care fraud scheme. According to court documents, Buchillon and his co-conspirators regularly falsified patient documents to make it appear they qualified for and received home health care services when in fact they did not. He also paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in return for the recruiters providing patients to Anna Nursing for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided. DOJ

July 28, 2014

A federal jury in Miami convicted physician assistant Roger Bergman and certified nursing assistant Rodolfo Santaya for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving approximately $200M in fraudulent billings by Miami-based mental health care company American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC). According to evidence presented at trial, Bergman, Santaya and their co-conspirators caused the submission of fraudulent claims to Medicare through ATC seeking reimbursement for mental health services that were not provided or were provided to patients who were not eligible to receive the services. DOJ

July 28, 2014

Lloyds Banking Group agreed to pay $86M for manipulating submissions for the London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a leading global benchmark interest rate. DOJ

July 24, 2014

An $80M False Claims Act judgment was entered against BNP Paribas for submitting false claims for payment guarantees issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The judgment resolves government charges that from 1998 to 2005 the French bank participated in a scheme to defraud the USDA’s Supplier Credit Guarantee Program under which American agricultural companies are encouraged to sell their products abroad. DOJ

July 24, 2014

Bernd Kowalewski, the former President and CEO of BizJet International, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing officials in Mexico and Panama to get contracts for aircraft services. BizJet is a U.S. subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik that provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services. He is the third and most senior Bizjet executive to plead guilty to these violations. DOJ

July 23, 2014

Elsa Ruiz, the owner and administrator of the Miami-based home health care agencies Professional Home Care Solutions and LTC Professional Consultants, pleaded guilty for her participation in a $74M Medicare fraud scheme. According to court documents, Ruiz and her co-conspirators operated the two companies for the purpose of billing Medicare for expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were either never provided or not medically necessary. DOJ