California Law Firm Settle False Claims Act Allegations Regarding Misuse of PPP Loan

It has been a very busy week for the DOJ tackling COVID-19 fraud. On August 15, DOJ announced that The Bloom Firm, a California-based law firm, along with senior management members Lisa Bloom and Braden Pollock, reached a settlement over government allegations of violating the False Claims Act by misusing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds. The PPP was established in March 2020 under the CARES Act to offer temporary...

Another Busy Week For DOJ False Claims Act Enforcement

While the lazy days of summer may be upon us, there seems to be no slowing down in the efforts of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat fraud with the agency settling several False Claims Act matters covering a wide range of fraud and misconduct. This follows a similar post we wrote only three weeks ago highlighting an equally prolific week of DOJ fraud enforcement activity with multiple civil and...

DOJ CATCH OF THE WEEK — DANIEL HURT

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to Florida medical lab owner Daniel Hurt and his companies Fountain Health Services, Verify Health, Landmark Diagnostics, First Choice Laboratory, and Sonoran Desert Pathology Associates.  Last Friday (May 24), DOJ announced their agreement to pay roughly $27 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by billing Medicare for cancer genomic (CGx) tests that...

Busy Week For False Claims Act Enforcement

It was a busy week for Department of Justice (DOJ) fraud enforcement with the agency resolving several False Claims Act matters covering a wide range of fraud and misconduct. The False Claims Act was enacted during the Civil War to go after war profiteers trying to defraud the Union Army with lame mules, empty munitions, and the like. It has since become the government's primary fraud-fighting tool through which the government...

DOJ Catch of the Week: Kabbage Inc.

This week's Department of Justice (DOJ) Catch of the Week goes to bankrupt financial technology company Kabbage Inc. (doing business as KServicing).  On Monday (May 13), DOJ announced that the company agreed to pay up to $120 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by improperly securing Small Business Administration (SBA) loans through the COVID relief Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).  The ultimate payout will depend on the...

Payments News Update – April 12, 2024

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Visa, Mastercard CEOs Throw Hearing Off Track Payments Dive – April 9, 2024 Sen. Dick Durbin opted to postpone a Senate Judiciary hearing this week focused on Visa and Mastercard’s business practices after CEOs of the credit card companies declined to appear Tuesday. But Durbin, who chairs the committee, is still angling to bring those chief executives to Washington, according to his staff. “The witnesses...

DOJ Releases False Claims Act Results for 2023

The Department of Justice (DOJ) just released its False Claims Act results for 2023.  By all accounts, it was another big year for the government's primary fraud-fighting tool.  The top-line numbers are roughly $2.7 billion in total recoveries from 543 settlements and judgments, the highest number of settlements and judgments in a single year.  This brings the total tally of False Claims Act recoveries to more than $75 billion since...

DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Credits Whistleblowers, Identifies 2024 Priorities

DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton recently spoke at the 2024 Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Conference.  Here are a few key takeaways from his remarks, which can be found here. Crediting Whistleblowers. Boynton lauded whistleblowers, calling them “a critical source of [DOJ’s] enforcement efforts,” and he thanked them and their counsel for their efforts, adding that the DOJ “could not have done this without you.”  Whistleblowers should...

Top Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries for 2023

It was another big year for DOJ enforcement under the False Claims Act, the government's primary fraud-fighting tool.  As usual, most of the recoveries were in the healthcare space with seven of the Top Ten recoveries involving various schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid.  See our Top Ten FCA and Top Ten Healthcare FCA listings. While healthcare recoveries dominated the Top Ten, two of the top five recoveries involved government...

Payments News Update – November 17, 2023

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Why the CFPB Proposal for Big Techs May Affect the Entire Industry The Financial Brand – November 9, 2023 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asserting the ability to perform examinations of major digital wallet and mobile payments providers in a regulatory proposal. This would be the first time entities like Apple Pay, Google Pay and more than a dozen other big tech consumer payment...