COVID Frauds of the Week: PPP Loans for Fraudsters Who Like Nice Things

It was another busy week for the DOJ, with at least 13 individuals charged for their attempts to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program out of cash meant to help real businesses with real employees, rather than to fund fraudsters’ extravagant lifestyles and idiotic, selfish behavior. Aditya Raj Sharma, 47, of Maple Grove, Minnesota—fake entrepreneur and apparent fan of swimming—was arrested and charged with wire fraud, for defrauding the Paycheck Protection...

October 29, 2020

Medtronic has agreed to pay over $9.2 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act and CMS’s Open Payments Program by paying kickbacks to a South Dakota-based neurosurgeon, Wilson Asfora, M.D., in order to induce sales of its SynchroMed II implantable intrathecal infusion pumps.  According to the government, Medtronic allegedly sponsored nine years’ worth of events at a restaurant owned by Asfora, and to which Asfora would invite his acquaintances, business partners, trusted...

October 14, 2020

Medical device maker Merit Medical Systems Inc. will pay $18 million to resolve claims first brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act that the company paid unlawful kickbacks to doctors and hospitals to induce them to use MMSI’s EmboSphere and QuadraSphere devices for embolization procedures.  MMSI was alleged to have offered hospitals and providers with millions of dollars in free advertising assistance, “educational” grants, and other services based...

Jeffery Neuberger Interview

Jeffery Neuberger was the whistleblower/relator in a False Claims Act case alleging that a medical group violated the Anti-Kickback Statute.  Mr. Neuberger was represented by the team at Constantine Cannon, including  Jessica T. Moore, Alysia A. Solow, James J. Kovacs, Margaux Poueymirou, Yo W. Shiina, Hallie Noecker, and Max Voldman. 1. Is there anything about you or your background that made it more likely that you would someday come forward as a whistleblower? Even as a...

Catch of the Week: 345 Charged in $6 Billion National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown

In the largest health care fraud and opioid enforcement action in the Justice Department’s history, 345 defendants—including more than 100 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals—face charges for submitting over $6 billion in false or fraudulent claims to federal and private insurers.  Defendants stand accused of submitting $4.5 billion in fraudulent claims linked to telemedicine, $845 million associated with substance abuse treatment facilities, or “sober homes,” and $806 million connected...

September 30, 2020

Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc., paid $1.9 million to resolve claims brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act alleging that the defendant, which received set-aside contracts under the federal government’s AbilityOne Program in exchange for agreeing to provide jobs to workers who are blind or visually impaired, misrepresented its employment of blind personnel.  In addition, company personnel allegedly accepted impermissible payments from manufacturers and improperly...

September 23, 2020

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has agreed to pay $97 million to resolve claims of paying kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries in connection with its pulmonary arterial hypertension drug, Letairis.  From 2007 to 2010, Gilead enticed beneficiaries to purchase Letairis by allegedly referring the beneficiaries to a foundation, Caring Voice Coalition (CVC), and then making payments to CVC to cover patient copays of Letairis specifically, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and Medicare...

August 31, 2020

Brooklyn, New York resident Aleksander Pikus was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $39.4 million in restitution and forfeit $2.6 million following his conviction at trial for charges related to a kickback and tax avoidance scheme involving a number of medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens.  Pikus referred patients to the clinics, receiving kickbacks in exchange, which he used to pay patient recruiters and patients themselves. ...

Top Takeaways from Former DOJ Civil Chief Jody Hunt on the Current State of False Claims Act Enforcement

Law360 recently interviewed former DOJ Civil Chief Jody Hunt on what he sees as the key issues surrounding False Claims Act enforcement these days.  Here are the top takeaways: COVID-relief fraud will be a DOJ priority. No surprise there given the billions of dollars the federal government is pouring into the economy to alleviate some of the financial strain the pandemic is wreaking on healthcare providers and small businesses.  But...

August 21, 2020

Cardiologist Ghanshyam Bhambhani of Queens, New York, paid $2 million to settle allegations that he paid kickbacks to fellow physicians for patient referrals.  Specifically, defendant was alleged to have paid other doctors compensation disguised as rent for patient referrals in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act, and falsified records to justify cardiac procedures.  The action was initiated by the filing of a whistleblower complaint.  USAO ED...