Indiana’s Community Health Network To Pay an Additional $135M to Settle Stark Law Case Initiated by Whistleblower
The Indiana-based Community Health Network (“Community”) will pay an additional $135 million to resolve a False Claims Act case involving Stark Law violations initiated by a whistleblower Constantine Cannon represented. The $135 million settlement marks the final resolution of a 2014 False Claims Act case brought by whistleblower Thomas P. Fischer, former Community Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. In December 2023, the United States and Community settled the...
More Cybercriminals Pay Steep Price for Running Crypto Scams and Laundering Cash
The government has already ramped up its efforts in 2025 to tackle cryptocurrency fraud and associated money laundering schemes with several recent enforcement actions. Cybercriminals exploit digital currency investment hopefuls. Their scams come in myriad forms such as ransomware attacks and virtual currency thefts, and the criminals use complex tactics to conceal their crimes to fuel their stolen profits. As crypto scams and fraud surge, it is critical for whistleblowers...
Top 10 False Claims Act Recoveries for 2024
It was another big year of recoveries under the False Claims Act, the government's primary enforcement tool to combat fraud. And as usual, whistleblowers paved the way by originating the bulk of the actions that led to these recoveries. As the Department of Justice (DOJ) just reported in its annual roundup of False Claims Act successes, the government and whistleblowers recovered roughly $2.9 billion this past fiscal year (ending September...
Payments News Update – January 17, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Buy Now, Pay Later Users Pile on Debt, CFPB Finds Payments Dive – January 14, 2025 Nearly two-thirds of consumers in the U.S. who lean on buy now, pay later transactions to pay for goods and services take out multiple BNPL loans at once, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluded in a study released Monday. Most people who use BNPL as a payment method also...
DOJ's False Claims Act Roundup for FY 2024 -- Another Banner Year for the Government and Whistleblowers
The Department of Justice (DOJ) just released its False Claims Act results for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024. By all accounts, it has been another banner year for whistleblowers and the government in their efforts to combat fraud and recover pilfered taxpayer dollars. First, the overarching numbers for the year: The government and whistleblowers recovered roughly $2.9 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments. This does not...
In Their Own Words… Attorney General Nominee Pam Bondi
“The False Claims Act is so important… I would defend the constitutionality… of the False Claims Act.” On January 15, 2025, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi attended her Senate confirmation hearing and answered questions from Senator Chuck Grassley, who has demonstrated unwavering support for the False Claims Act. In response to questions about her commitment to the FCA, Bondi shared her perspective on the critical role of whistleblowers in helping...
Is “AI Washing” the New “Greenwashing”? Government Enforcers Crack Down on New(ish) Ways of Defrauding Investors
A key part of the job for whistleblower lawyers and government enforcers is fitting new facts to existing precedent. Despite fraudsters deploying what appear to be new and innovative ways to illicitly obtain government or investor funds, the crux of the scheme is often the same decade after decade. As the famous Yogi-ism goes, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Take “AI washing,” for instance. AI washing refers to an...
A $1B+ Fraud Conspiracy: Yvette Wang Sentenced To 10 Years in Prison
Federal prosecutors continue the crack down on fraudsters that prey on innocent investors. On January 6, Daniel M. Gitner, Chief, Criminal Division, in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, announced that Yvette Wang a/k/a “Yanping” was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to Wang’s prison sentence, she will serve three...
Scientific Research Misconduct: Athira Pharma Inc. Will Pay $4M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Athira Pharma Inc., a Bothwell, Washington-based, clinical stage bio-pharmaceutical company, will pay $4,068,698 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. It failed to report claims of research misconduct to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Research Integrity when filling out grant applications and grant award progress reports. From January 1, 2016, to June 20, 2021, it was...
Healthcare Providers and Marketers Will Pay $1.1M to Settle Laboratory Kickback Allegations
In January 2025, the government announced that lab marketers, physicians and their associated entities have agreed to pay $1,137,914 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they participated in laboratory kickback schemes in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The parties involved include physicians Dr. Abbesalom Ghermay (from Plano, Texas); Dr. Daniel Theesfeld (from Longview, Texas) and his medical practice H8 Pain Management Center of Texas PLLC; Dr. James Cook (from...
