Payments News Update – January 10, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: The Fight Over Credit Card Swipe Fees Enters a New Year With No End in Sight NBC News – January 4, 2025 Many small businesses are breathing a bit easier as inflation has cooled and the race for workers slows. But consumers’ steady embrace of credit cards is taking a growing bite out of their margins. Gene-Christian Baca, the owner of Walter’s Hot Dogs in...
Independent Health to Pay $98M to Resolve Medicare Advantage Fraud Allegations
On December 29, 2024, the government announced that Buffalo, New York’s Independent Health Association and Independent Health Corporation (collectively known as Independent Health) have agreed to pay up to $98 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting, or causing the submission of, invalid diagnosis codes to Medicare for Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees. Constantine Cannon represented the brave whistleblower who came forward to uncover this...
Booz Allen Pays $15.875M to Settle False Claims Act, Procurement Allegations
Booz Allen closed out 2024 by agreeing to pay $15,875,000 to settle allegations that one of its subsidiaries, Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering Services LLC (BES), violated the False Claims Act by engaging misconduct in connection with the government's procurement process. The FCA allegations centered around BES claims for payment related to a “General Service Administration (GSA) task order to supply computer military training simulators and systems to Department of Defense...
Johnny B. Fraud: Government Contractor Will Pay $1M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for Submitting Fraudulent Bids on Contracts
On January 3, Johnny Buscema Jr. from New Port Richey, Florida, and his companies, S.A.F.E. Structure Designs (in Las Vegas) and U.S.A. Manufacturing (in New Port Richey) agreed to pay $1,000,000 to resolve allegations that they engaged in bid rigging in violation of the False Claims Act. According to the government, Buscema and his companies caused a prime vendor for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to submit false contract bids...
NHTSA Announces Final Rule in Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act
In December 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the final rule in its whistleblower program. The rule reaffirms the importance of whistleblowers in vehicle safety and satisfies a mandate in the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act (“the Act”) that NHTSA establish regulations detailing the Act's requirements. The rule adds to NHTSA’s preexisting whistleblower program. In April 2023, NHTSA released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. According to this publication, it “proposed...
Payments News Update – January 3, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Merchants Hit Back at a Banking Group’s Request That the Fed Hold Off on Reducing a Debit Interchange Cap Digital Transactions News – December 24, 2024 The Merchants Payments Coalition fired back late Monday at a request last week from the American Bankers Association that the Federal Reserve not act on a proposal to lower a longstanding limit on the interchange banks can earn on...
$4.3B! DOJ Announces 10th and Final Distribution of Financial Recovery to 40,000+ Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims
On December 30, 2024, the government shared an important update on its Madoff Ponzi Scheme victim recovery distribution efforts. The Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) shelled out over $131.4 million to victims in its 10th and final round of distributions to victims of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) fraud scheme. These funds will be distributed to over 23,000 victims around the world. With the completion of this final...
DOJ Ends 2024 with a Flood of False Claims Act Successes
While many of us are enjoying the slowdown typically accompanying the holiday season, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been hard at work with a flood of False Claims Act successes to usher in the New Year. In the last two weeks alone, DOJ has secured roughly a dozen such settlements, returning roughly $165 million to the government's coffers. The False Claims Act is the government’s primary fraud-fighting tool through...
Happy Birthday, Patti Smith! 10 Lyrics to Honor the Powerhouse Punk Legend’s Whistleblower Spirit
The “Punk Poet Laureate” has played a unique role in music by blending poetry, punk rock, and countercultural ideas that have profoundly influenced culture and literature. Smith’s raw, evocative lyrics often address cultural, social, and political issues with bold themes, creating art without compromise. She embraces personal freedom, authenticity, individualism, and the spirit of rebellion. While she isn’t necessarily known for writing songs with explicit whistleblower themes in the traditional...
California Clinics, Lab, and Their Owners Pay $10M to Resolve False Claims, Kickback, and Stark Law Allegations
On December 26, the DOJ announced that medical clinics, a lab, and the owners will pay $10 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare and California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Stark Law (Physician Self-Referral Law). The defendants include Southern California Medical Center (SCMC), R & B Medical Group Inc., doing business as Universal Diagnostic Laboratories (UDL), Mohammad Rasekhi M.D.,...