Whistleblower Insider Blog

SEC Whistleblower Program Summer Roundup - Nearing the Billion Dollar Mark

Posted 09/9/21

For the SEC Whistleblower Program, it was business as usual this summer. With total awards of more than $50 million to 25 whistleblowers, the agency moved ever closer to the billion dollar mark. Here is how it played out for the SEC program over the not so lazy days of summer:

June 2 – $23 million (2 whistleblowers)
June 14 – $3 million (2 whistleblowers)
June 21 – $5.3 million (4...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,

DOJ Reasserts the Proper Role for Agency Guidance in Fraud Cases

Posted 09/3/21

The Justice Department has quietly rescinded a Trump administration policy that was needlessly undermining the role of government agency guidance. On July 1, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum revoking what is known as the Brand Memo. In her memo, Former Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand had set out a position that defense attorneys scrambled to use to argue for leniency or...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare,

Catch of the Week: Florida Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $73 Million Telemedicine Fraud Scheme

Posted 09/3/21

telemedicine doctor on computer with patient

Editor’s Note: For this week’s biggest story, the record $90 million settlement secured by a Constantine Cannon client against Sutter Health, read more here.

Healthcare fraudsters have a track record of exploiting health crises for personal gain. The COVID-19 pandemic created new telemedicine opportunities for patients to receive care without having to see doctors in person. As expected, fraudsters seized on...

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Catch of the Week, Contract Non-Compliance, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Facility, Lack of Medical Necessity, Provider Fraud,

Managed Care Risk Adjustment Enforcement Continues with Sutter Health Settlement: Constantine Cannon Client Secures Largest Ever Medicare Advantage Settlement by a Hospital

Posted 08/30/21

Sutter Health will pay the Government $90 million under the False Claims Act for allegedly submitting inaccurate and unsupported medical information on tens of thousands of patients. The settlement in a case brought by a whistleblower represented by Constantine Cannon, together with co-counsel Keller Grover and Kleiman Rajaram, is the largest Medicare Advantage FCA settlement against a hospital system, and the...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Managed Care, Provider Fraud, Risk Adjustment Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

Whistleblowers are Essential to Protect Infrastructure Funds

Posted 08/27/21

construction site with cranes on dirt path

America’s roads, bridges, power grids, and airports are a mess. Recently a group of civil and structural engineers graded the nation’s infrastructure a below-average C-. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill currently before Congress aims to solve some of those issues, with what the White House described as “a once-in-a-generation investment in our infrastructure.” The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill promises...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Legislation and Regulation News,

Catch of the Week: Florida Man Charged with Stealing Over $12 Million in Funds Slated for PPE

Posted 08/27/21

person handcuffed with hands on stack of papers with briefcase

DOJ continues to make good on its promise to root out fraud in pandemic relief. This week, a Florida resident Brian Sperber was indicted for defrauding hospitals and medical institutions out of more than $12 million dollars by falsely promising to deliver personal protective equipment to those purchasers. Sperber and his co-conspirators, who ran medical supply and logistics companies, took orders for N95 masks and...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, COVID-19, Criminal Proceedings,

Medically Unnecessary Procedures Harm Patients, Raise U.S. Healthcare Costs, Atlantic Feature Emphasizes

Posted 08/20/21

surgeons operating on patient under bright lights

Unnecessary procedures have long plagued the U.S. healthcare system, costing taxpayers billions and subjecting thousands of patients to invasive procedures that sometimes do more harm than good. For decades, various government actors have acknowledged the problem.

Why then is it so difficult to prevent unnecessary procedures in the U.S.?

Reporter Chris Outcalt recently pondered in a piece for The Atlantic. The...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Whistleblower Case,

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Posted 08/20/21

Doctor on computer with patient discussing medicine

Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, COVID-19, FCA Federal, Government Programs Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Money Laundering, Whistleblower Rewards,

Court says that fraudsters who violate rules they later claim are unclear may not violate the False Claims Act

Posted 08/19/21

Red and yellow pills scattered on hundred dollar bills

Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court for Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin decided U.S. ex rel. Yarberry v. Supervalu, an important decision that may lead more unscrupulous government contractors to help themselves to public funds to which they are not entitled. Unless the Supreme Court or Congress steps in to correct the Seventh Circuit’s errors, the government may have...

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Court Decision, Drug and DME Pricing, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare, Pharma Fraud, Pricing Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

What the SEC can learn from its German peer BaFin

Posted 08/13/21

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, otherwise known as BaFin, is Germany’s version of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a supervisory body working to ensure the functioning, stability and integrity of the German financial system. BaFin was created following a 2002 merger between Germany’s Federal Banking Supervisory Office (BAKred), the Federal Securities Supervisory Office (BAWe), and...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Money Laundering,

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SEC Whistleblower Program Summer Roundup - Nearing the Billion Dollar Mark

DOJ Reasserts the Proper Role for Agency Guidance in Fraud Cases

Catch of the Week: Florida Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $73 Million Telemedicine Fraud Scheme

Editor’s Note: For this week’s biggest story, the record $90 million settlement secured by a Constantine Cannon client against Sutter Health, read more here.

Managed Care Risk Adjustment Enforcement Continues with Sutter Health Settlement: Constantine Cannon Client Secures Largest Ever Medicare Advantage Settlement by a Hospital

Whistleblowers are Essential to Protect Infrastructure Funds

Catch of the Week: Florida Man Charged with Stealing Over $12 Million in Funds Slated for PPE

Medically Unnecessary Procedures Harm Patients, Raise U.S. Healthcare Costs, Atlantic Feature Emphasizes

Why then is it so difficult to prevent unnecessary procedures in the U.S.?

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Court says that fraudsters who violate rules they later claim are unclear may not violate the False Claims Act

What the SEC can learn from its German peer BaFin

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

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SEC Whistleblower Program Summer Roundup - Nearing the Billion Dollar Mark

DOJ Reasserts the Proper Role for Agency Guidance in Fraud Cases

Catch of the Week: Florida Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $73 Million Telemedicine Fraud Scheme

Editor’s Note: For this week’s biggest story, the record $90 million settlement secured by a Constantine Cannon client against Sutter Health, read more here.

Managed Care Risk Adjustment Enforcement Continues with Sutter Health Settlement: Constantine Cannon Client Secures Largest Ever Medicare Advantage Settlement by a Hospital

Whistleblowers are Essential to Protect Infrastructure Funds

Catch of the Week: Florida Man Charged with Stealing Over $12 Million in Funds Slated for PPE

Medically Unnecessary Procedures Harm Patients, Raise U.S. Healthcare Costs, Atlantic Feature Emphasizes

Why then is it so difficult to prevent unnecessary procedures in the U.S.?

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Court says that fraudsters who violate rules they later claim are unclear may not violate the False Claims Act

What the SEC can learn from its German peer BaFin

Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

Sign up for: