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DOJ Enforcement Actions

					
The Department of Justice is the principal federal agency authorized to enforce the laws and defend the interests of the United States. As such, it oversees the enforcement of the False Claims Act, the foundation of the American whistleblower system, as well as numerous other laws.


The agency traces its origins to the Judiciary Act of 1789 which created the Office of the Attorney General, and the 1870 Act to Establish the Department of Justice, which established the agency as “an executive department of the government of the United States” with the Attorney General as its head.


The agency is comprised of numerous divisions with the Civil Division and in some instances, the Criminal Division, overseeing investigations and prosecutions under the False Claims Act. The U.S. Attorneys Office of the federal district where the False Claims Act case is filed also plays a key role in False Claims Act enforcement.


Below are summaries of recent DOJ settlements or successful resolutions under the False Claims Act as well as other successful prosecutions for fraud and misconduct. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give  rise to a claim for a whistleblower reward, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
February 28, 2018

				 Deloitte & Touche agreed to pay $149.5 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act arising from Deloitte’s role as the independent outside auditor of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW), a failed originator of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to the government, TBW engaged in a long-running fraudulent scheme involving the sale of fictitious or double-pledged mortgage loans, and as a result, TBW’s financial statements failed to reflect its severe financial distress. The government alleged Deloitte, as TBW’s independent outside auditor, knowingly deviated from applicable auditing standards and therefore failed to detect TBW’s fraudulent conduct enabling TBW to continue originating FHA-insured mortgage loans until TBW collapsed and declared bankruptcy in 2009. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Accounting Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Housing and Mortgage Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 28, 2018

				 Rafael Arias, the owner of numerous Miami-area home health agencies, was sentenced to 240 months in prison and pay $66.4 million in restitution for his role in a $66 million conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program. As part of his guilty plea, Arias admitted recruiting nominee owners to falsely and fraudulently represent themselves as the agencies’ owners to hide his identity and ownership interest. Arias and his co-conspirators paid illegal bribes and kickbacks to patient recruiters to refer patients to these agencies, and submitted false and fraudulent home health care claims to Medicare for beneficiaries who, in many cases, did not qualify or for whom the services were never provided. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 27, 2018

				 Tyson Poultry Inc. was sentenced to pay a $2 million criminal fine and $500,000 to directly remedy harm caused when it violated the Clean Water Act stemming from discharges at Tyson’s slaughter and processing facility in Monett, Missouri that led to a major fish kill event. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 26, 2018

				 Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Inc. paid $1,655,000 to settle claims it violated the False Claims Act by submitting outpatient laboratory claims lacking documentation necessary to support reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Amy Beth Main. She will receive a whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government’s recovery. DOJ (VT)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 23, 2018

				 Maine-based North East Mobile Health Services agreed to pay $825,000 to settle claims it violated the False Claims Act by providing medically unnecessary ambulance transportation. Maine Medical Center also agreed to pay $600,000 pursuant to a separate civil settlement. According to the government, North East improperly billed Medicare for ambulance transports of patients it falsely claimed were either “bed-confined” or for whom such transport was otherwise medically necessary. The government further alleged that MMC personnel provided North East with statements containing incomplete or inaccurate information about the medical necessity of transporting patients by ambulance, which North East thereafter used to bill Medicare. DOJ (ME)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Ambulance, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 22, 2018

				 Samuel Konell was sentenced to 60 months in prison and pay roughly $10 million for his role in a $63 million health care fraud scheme involving now-defunct Greater Miami Behavioral Healthcare Center Inc. which purported to provide partial hospitalization program (PHP) services to individuals suffering from mental illness. Konell admitted he received kickbacks and/or bribes in return for referring Medicare beneficiaries from the Miami-Dade state court system to Greater Miami to serve as patients. He admitted he coordinated with criminal defendants in the state court system to obtain court orders for mental health treatment in lieu of incarceration so that he could refer those individuals to Greater Miami to serve as patients in return for kickbacks and/or bribes. Konell further admitted that he did so knowing that certain of those individuals were not mentally ill or otherwise did not meet the criteria for PHP treatment. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 16, 2018

				 The University of North Texas Health Science Center agreed to pay roughly $13 million to settle claims it violated the False Claims Act by inaccurately measuring, tracking and paying researchers for effort spent on certain NIH-sponsored research grants. DOJ (NDTX)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Grant and Research Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 13, 2018

				 British Knitwear Retailer Pure Collection Ltd. and its CEO Samantha Harrison agreed to pay $908,100 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by avoiding U.S. customs duties owed on merchandise shipped from the United Kingdom to U.S. customers, including many customers in Maine. According to the government, they did so by breaking up single shipments into multiple shipments of lesser value in order to avoid the applicable duties. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Andrew Patrick. He will receive a yet-to-be determined award from the proceeds of the government’s recovery. DOJ (D. ME)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Customs Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  International Whistleblowers, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 13, 2018

				 Detroit-area doctor Mahmoud Rahim was sentenced to 72 months in prison and ordered to forfeit roughly $1.7 million for his role in a $10.4 million conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program. According to the evidence presented at trial, Rahim accepted kickbacks in exchange for referring Medicare patients for electromyogram tests, some of which were unnecessary, and physical therapy performed by unlicensed individuals. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Improper Medical Personnel, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 12, 2018

				 Shell Chemical LP entered into a settlement that each year will eliminate more than 150 tons of excess emissions of harmful air pollutants from Shell’s chemical plant located in Norco, Louisiana, in St. Charles Parish. The settlement resolves allegations that Shell violated the Clean Air Act and Louisiana State law and will require Shell to spend approximately $10 million to install and operate air pollution control and monitoring technology to reduce harmful air pollution from four industrial flares at the Norco plant. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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