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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
December 6, 2017

				 Oliver Schmidt, the former general manager of Volkswagen AG’s U.S. Environment and Engineering Office, was sentenced today 84 months in prison for his role in VW’s scheme to sell “clean diesel” vehicles containing software designed to cheat U.S. emissions tests.  DOJ

 				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 4, 2017

				 Former U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown was sentenced to five years in prison and to forfeit roughly $650,000 for her role in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving a sham scholarship charity One Door For Education.  Brown’s long-time Chief of Staff Elias “Ronnie” Simmons was sentenced to serve 48 months in prison and Carla Wiley, the president of the fraudulent charity, was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Education Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 1, 2017

				 Pine Creek Medical Center LLC, a physician-owned hospital serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area, agreed to pay $7.5 million to resolve claims it violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by paying physicians kickbacks in the form of marketing services in exchange for surgical referrals.  Specifically, Pine Creek allegedly paid for advertisements on behalf of the physicians as well as radio and television advertising, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, billboards, website upgrades, brochures, and business cards, and other forms of marketing to induce physicians to refer patients to Pine Creek for medical services.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Pine Creek employees Suzanne Scott and Savannah Sogar.  They will receive a whistleblower award of $1,125,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 1, 2017

				 Skin Care Doctors, P.A. and its founder and CEO Michael J. Ebertz, M.D., agreed to pay $850,000 to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare in connection with certain dermatology products and procedures.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by a doctor who formerly worked with Ebertz.  The whistleblower will receive a yet-to-be-determined award from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (DMN)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 1, 2017

				 Dr. Arthur S. Portnow, the owner and operator of Arthur S. Portnow, P.A. (d/b/a Apple Medical and Cardiovascular Group) agreed to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations that he and his practice violated the False Claims Act by knowingly seeking reimbursement for medically unnecessary ultrasound tests that were performed on Medicare beneficiaries.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act Kathleen Siwicki, a former employee of Dr. Portnow’s practice.  She will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $350,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (MDFL)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 30, 2017

				 Florida-based Express Plus Pharmacy, LLC and its owner Antonio Primo agreed to pay $170,000 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by submitting fraudulent claims to Tricare for compounded medications such as pain creams that were not reimbursable because they were not issued pursuant to valid physician-patient relationships, were issued after brief phone calls with patients that violated applicable law on telemedicine, were medically unnecessary, and/or were tainted by kickbacks to marketers.  DOJ (SDFL)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 29, 2017

				 SBM Offshore N.V., a Netherlands-based company specializing in the manufacture and design of offshore oil drilling equipment, and its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary SBM Offshore USA Inc., agreed to resolve criminal charges and pay a criminal penalty of $238 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with schemes involving the bribery of foreign officials in Brazil, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan and Iraq.  According to company admissions, SBM paid more than $180 million in commissions to intermediaries, knowing that a portion of those commissions would be used to bribe foreign officials and that SBM gained at least $2.8 billion from projects it obtained from these illicit payments.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCPA, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 28, 2017

				 California-based Cardiovascular Consultants Heart Center and its shareholder physicians -- Dr. Kevin Boran, Dr. Michael Gen, Dr. Rohit Sundrani, Dr. Donald Gregory, and Dr. William Hanks -- agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary cardiovascular diagnostic procedures.  According to the government, company physicians automatically scheduled patients for nuclear stress tests on an annual basis without seeing the patients beforehand to confirm the procedure was necessary.  These test are expensive and expose patients to a significant amount of radiation as well as to the risk of invasive procedures based on false positive results.  This risk is only justified if the nuclear stress test is medically necessary.  DOJ (EDCA)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 28, 2017

				 Nebraska McAlpine, a former employee of a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor in return for his assistance in obtaining subcontracts on U.S. government contracts.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 22, 2017

				 Thaddeus M.S. Bereday, the former general counsel of WellCare Health Plans Inc., a company that operates health maintenance organizations in several states, was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in a $35 million health care fraud scheme.  Specifically, Bereday and others were charged with submitting inflated expenditure information in the WellCare's annual reports to Florida Medicaid in order to reduce the WellCare HMOs’ contractual payback obligations for behavioral health care services.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Managed Care, 
													  Medicaid, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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