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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.

November 22, 2016

U. S. Steel Corporation agreed to resolve Clean Air Act litigation initiated by the United States and the states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan by undertaking measures to reduce pollution at its three Midwest iron and steel manufacturing plants.  The company also agreed to pay a $2.2 million civil penalty.  DOJ

November 22, 2016

CleanSlate Centers, Inc. and Total Wellness Centers, LLC (d/b/a CleanSlate) agreed to pay $750,000 to resolve allegations that the two companies, which together operate opioid addiction treatment centers in Massachusetts and other states, improperly prescribed buprenorphine (Suboxone®) for opioid addiction treatment and improperly billed Medicare in violation of both the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act.  DOJ (DMA)

November 15, 2016

JPMorgan Chase and its Hong Kong-based subsidiary JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited agreed to pay a combined total of roughly $265 million to resolve foreign bribery charges relating to JPMorgan’s so-called Sons and Daughters Program.  This was a scheme in which the bank secured large business deals in China by awarding prestigious jobs to relatives and friends of Chinese government officials.  As part of the settlement, JPMorgan agreed to pay the DOJ a criminal penalty of $72 million.  JPMorgan also agreed to pay the SEC roughly $130 million to settle charges that the bank’s conduct violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  The Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors also assessed a $61.9 million civil penalty.  Whistleblower Insider

November 15, 2016

New Jersey-based remote cardiac monitoring company MedNet Inc., and a subsidiary of BioTelemetry Inc., agreed to pay more than $1.35 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to induce physicians to use the company’s cardiac monitoring services.  According to the government, from March 2006 through January 2014, before BioTelemetry acquired MedNet, MedNet entered into “fee-for-service” or “direct-bill” agreements with certain hospital and physician clinic customers which allowed them to bill Medicare directly for these same services and retain the reimbursements they received which exceeded the fees that MedNet charged them.  The government alleged that the remuneration MedNet provided in connection with the agreements was illegal remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  DOJ (DNJ)

November 15, 2016

Florida pharmacies Lemon Bay Drugs North, Inc. and Brooksville Drugs, Inc. agreed to pay a total of $750,000 to resolve allegations that the pharmacies violated the False Claims Act by causing claims to be submitted to federal health care programs for prescription drugs that were never dispensed.  According to the government, the pharmacies provided Medicare and Medicaid patients generic versions of certain medications, but charged Medicare and Medicaid for the brand name versions of those medications.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by a former pharmacy technician who worked at Lemon Bay Drugs.  She will receive a whistleblower award of $142,500 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (MDFL)

November 11, 2016

Marie Neba, co-owner of Houston-based home-health agency Fiango Home Healthcare Inc., was convicted for her role in a $13 million Medicare fraud and money laundering scheme.  According to the evidence presented at trial and admissions made in the guilty plea of her husband and co-owner Ebong Tilong, Neba and Tilong paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in exchange for authorizing medically unnecessary home-health services for Medicare beneficiaries.  They also paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters for referring Medicare beneficiaries for home-health services and to Medicare beneficiaries for allowing them to bill Medicare using their Medicare information for home-health services that were not medically necessary or not provided.  Neba and Tilong also falsified medical records to make it appear as though the Medicare beneficiaries qualified for and received home-health services.  DOJ

November 8, 2016

Japanese auto maker Usui Kokusai Sangyo Kaisha Ltd. agreed to plead guilty and pay a $7.2 million criminal fine for its role in a criminal conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers and rig bids for automotive steel tubes sold to automobile manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere.  DOJ

November 8, 2016

Niurka Fernandez and her son Roberto Alvarez were sentenced to 120 months and 30 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in spearheading a $9.5 million health care fraud conspiracy that targeted Medicare Part D.  In addition, Fernandez and Alvarez were ordered to pay respectively $9.5 million and $1.5 million in restitution and to forfeit the same amounts.  As part of her guilty plea, Fernandez admitted she co-owned and operated several pharmacies in the Miami area, including Calan Pharmacy & Discount Service LLC and Bertyann Corp. (doing business as Best Pharmacy), for the purpose of submitting false and fraudulent claims through Medicare Part D by paying kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries and patient recruiters for prescriptions that were medically unnecessary.  DOJ

November 7, 2016

Badar Ahmadani, co-owner of Detroit home health care company Hands on Healing Home Care Inc., was sentenced to 96 months in prison and to pay roughly $38 million in restitution for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme that caused approximately $33 million in losses.  According to evidence presented at trial, Ahmadani and his co-conspirators obtained patients by paying cash kickbacks to recruiters, who in turn paid cash to patients to induce them to sign up for home health care with companies owned by co-defendant Zafar Mehmood: Access Care Home Care Inc., Patient Care Home Care Inc., Hands On Healing Home Care Inc. and All State Home Care Inc.  The evidence also showed that Mehmood and Ahmadani paid kickbacks to physicians to refer patients to the companies for home health care services that were medically unnecessary and/or not provided.  Mehmood was previously sentenced to 360 months in prison and to pay roughly $40.5 million in restitution.  DOJ

November 7, 2016

Pennsylvania-based medical device manufacturer Biocompatibles Inc., a subsidiary of British-based BTG plc, pleaded guilty and agreed to pay more than $36 million for violating the False Claims Act and Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by misbranding its embolic device LC Bead, which is used to treat liver cancer, among other diseases, and by marketing and selling the product for uses not approved by the FDA.  The matter originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Ryan Bliss who oversaw Bicompatibles’ North American marketing.  He will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $5.1 million from the proceeds of the government’s False Claims Act recovery.  Whistleblower Insider
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