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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
September 21, 2016

				 ExxonMobil Pipeline Company agreed to pay $12 million in natural resource damages to resolve claims stemming from the July 2011 oil spill into the Yellowstone River.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 19, 2016

				 North American Health Care Inc., a California-based operator of dozens of skilled nursing facilities (along with its Chairman John Sorenson and Senior Vice President of Reimbursement Analysis Margaret Gelvezon) agreed to pay $30 million to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by billing for medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy services.  Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  SNF, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 15, 2016

				 Japanese auto parts supplier Alpha Corporation agreed to plead guilty and pay a $9 million criminal fine for its role in a price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy involving automotive access mechanisms for installation in cars manufactured and sold in the United States and elsewhere.  Access mechanisms consist of inside and outside door handles, tailgate or trunk handles, keys, lock sets, door locks and electrical and mechanical steering column locks.  Alpha is the 46th company to be charged with participating in an anticompetitive scheme involving auto parts.  DOJ				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 14, 2016

				 Healthmark Investment Trust, partial owner of Florida-based compound pharmacy QMedRx, agreed to pay $7.75 million to resolve allegations QMedRx violated the False Claims Act by billing the federal healthcare programs for prescriptions tainted within the meaning of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The government is still pursuing penalties and fines from other owners and participants within QMedRx.  DOJ (MDFL)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 14, 2016

				 Romy Macasaet and his Illinois-based home health care company Home Bound Healthcare, Inc. agreed to plead guilty and pay $6.8 million to resolve charges of violating the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying kickbacks to medical directors to obtain referrals of Medicare beneficiaries to his company, which was one of the largest home health care and hospice companies in Illinois.  Macasaet acknowledged that he retained and paid medical directors a monthly fee solely for the purpose of obtaining patient referrals and not for medical services, and that he used medical director agreements to conceal the payment of kickbacks.  As part of the settlement, Macasaet agreed to divest his ownership interest in Home Bound.  DOJ (NDIL)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 12, 2016

				 Birmingham-based Regions Bank agreed to pay $52.4 million to settle charges that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements.  According to the government, Regions’ misconduct caused HUD to incur substantial losses by paying insurance claims for loans not eligible for FHA mortgage insurance.  Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Housing and Mortgage Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 9, 2016

				 Los Angeles nursing home Westlake Convalescent Hospital and two physicians who worked there, Dr. Jasvant Modi and his wife Dr. Meera Modi, agreed to pay $3,563,140 to resolve charges they violated the False Claims Act by participating in a scheme to improperly transfer patients recruited from the “Skid Row” district to a hospital for medically unnecessary services, and then transfer the patients from the hospital to the nursing home for medically unnecessary stays.  According to the government, Westlake paid illegal kickbacks to a “care consortium” on Skid Row in exchange for patient referrals to Westlake.  Jasvant Modi allegedly readmitted patients from Westlake to the now-closed Temple Community Hospital and then back to Westlake to extend the patients’ Medicare-covered stays at Westlake, knowing the patients did not require further services at either facility.  Meera Modi allegedly signed medical orders for non-payable services for these same patients. Westlake allegedly billed Medicare and Medi-Cal for medically unnecessary services provided to these patients.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Westlake employee Ricardo Gonzales under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a whistleblower award of $534,471 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ (CDCA)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  SNF, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 9, 2016

				 Dmitriy V. Melnik, the owner and operator of Candy Color Lenses, a major online retailer of colored contact lenses, pleaded guilty to importing counterfeit and misbranded contact lenses from suppliers in Asia and then selling them over the internet without a prescription to tens of thousands of customers around the country.  According to the plea agreement, Melnik imported large quantities of colored contact lenses from China and South Korea that he knew were counterfeit and/or unauthorized by the FDA and many of which bore labels with counterfeit trademarks for Ciba Vision FreshLook COLORBLENDS, which are manufactured by Novartis International AG.  Melnik admitted that some of the contact lenses he sold were contaminated with potentially hazardous bacteria.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Defective Products, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 9, 2016

				 Rutgers Organics Corporation agreed to pay an estimated $19 million to complete the cleanup of the Nease Chemical Superfund Site near Salem, Ohio and to pay an additional $500,000 to restore injured natural resources at the site and nearby areas.   The company further agreed to pay an additional $1 million to reimburse federal and state agencies for their past response and assessment costs.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
September 9, 2016

				 James Robert Liang, a Volkswagen engineer, pleaded guilty for his role in a nearly 10-year conspiracy to defraud U.S. regulators and U.S. Volkswagen customers by implementing software specifically designed to cheat U.S. emissions tests in hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen “clean diesel” vehicles.  Liang admitted that beginning in about 2006, he and his co-conspirators started to design a new “EA 189” diesel engine for sale in the United States, and when they realized they could not design a diesel engine that would meet the stricter U.S. emissions standards, they designed and implemented a so-called defeat device to cheat the emissions tests.  DOJ				 			
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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