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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
March 23, 2016

				 Detroit-area doctor Laran Lerner was sentenced to 45 months in prison and to pay $2.8 million in restitution for his role in a $5.7 million Medicare fraud scheme in which he prescribed medically unnecessary controlled substances and billed for office visits and diagnostic testing that never took place.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 23, 2016

				 Gilbert G. Lundstrom, the former CEO of TierOne Bank -- a $3 billion publicly-traded commercial bank formerly headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska -- was sentenced to 132 months in prison and to pay a $1.2 million fine for orchestrating a scheme to defraud TierOne’s shareholders and to mislead regulators by concealing more than $100 million in losses on loans and declining real estate.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 23, 2016

				 Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the owner of multiple U.S.-based energy companies, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to secure energy contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCPA, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 23, 2016

				 Pennsylvania-based Respironics Inc. agreed to pay $34.8 million to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by paying kickbacks in the form of free call center services to durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers that bought its masks for patients with sleep apnea.  Respironics allegedly provided DME companies with call center services to meet their patients’ resupply needs at no charge as long as the patients were using masks that Respironics manufactured; otherwise, the DME companies would have to pay a monthly fee based on the number of patients who used masks manufactured by a competitor of Respironics.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Dr. Gibran Ameer, who has worked for different DME companies.  He will receive a whistleblower award of $5.38 million from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 21, 2016

				 Florida audiologist Terri L. Schneider was sentenced to 94 months in prison and to pay $2.5 million in restitution for her role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme. According to evidence presented at trial, Schneider and her co-conspirators used three purported medical clinics in Florida -- Cornerstone Health Specialists, Summit Health Specialists and Coastal Health Specialists -- to submit approximately $12.3 million in false Medicare claims seeking reimbursement for radiology, audiology, cardiology and neurology services.  The evidence showed that Schneider and her co-conspirators used forged and falsified documents in the Medicare enrollment process for the medical clinics that they operated under false pretenses, and billed Medicare for services that had not been rendered by physicians.  They also paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for access to Medicare patients and Medicare patient information used in the fraud scheme.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Medicare, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 21, 2016

				 Maryland-based Coastal International Security, Inc. agreed to pay a total of $1.65 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company defrauded the State Department during performance of a security contract and later concealed the fraud from contracting officials, and civil allegations that the company improperly obtained and used competitors’ pricing information to underbid competitors on government task orders.  Coastal International simultaneously agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve civil claims under the False Claims Act for this conduct, as well as claims under the Procurement Integrity Act.  DOJ (EDVA)				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 18, 2016

				 A federal jury in New Orleans convicted Elaine Davis and Dr. Pramela Ganji for their roles in a $34 million Medicare fraud scheme.  The jury found that Davis, who owned Christian Home Health Care Inc., together with Ganji caused the healthcare company to bill Medicare for home health care services that were not needed and/or not actually provided.  Davis paid employees to recruit new patients and then sent their Medicare information to doctors, including Ganji, to obtain their signatures to certify that the patients qualified to receive home health care services, which trial evidence showed they did not qualify for or need.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicare, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 18, 2016

				 Alex Wisidagama, the former global manager for government contracts of Singapore-based defense contracting firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia, was sentenced to 63 months in prison and to pay $34.8 million in restitution for his participation in a fraud scheme that over-billed the U.S. Navy by more than $34 million for ship husbanding services.  To date, 10 individuals have been charged in connection with this scheme with nine pleading guilty so far including Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, Captain Daniel Dusek, Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent John Beliveau, Commander Jose Luis Sanchez and U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 17, 2016

				 Carlos Medina, owner of Miami-area medical clinics Doral Community Clinic Inc. and Advanced Medical of Doral Inc. was sentenced to 82 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme that caused more than $3 million in losses.  The clinics purportedly provided medically necessary services to Medicare beneficiaries, but in reality charged cash kickbacks in exchange for prescriptions for home health care services.  Some of the beneficiaries who frequented the clinics did not meet Medicare’s criteria for the prescribed services and some of the services prescribed by the medical professionals at Doral and Advanced Medical were never provided by the home health agencies to which the patients were referred.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 16, 2016

				 John Bennett, the former founder and CEO of Canada-based Bennett Environmental Inc. was convicted of conspiring to pay kickbacks to guarantee the award of soil treatment contracts to his company for work at Federal Creosote, a Superfund site located in Manville, New Jersey.  Specifically, in exchange for gifts and cash payments, the project manager at Federal Creosote provided Bennett with “last looks” at confidential competitor bids, allowing Bennett to outbid its competitors without independently determining its price, thereby guaranteeing an award to the company and undermining the competitive bid process on this federally-funded project.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  Environmental Fraud, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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