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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
July 30, 2015

				 California-based medical device manufacturer NuVasive Inc. agreed to pay $13.5 million to resolve charges it violated the False Claims Act by improperly promoting the company’s CoRoent System for spine surgeries for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.  The settlement also resolves allegations NuVasive paid illegal kickbacks to induce physicians to use the company’s CoRoent System.  The government’s allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former NuVasive sales representative Kevin Ryan under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a whistleblower reward of approximately $2.2 million.  Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 27, 2015

				 Zafar Mehmood and Badar Ahmadani, owners of two home health care agencies, were convicted of various offenses based on their roles in a $33 million Medicare fraud scheme.  According to evidence presented at trial, Mehmood and Ahmadani paid cash kickbacks to recruiters, who in turn paid cash to patients to induce them to sign up for home health care with Mehmood’s companies:  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 the defendants paid kickbacks to physicians to refer patients to the defendants’ companies for unnecessary home health care services.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 24, 2015

				 California oncologist Dr. Neelesh Bangalore has paid $736,000 to settle allegations that he improperly billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare for certain chemotherapy drugs purchased from an unlicensed foreign pharmaceutical distributor, Warwick Healthcare Solutions Inc., also known as Richards Pharma, a former United Kingdom-based drug distributer that did not have a license to distribute drugs in the United States.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Off-Label and Unapproved Use, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 24, 2015

				 Mohammed Sadiq was sentenced to 80 months in prison and to pay $14.1 million in restitution for his leading role in a $12.6 million Medicare and tax fraud scheme.  Sadiq, who owned and directed operations at two home health care companies in Detroit, admitted billing Medicare for home health services not medically necessary or provided and paying kickbacks to patient recruiters to obtain Medicare beneficiary information used in his scheme.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 23, 2015

				 Evelio Fernandez Penaranda, owner of Miami-area pharmacy Naranja Pharmacy Inc., pleaded guilty for his role in the submission of more than $1.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.  Specifically, Penaranda admitted submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for prescription drugs not prescribed by physicians, not medically necessary and not provided to Medicare beneficiaries.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 17, 2015

				 New Jersey-based construction management company Louis Berger International Inc. admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $17.1 million criminal penalty to resolve charges it bribed foreign officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts.  Specifically, from 1998 through 2010, the company and its employees orchestrated $3.9 million in bribe payments concealed as “commitment fees,” “counterpart per diems,” and other payments to third-party vendors.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCPA, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 16, 2015

				 Neil Godfrey, owner and operator of payment processing company Check Site Inc., pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the unauthorized withdrawal of millions of dollars from consumers’ bank accounts.  Specifically, Godfrey admitted he used Check Site Inc. to assist at least two merchants that operated websites purportedly offering payday loans but that instead simply stole money from the consumers’ bank accounts.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 15, 2015

				 Interstate Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, agreed to install pollution control technology and meet stringent emission rates to reduce harmful air pollution from the company’s seven coal-fired power plants in Iowa.  The settlement also requires the company to spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects and pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 14, 2015

				 Hector Hernandez, a Miami-area real estate developer and owner of the mortgage company Great Country Mortgage Bankers, pleaded guilty to a mortgage fraud scheme involving federally insured mortgages that caused losses of $64 million to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Specifically, while most of Great Country’s potential borrowers did not qualify for the FHA-insured loans, Hector Hernandez and his business partner, Aleida Fontao, directed Great Country employees to falsify important documents in the potential borrowers’ loan applications to make them appear qualified.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Housing and Mortgage Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 10, 2015

				 Detroit area doctor Farid Fata was sentenced to 45 years in prison and to forfeit $17.6 million for his role in a health care fraud scheme that included administering medically unnecessary infusions or injections to 553 individual patients and submitting to Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $34 million in fraudulent claims.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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