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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 10, 2015

				 Army National Guard Sergeant First Class Jason Rappoccio was sentenced to 42 months in prison and to forfeit $31,328 for accepting a $30,000 bribe in exchange for steering a $3.6 million contract to Timothy Bebus, a retired sergeant major of the Minnesota Army National Guard, and his consulting company Mil-Team Consulting.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 8, 2015

				 George H. Lee, president and CEO of American Logistics Services, a Kuwaiti company providing supplies to the U.S. military during the Iraq War, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for paying a $15,000 bribe to former Army National Guard Lieutenant Markus E. McClain in exchange for the award of a contract.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 8, 2015

				 Maria Elizabeth Townsend, president of Washington-based Townsend Controls Inc., was sentenced to serve more than three years in prison and pay $3,327,124.49 in restitution following her February 2015 conviction of 10 counts of failing to pay federal employment taxes. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Employment Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 8, 2015

				 New Jersey doctor Frank Santangelo was sentenced to 63 months in prison and to forfeit more than $1.8 million for accepting $1.8 million in bribes to refer millions of dollars in business to Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC.  Including Santangelo, 38 people, 26 of them doctors, have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, which its organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 6, 2015

				 LB&B Associates Inc. and its principals, Lily A. Brandon and F. Edward Brandon, agreed to pay $7.8 million to resolve allegations they made false statements to obtain contracts through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) Business Development Program for Small Disadvantaged Businesses.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Steven O. Sansbury and James T. Buechler, former employees of LB&B, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  They will receive a whistleblower award of $1.5 million.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Set-Asides and Preferences, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 2, 2015

				 BP disclosed it has reached agreements in principle with the United States, state, and local governments for a settlement of civil claims arising from the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The total value of the settlement would top $18.7 billion and be the largest settlement with a single company in American history.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 1, 2015

				 The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Acino Products LLC and its president, Ravi Deshpande, to prevent the distribution of unapproved and misbranded drugs.  Specifically, the injunction involves hydrocortisone acetate suppositories under the brand names Rectacort-HC and GRx HiCort 25 and government charges these suppositories are not approved by the FDA and are misbranded because they do not bear adequate directions for use as required by law.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Off-Label and Unapproved Use, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 30, 2015

				 VMware Inc. and Carahsoft Technology Corporation agreed to pay $75.5 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting their commercial pricing practices and overcharging the government on VMware software products and related services.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Dane Smith, a former vice president of the Americas at VMware Inc., under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  He will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from a portion of the government’s recovery.  Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Pricing Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 30, 2015

				 Community Health Network agreed to pay $20,324,902.22 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  According to the government, since the late 1990s through October 2009, CHN had contracts with free-standing ambulatory surgery centers under which they  would provide out-patient surgical services to CHN patients.  CHN would then bill Medicare and Medicaid for the surgical services through the billing departments of its hospitals so it could improperly receive higher reimbursement rates.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 30, 2015

				 Sylvia Walter-Eze, the former owner of medical equipment supply company Ezcor Medical Supply, was sentenced to 97 months in prison for her role in a fraud scheme that resulted in $3.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal.  She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amounts of $1,866,260 to Medicare and $73,268 to Medi-Cal.  The evidence presented at trial showed that Walter-Eze fraudulently billed more than $3.5 million to Medicare and Medi-Cal for products not medically necessary and paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters in exchange for patient referrals.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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