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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
May 18, 2015

				 A federal jury in Chicago convicted Rick E. Brown, the president of the in-home visiting physicians group Home Care America Inc., and Mary C. Talaga, the group’s biller, for their participation in a $4.5 million health care fraud scheme that included billing Medicare for services rendered to patients who were dead and services rendered by medical professionals who worked over 24 hours in a day.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 14, 2015

				 Westchester County Health Care Corporation (d/b/a Westchester Medical Center) agreed to pay $18.8 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law.  According to the government, from approximately 2000 through 2007, WMC maintained a financial relationship with Cardiology Consultants of Westchester, P.C., a cardiology practice formerly operating on WMC’s Valhalla campus.  WMC allegedly advanced monies to CCW to open a practice for the express purpose of generating referrals to the hospital.  When CCW began making payments to WMC purportedly repaying the advances, WMC entered into retroactive, no-work consulting agreements under which it paid CCW tens of thousands of dollars.  WMC also allegedly allowed CCW to use WMC’s fellows in CCW’s private office free of charge, contrary to WMC’s historic practice.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 14, 2015

				 Three subsidiaries of North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corporation, the largest utility in the United States, pleaded guilty to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act at several of its North Carolina facilities and agreed to pay a $68 million criminal fine and spend $34 million on environmental projects and land conservation to benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia.  Four of the charges are the direct result of the massive coal ash spill from the Dan River steam station into the Dan River near Eden, North Carolina, in February 2014.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 14, 2015

				 PharMerica Corporation, an organization of long-term care pharmacies that dispense medications to residents of nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities across the country, agreed to pay $31.5 million to settle charges it violated the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing Schedule II controlled drugs without a valid prescription and violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare for these improperly dispensed drugs.  The government’s allegations against PharMerica arose out of whistleblower lawsuit brought by Jennifer Denk, a pharmacist formerly employed by PharMerica, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Ms. Denk will receive a whistleblower award of $4.3 million.  Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
													  SNF, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 13, 2015

				 Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, a registered nurse and former owner of Lutemi Medical Supply, was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,372,466 for her role in an $8.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.  The evidence at trial showed that Fadojutimi and her co-conspirators paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters in exchange for patient referrals, and additional kickbacks to physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, such as power wheelchairs.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 13, 2015

				 Healthcare technology company Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. agreed to pay $5.9 million to resolve False Claims Act charges of overcharging the Department of Defense for purchases of medical imaging equipment.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Contract Non-Compliance, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 12, 2015

				 Alexander Lara,  an owner of Miami home health care company Longcare Home Health Corporation was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $13,771,528.94 in restitution and to forfeit $13,771,528.94 for his leading role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme that involved paying kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and others in South Florida doctors’ offices and medical clinics.  Lara admitted his company fraudulently billed the Medicare program for expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary or not provided at all.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 12, 2015

				 Garfield M. Taylor was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay over $28.6 million in restitution for operating a Ponzi scheme that resulted in investors losing money they invested with Taylor and companies he controlled.  In a parallel action, the SEC obtained a civil judgment against Taylor for his fraudulent conduct.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 11, 2015

				 Former CIA officer Jeffrey A. Sterling was sentenced to 42 months in prison for disclosing national defense information and obstructing justice.  Sterling disclosed classified information about a clandestine operational program concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons program to a New York Times reporter in 2003.  Sterling was found guilty by a federal jury on January 26, 2015.  DOJ				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 11, 2015

				 Tonawanda Coke Corp. agreed to pay $2.75 million in civil penalties, $7.9 million to reduce air pollution and enhance air and water quality and $1.3 million for environmental projects in the area of Tonawanda, New York.  The settlement stems from the company’s violations of the Clean Air Act which resulted in releases of coke oven gas, which contains benzene and other harmful chemicals.  Tonawanda failed to install air pollution controls on its coke ovens, failed to properly monitor equipment for coke oven gas leaks, failed to conduct required annual maintenance inspections of emission controls and proper operations and maintenance and failed to complete multiple required reports among other violations.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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