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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
August 29, 2014

				 Austin, Texas-based Omni Surgical L.P. (doing business as Spine 360), a manufacturer of devices used in spinal surgery, and Dr. Jamie Gottlieb, an Indiana spinal surgeon, agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle allegations that Spine 360 paid illegal kickbacks to Gottlieb to induce him to use the company’s products in violation of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute. According to the government, Spine 360 made payments to an entity controlled by Gottlieb which were purportedly made pursuant to a series of intellectual property agreements but in reality were sham payments to compensate Gottlieb for using Spine 360 products in his surgeries. DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 27, 2014

				 E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) agreed to pay $1.3 million and take corrective actions to settle government charges of releasing harmful levels of hazardous substances in the Kanawha River in West Virginia in violation of the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. DOJ

August				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 26, 2014

				 ExxonMobil Pipeline Company (ExxonMobil) agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle charges it violated the Clean Water Act stemming from a 2012 crude oil spill from ExxonMobil’s “North Line” pipeline near Torbert, Louisiana. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 26, 2014

				 Annarella Garcia, a co-owner of Professional Medical Home Health LLC, a Miami home health agency, was sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.2 million in restitution for her participation in a health care fraud scheme involving the now defunct home health care company. According to the government, Garcia and others engaged in a scheme to bill Medicare for expensive physical therapy and home health care services that were not medically necessary or were not provided. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 25, 2014

				 Former Hanover Corporation CFO Robert Haley and former Hanover salesman Daryl Bornstein were sentenced to serve 60 months and 70 months in prison, respectively, and ordered to pay $14.5 million in restitution for their roles in an $18 million Ponzi scheme. Hanover’s former CEO was previously sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay $14.7 million in restitution in this case. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 25, 2014

				 Zahid Imran, a Louisiana psychiatrist, was sentenced in federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to serve 86 months in prison and to pay $43.5 million in restitution for his role in a $258.5 million Medicare fraud scheme involving partial hospitalization psychiatric services. According to court documents, Dr. Imran served as the medical director of Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Baton Rouge, and co-owned Serenity Center of Baton Rouge and Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Texas. As part of the scheme, Imran admitted mentally ill patients to the facilities, some of whom were inappropriate for partial hospitalization, and then re-certified the patients’ appropriateness for the program in an effort to continue to bill Medicare for services. Imran pleaded guilty on May 13, 2014, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 21, 2014

				 Bank of America agreed to pay $16.65 billion to resolve federal and state mortgage fraud claims against the bank and its former and current subsidiaries, including Countrywide Financial Corporation andMerrill Lynch. It is the largest civil settlement with a single entity in American history. And it includes a $5 billion penalty under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), the largest FIRREA penalty ever. As part of the settlement, BofA acknowledged misrepresenting the quality of billions of dollars worth of risky mortgage loans. Whistleblower Insider				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  FIRREA, 
													  Housing and Mortgage Fraud, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 20, 2014

				 Muhammad Aamir, owner of the three Michigan home health agencies Prestige Home Health Services, Platinum Home Health Services, and Empirical Home Health Care, pleaded guilty for his role in a $22 million home health care fraud scheme. Specifically, Aamir and his co-conspirators billed Medicare for home health care services that were not actually rendered, not medically necessary, and procured through paying illegal kickbacks. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 20, 2014

				 Berkshire Hathaway agreed to pay $896,000 to settle charges that it violated premerger reporting and waiting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act when it acquired voting securities of USG Corp.DOJ				 			
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 19, 2014

				 NGK Spark Plug Co., an automotive parts manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan, agreed to plead guilty and pay a $52.1 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for spark plugs, standard oxygen sensors, and air fuel ratio sensors sold to auto makers in the US and elsewhere such as DaimlerChrysler, Honda and Toyota. DOJ				 			
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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