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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 25, 2022

				 Textile manufacturer HEYtex USA will pay $3 million to resolve an action brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act alleging that the company knowingly supplied fabrics to the U.S. military that failed to meet contract specifications, and falsely certified that its military-grade fabrics met specifications when, in fact, they had failed to pass required testing.  The whistleblower first reported the falsified test results to company management, but was initially ignored.  USAO WD Va				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Certifications, 
													  Contract Non-Compliance, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 24, 2022

				 Switzerland-based mining and commodity trading firm Glencore International A.G. and an affiliate have agreed to pay over $1.1 billion in criminal penalties and forfeitures, and will plead guilty to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to engage in commodity price manipulation.  In addition, the companies will pay over $1.186 billion in civil penalties and disgorgement in settlement with the CFTC.  As part of the criminal plea agreement, Glencore admitted that between 2007 and 2018, it corruptly provided more than $100 million in payments and other things of value to intermediaries for the payment of bribes to officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  With respect to the commodity price manipulation scheme, the CFTC found that from as early as 2007 through at least 2018, Glencore sought to increase profits from its physical and derivatives oil products trading by manipulating or attempting to manipulate four U.S. based S&P Global Platts physical oil benchmarks and related futures and swaps.  Criminal fines and forfeitures total over $700 million for the FCPA violations and nearly $486 million for the for the market manipulation violations, which amounts are subject to credits for amounts paid to the CFTC and foreign authorities including the United Kingdom.  The $1.186 billion CFTC resolution will also be reduced, with Glencore receiving credit for payments in the criminal resolutions.  DOJ; USAO SDNY; CFTC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  FCPA, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, 
													  Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 24, 2022

				 The owners of the Motor Vessel Joanna, Empire Bulkers Limited and Joanna Maritime Limited, will pay $2 million and plead guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, admitting to knowingly falsifying the ship’s Oil Record Book to conceal unlawful discharges of oil.  Modifications to the vessel’s oil content monitor had been made so that discharge samples from the oily water separator were diluted with fresh water, thereby leading the oil content monitor to report erroneous concentrations.  DOJ; USAO ED LA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
													  Ocean Dumping, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 24, 2022

				 Dr. Roger Wang will pay over $1 million for violations of the False Claims Act committed by charging Medicare for non-FDA-approved drugs and associated services. Dr. Wang, a rheumatology specialist, injected his patients with drugs like Synvisc, Synvisc One, or Orthovisc—vicosupplements used to treat osteoarthritis pain—that were not FDA-approved for distribution in the US, and therefore not billable to Medicare. USAO NDCA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Drug Switching, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Off-Label and Unapproved Use, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 23, 2022

				 Art dealer Inigo Philbrick will spend 7 years in prison and forfeit over $86 million for defrauding investors to finance his art business. Over a 3-year period, from 2016 through 2019, Philbrick misrepresented the ownership of certain artworks, selling multiple ownership interests in an artwork totaling more than 100%; created fraudulent contracts and records to further the scheme; made material misrepresentations and omissions to collectors, investors, and lenders; and sold or used artworks as collateral on loans without the knowledge of the artworks’ co-owners. The fraud was eventually exposed when investors learned of the fraudulent records and material misrepresentations Philbrick had made, and a lender notified Philbrick that he was in default on a $14 million loan. USAO SDNY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Accounting Fraud, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 19, 2022

				 Healthcare testing company VirtuOx, Inc. agreed to pay $3.15 million to resolve claims brought in an action initiated by a whistleblower alleging that falsely billed Medicare for pulse oximetry testing.  VirtuOx allegedly reported San Francisco as the location for overnight pulse oximetry testing when, in fact, no services were performed at that location, but that location resulted in a higher Medicare reimbursement.  In addition, VirtuOx allegedly billed Medicare for both oxygen “spot checks” and overnight pulse oximetry testing, when only the overnight testing was performed.  The whistleblower, Amber Watt, will receive an award of $630,000.  USAO SD FL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bundling and Unbundling, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 18, 2022

				 Pat Truglia will spend 120 months in prison, forfeit over $9.4 million, and will pay restitution of $33.7 million for conspiring to defraud Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA, among others, of approximately $50 million through their fraudulent billing scheme. The scheme involved offering, paying, soliciting, and receiving kickback for durable medical equipment—in this case, braces. Truglia and his conspirators obtained DME orders for Medicare and other federal healthcare program beneficiaries by running multiple call centers, which paid kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies, who then paid doctors to write medically unnecessary orders. The orders were filled by Truglia’s companies, who then fraudulently billed the healthcare programs. USAO NJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 18, 2022

				 Seven companies in South Korea have agreed to a joint settlement of $3.1 million to resolve allegations that they conspired to suppress and eliminate competition in bidding on 15 contracts for construction and engineering work on U.S. military bases in South Korea awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 2016 and 2019.  The government alleged that as a result of the bid-rigging by the companies, Korea Engineering Consultants Corporation, Yul Lim Construction Co. Ltd., Shin Woo Construction & Industrial Co. Ltd., Seongbo Const. Ind. Co. Ltd., Wooseok Construction Co. Ltd., Yuil Engineering and Construction Co., and Seokwang Development Co. Ltd., the government paid substantially more for services performed under the contracts than it otherwise would have.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 18, 2022

				 Peter Bolos and Michael Palso, owners of Synergy Pharmacy, were sentenced to 14 years and 33 months in prison, respectively, and each will pay $24.6 million in restitution for defrauding pharmacy benefit managers into authorizing millions of dollars in claims paid to pharmacies controlled by the defendants. Bolos will forfeit an additional $2.5 million. The conspiracy involved cold-calling patients and deceiving them into accepting certain drugs (i.e., pain creams, scar creams, and vitamins) and providing their personal insurance information to receive them. The scheme impacted both private and public insurers, including Medicaid and TRICARE. DOJ, USAO EDTN				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Compounding Pharmacy Fraud, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
May 17, 2022

				 Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC pleaded guilty to securities fraud and agreed to pay a criminal fine of $2.3 billion, an SEC penalty of $675 million, and over $5 billion in disgorgement and restitution to victims.  Three former AGI senior portfolio managers, Gregoire Tournant, Trevor Taylor, and Stephen Bond-Nelson, also pleaded guilty to related charges and will be sentenced at a later date.  As part of its plea, AGI admitted that between 2014 and 2020, AGI and the individual defendants made false and misleading statements to current and prospective investors in AGI’s Structured Alpha Funds which understated downside risks and overstated the level of independent risk oversight over the funds.  While the funds promised risk management and hedging, the actual investment strategy prioritized returns over risk management, and the promised hedging positions were not purchased.  To conceal losses and understate the magnitude of the actual risks, defendants fraudulently altered numerous financial reports and other information provided to investors.  The scheme was exposed when the funds experienced billions in losses during the 2020 COVID-related market volatility. With its guilty plea, AGI US is disqualified from providing advisory services to U.S.-registered investment funds for the next ten years, and will exit the business of conducting these fund services.  SEC; DOJ; SDNY				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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