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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.

September 13, 2013

Gulf Region Radiation Oncology Centers, Sacred Heart Health System, West Florida Medical Center Clinic and others agreed to pay $3.5M to resolve allegations that they billed Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE – the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees and their families worldwide – for radiation oncology services that were not eligible for payment. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

August 29, 2013

Conax Florida Corp. agreed to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company submitted false claims to the government for improperly tested inertia reels and non-conforming voltage references. Inertia reels are part of a system designed to secure aircrew members in the event of a crash. Voltage references are electronic parts used in water-activated parachute releases. Both devices are used by the U.S. military and NASA. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

August 28, 2013

RPM International Inc. and its subsidiary, Tremco Inc. paid $61M to resolve allegations that Tremco filed false claims in connection with two multiple award schedule contracts with the General Services Administration for roofing supplies and services. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

August 27, 2013

Imagimed LLC and the company’s former owners and chief radiologist agreed to pay $3.57M to resolve allegations that they submitted to federal healthcare programs false claims for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

August 22, 2013

ATI Enterprises Inc. will pay the government $3.7M to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it falsely certified compliance with federal student aid programs’ eligibility requirements and submitted claims for ineligible students. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

December 18, 2015

Thirty-two hospitals in 15 states agreed to pay more than $28 million to settle charges they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare for minimally-invasive kyphoplasty procedures used to treat certain spinal fractures often arising from osteoporosis.  According to the government, the settling hospitals billed Medicare for these procedures on a more costly inpatient basis when they should have been billed on a less costly outpatient basis.  The government has now reached settlements with more than 130 hospitals totaling approximately $105 million to resolve allegations of overcharging Medicare for kyphoplasty procedures.  The 15 current settling hospitals include: The Cleveland Clinic (Ohio); Citrus Memorial Health System (Florida); Cullman Regional Medical Center (Alabama); Martin Memorial Medical Center (Florida); MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital (Washington); Norwalk Hospital (Connecticut); Princeton Community Hospital Association (West Virginia); Sacred Heart Medical Center (Washington); Sarasota Memorial Hospital (Florida); Spartanburg Regional Health Services District Inc. (South Carolina); St. Cloud Hospital (Minnesota); Tampa General Hospital (Florida); 5 hospitals affiliated with Community Health Systems Inc. (Tennessee); 5 hospitals affiliated with Tenet Health Care Corporation (Texas); 5 hospitals formerly owned and operated by Health Management Associates (Florida); 3 hospitals affiliated with BayCare Health System (Florida); and 2 hospitals affiliated with Banner Health (Arizona).  In addition, the government previously settled with Medtronic Spine LLC, the corporate successor to Kyphon Inc., for $75 million to settle allegations the company caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare by counseling hospital providers to perform kyphoplasty procedures as inpatient rather than outpatient procedures.  All but 3 of the current settlements originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Craig Patrick, a former Kyphon reimbursement manager, and Charles Bates, a former Kyphon sales manager for Kyphon.  They will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $4.75 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.  DOJ

June 24, 2015

Dr. Alon Vanier and nurse Daniel Barbir will receive a very sizeable whistleblower award from the $450 million DaVita Healthcare Partners, Inc. agreed to pay to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by purposely creating and then billing the government for unnecessary waste in administering the drugs Zemplar and Venofer to dialysis patients.

June 9, 2015

Josh Harman will receive a whistleblower award of nearly $19 million from the $663 million highway guardrail maker Trinity Industries was ordered to pay for violating the False Claims Act by defrauding the Federal Highway Administration by making a critical change to the dimensions of its ET-Plus guardrail in 2005, but failing to tell federal regulators as required by law.  NYT

June 5, 2015

Former DC Public Schools employee Jeffrey Mills will receive a yet-to-be-determined whistleblower award from the $19.4 million paid by Chartwells, a division of Compass Group USA, Inc. and Thompson Hospitality Services LLC to settle charges the company violated the False Claims Act by overcharging DC public schools in connection with its school lunch program contracts.  DC

April 23, 2015

German-based Deutsche Bank AG and its UK-based subsidiary DB Group Services (UK) Limited agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to settle US and UK allegations relating to their role in manipulating and false reporting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Euribor.  In addition to the monetary payout, DB Group Services agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and Deutsche Bank entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve wire fraud and price-fixing charges. The settlement payment consists of an $800 million CFTC penalty, a $600 million penalty payable to the New York Department of Financial Services, $344 million payable to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action, and criminal penalties and disgorgement payable in an agreement with DOJ, including a $150 million fine payable by DB Group Services and a $625 million penalty payable by Deutsche Bank.  DOJ; CFTC; NY

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