1. Home
  2. Practices
  3. Whistleblower Representation
  4. Recent Government Enforcement
  5. DOJ Enforcement Actions
Have a Claim?

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

1-347-417-2192 
								
			


								
						
			


								
			

	
Whistleblower Quiz

	
Would you blow the whistle?

 Take our Quiz


									
	
						

		

			
			

				

					
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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
April 12, 2022

				 Providence Health & Services Washington has agreed to pay $22.7 million to settle allegations of submitting false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.  According to an unnamed whistleblower, who will receive a $4.2 million relator’s share, the hospital allegedly gave their neurosurgeons volume-based financial incentives to perform complex surgeries, thereby incentivizing two neurosurgeons to perform an excessive number of complex surgeries on inappropriate candidates without regard to medical necessity or patient safety, and ultimately causing an excessive level of complications.  USAO EDWA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  FCA State, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 12, 2022

				 Aaron Aqueron of Florida has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $5.9 million in restitution to the IRS for promoting a nationwide scheme that caused more than $7.6 million in fraudulent tax refund claims to be filed.  The scheme involved convincing more than 200 participants in at least 19 states that they were entitled to tax refunds due to debt, then using the participants’ financial information to prepare tax returns with false information.  Two other co-conspirators, Iran Backstrom and Mehef Bey, were sentenced to more than 8 years and 11 years in prison respectively.  USAO MDFL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 12, 2022

				 Physician Partners of America LLC (PPOA), its founder Rodolfo Gari, and its former chief medical officer Dr. Abraham Rivera, have agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle allegations of violating the Stark Law, False Claims Act, and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA).  The settlement resolved claims by whistleblowers Donald Haight, Dawn Baker, Dr. Harold Cho, Dr. Venus Dookwah-Roberts, and Dr. Michael Lupi, all currently or formerly employed with PPOA.  According to the whistleblowers and the government, PPOA allegedly billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary testing, paid illegal kickbacks to its physician employees, and made false statements on a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program.  USAO MDFL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Programs Fraud, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 11, 2022

				 The former managing partner and chief investment officer of Manhattan-based International Investment Group (IIG) has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding IIG clients and investors of over $120 million.  David Hu had pled guilty in January 2021 to overvaluing distressed loans, creating fake loans to hide losses, selling overvalued and fake loans to a collateralized loan obligation trust, and using proceeds to pay earlier investors.  In addition to the prison sentence, he was also ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release, with a restitution order to be imposed at a later date.  USAO SDNY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 11, 2022

				 Six California-based companies that conspired with a Chinese billionaire to defraud U.S. Customs and Border Protection and investors worldwide have been ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution.  A federal jury found that Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC, Scuderia Development LLC, 1001 Doubleday LLC, Von Karman – Main Street LLC, and 10681 Production Avenue LLC skirted the U.S.’s anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on certain types of extruded aluminum imported from China by disguising them as functional pallets.  USAO CDCA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Customs Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 6, 2022

				 Florida hospital chain BayCare Health System Inc. will pay $20 million to resolve claims that the company knowingly caused false claims for federal Medicaid matching funds to be submitted to the United States by making improper, non-bona fide cash donations to the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (JWB) knowing that the funds would be transferred by JWB to the State of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration for Florida’s Medicaid Program, which would trigger a corresponding federal matching payment.  The prohibition on non-bona fide donations ensures that states are paying a share of Medicaid payments; the non-bona fide donations increased Medicaid payments received by BayCare without any actual expenditure of state or local funds and enabled BayCare to recoup its original donations to JWB and also receive federal matching funds. The case was initiated with a qui tam complaint filed by Larry Bomar, who will receive $5 million as an award for initiating the whistleblower action. DOJ; MD FL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
April 5, 2022

				 Wind energy provider ESI Energy Inc. pleaded guilty to violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), agreeing to fines and restitution of $8 million and to implement management and mitigation programs valued at up to $27 million in order to minimize eagle deaths associated with its facilities.  ESI did not apply for “eagle take permits” in connection with wind energy facilities it constructed and operated.  The government alleged that ESI sought to avoid MBTA requirements that could have delayed operation of its facilities or reduced their operation, and received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax credits for generating electricity from wind power at facilities that it operated, knowing that multiple eagles would be killed and wounded without legal authorization.  USAO WY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 31, 2022

				 Seth Levine, Norse Holdings’ founder, received a 97-month sentence for his decade-long, $60 million refinancing- and securities-related real estate fraud. Levine, through his 70-plus companies, directed the scheme, submitting falsified documents which inflated the value of the subject properties. The overvaluation of properties led to shortfalls, which Levine covered with cash-out refinances, leaving victim lenders with at least $47 million in losses. Levine defrauded securities investors of at least $13 million by inducing them to invest in multifamily properties. Levine overstated his personal investment in the properties via forged documents provided to investors, sold portions of his properties without investor consent, and brought on additional investors without investor consent—all contrary to representations made during the solicitation. USAO NJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Housing and Mortgage Fraud, 
													  Securities Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 31, 2022

				 Clinical laboratory Radeas LLC has agreed to pay $11.6 million to resolve claims that it submitted false claims to Medicare for medically-unnecessary urine drug tests.  As part of the settlement agreement, Radeas admitted that it regularly performed and billed Medicare for essentially simultaneous presumptive qualitative drug testing and confirmatory quantitative drug testing.  Without physician review of a presumptive test result, the separate, simultaneous confirmatory test was often not necessary.  Radeas also admitted that it paid third-party sales organizations based on the volume of UDT referrals in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  USAO MA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicare, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 30, 2022

				 Multiple sales representatives of Delaware-based pharmacy, Heritage Therapeutics, LLC have been ordered to forfeit and/or pay fines totaling over $8.7 million after they were found to have paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for prescribing expensive compounded medications to TRICARE beneficiaries.  Additionally, Heritage and various executives have entered into a settlement agreement to resolve claims under the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act.  USAO EDPA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Other Government Health Programs, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
1
…
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
…
254
								

						

					

												
		
 
	
 

 



	


	

		

			

								
							
Learn about Whistleblower Rewards Programs
			
	
		

		
	
			

									

													False Claims Act					  							State & Local False Claims Acts					  							SEC Program					  							CFTC Program					  							IRS Program					  					

								See More			
	
		

	
		

	




	


	

		

			

				

					

						
Newsletter

						
Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

					
	
				
	
			
	
			
	
				
Sign up for: