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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
January 5, 2022

				 Two Florida men, Reinier Gonzalez Caballero and Alexeis Napoles Manresa, have each been sentenced to a little over four years in prison for laundering the ill-gotten proceeds of a $3 million healthcare fraud scheme against Medicare.  Over a couple months in 2019, durable medical equipment company Universal Ortho Supplies, Inc. billed Medicare for orthosis and prosthetics that were never prescribed by physicians, nor provided to patients.  The reimbursements were then turned over to the defendants, who attempted to disguise the source of the funds by setting up shell corporations and opening up fake bank accounts.  Two co-conspirators have already been convicted and sentenced; another two have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.  USAO SDFL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Money Laundering, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
January 4, 2022

				 A rabbi who was shot at an attack on a San Diego synagogue in April 2019 has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution for defrauding the IRS, several Fortune 500 companies, and multiple public and private agencies.  In exchange for a 10% cut, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein provided fake donation receipts from the Chabad of Poway that helped co-conspirators claim illegal tax deductions or pocket matching donations from their employers.  He also let his brother, Mendel Goldstein, conceal income from the IRS by allowing him to deposit nearly $1 million in bank accounts belonging to the Chabad.  Lastly, with co-conspirator Alexander Avergoon, the rabbi used false information and fake records to fraudulently apply for emergency funds, grants, and loans from FEMA, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and private foundations.  USAO SDCA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 23, 2021

				 Military housing provider Balfour Beatty Communities LLC will pay over $65 million and plead guilty to fraud charges arising from their scheme to secure incentive payments on contracts by submitting falsified information claiming to have met performance objectives when, in fact, they had not met those objectives.  BBC employees altered or manipulated data in property management software regarding property maintenance and destroyed and falsified resident comment cards.  The settlement agreement and plea agreement includes a $33.6 million criminal fine, over $31.8 million in restitution, and $35.2 million to resolve civil liability under the False Claims Act.  BBC will be on probation for three years and be subject to independent compliance monitoring.  DOJ; USAO SD GA; USAO WD OK				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Contract Non-Compliance, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  Falsifying Invoices, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 21, 2021

				 Information technology contractor Telophase Corporation will pay $1.4 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged NASA under a cost-plus fixed-fee contract.  The government alleged that Telophase submitted false claims for excessive labor hours and costs.  USAO Md				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Falsifying Invoices, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 21, 2021

				 Financial services firm NatWest Markets Plc has pleaded guilty to charges related to its manipulation of the market for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and for the purchase and sale of U.S. Treasury securities in the secondary (cash) market.  NatWest will pay approximately $35 million in criminal fines, restitution, and forfeiture.  The government charged that NatWest traders engaged in spoofing by placing orders with the intent to cancel those orders before execution in order to artificially push up or down the prevailing market price.  DOJ; USAO CT				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 15, 2021

				 David Bellamah, and his business, Bellamah Vein & Surgery, PLLC, will pay $3.75 million to resolve allegations that they billed government healthcare programs for medically unnecessary venous procedures based on false medical records.  Defendants allegedly used improper techniques to conduct and analyze ultrasounds and used false ultrasound findings to diagnoses and treat venous reflux disease and varicose veins. The government’s claims were initiated by the filing a qui tam complaint by Lenore Lezanne, who previously worked as a sonographer at the Bellamah Vein Center; Lezane will receive a whistleblower award of 17% of the amounts recovered.  USAO MT				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 14, 2021

				 Michigan-based Metna Co., a research and development firm which had contracts with the U.S. Army, has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve claims that in improperly concealed its use of foreign nationals on Army Small Business Innovation Research contracts.  The government alleged that Metna employed foreign graduate students on F-1 student visas, misrepresenting their work to their university and paying them substantially less than the hourly labor rate that Metna quoted to the Army in its contract budget proposals.  USAO WD MI				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Certifications, 
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 13, 2021

				 Paul Ricky Mata, who worked as a financial advisor, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay $12.6 million in restitution following his guilty plea on charges related to his fraudulent solicitation of customers for investment in his companies including Secured Capital, which he claimed offered guaranteed returns through investments in “government-backed tax liens,” “asset-backed deed certificates,” and distressed commercial and residential properties.  In fact, Mata, who concealed his long history of disciplinary action by regulators, used investor funds to pay his personal expenses.  USAO CD Cal				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 13, 2021

				 Kevin Cooper, M.D. and his practice, Cooper Family Medical Center, will pay $375,000 to resolve allegations that they fraudulently billed Medicare of non-reimbursable acupuncture devices by using billing codes for surgically implanted devices for the provision of P-Stim electro-acupuncture devices that are affixed behind a patient’s ear using an adhesive.  USAO SD MI				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Upcoding, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 9, 2021

				 Monsanto Company has agreed to plead guilty to charges that it used a glufosinate ammonium-based pesticide, sold as Forfeit 280, on corn fields in Hawaii, and then allowed workers to enter the fields during a six-day restricted-entry interval after the product was applied.  Monsanto will pay $12 million and undertake specified environmental compliance programs.  The government further alleged that Monsanto’s actions violated a 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement regarding Monsanto’s unlawful spraying of a banned pesticide, methyl parathion, the active ingredient in Penncap-M, on research crops at one of its facilities on Maui. USAO CD Cal				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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