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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 4, 2021

				 For causing more than $100 million in losses to employers, employees, financial institutions, and financing companies and laundering more than $1 billion in stolen funds, Michael Mann, the owner of shuttered payroll service companies ValueWise and MyPayrollHR, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.  In addition to misappropriating payroll funds and money laundering, Mann was also found to have fraudulently obtained tens of millions of dollars in loans from three financing companies, as well as fraudulently obtained lines of credit from several banks in the New York area.  NY AG; USAO NDNY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Money Laundering, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 3, 2021

				 Bermuda bank Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited will pay $5.6 million and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve charges that between 2001 and 2013 it assisted U.S.-taxpayer clients in opening and maintaining undeclared foreign bank accounts.  The bank has provided the government with approximately 386 unredacted client files.  USAO SDNY; IRS				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Abusive Tax Shelters, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 2, 2021

				 Diabetic testing supply company Arriva Medical LLC and its parent company Alere Inc. will pay $160 million to resolve claims first brought in a whistleblower case alleging that Arriva provided unlawful patient inducements in the form of “free” or “no cost” glucometers and copayment waivers.  Defendants were alleged to have systematically provided all new patients with glucometers, and billed Medicare for those meters, although Medicare beneficiaries are only eligible for a new meter once every five years.  In addition, Arriva was alleged to have billed Medicare for deceased beneficiaries.  The whistleblower, Gregory Goodman, who was an employee at an Arriva call center, will receive a whistleblower award of $28.5 million.  Executives at Arriva previously agreed to a settlement of claims against them.  DOJ; USAO MD Tenn				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Medical Devices and DME, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 28, 2021

				 Clothing companies Stargate Apparel, Inc. (now known as Excel Apparel Corp.), Rivstar Apparel, Inc. (now defunct), and former CEO and owner Joseph Bailey have agreed to pay a total of $6 million to settle a whistleblower’s allegations that they submitted false claims to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  Between 2004 and 2015, Stargate, Rivstar, and Bailey allegedly engaged in two different fraud schemes to avoid paying millions of dollars in customs duties.  Both of the schemes involved submitting separate invoices to the CBP, which underreported the true value of goods being imported into the United States.  USAO SDNY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Customs Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 23, 2021

				 Alabama non-profit SpectraCare Health Systems, Inc., which provides services including developmental disability services, intermediate care medical services, and behavioral health services, agreed to pay $1 million to resolve claims first brought in a whistleblower action alleging that the provider improperly billed Alabama Medicaid and failed to return overpayments to the Alabama Medicaid Agency.  The defendant was alleged to have submitted false claims including claims without correct and complete documentation, and duplicate claims, and to have knowingly retained payments it received to which it was not entitled.  The settlement will be split between the federal government and the Alabama Medicaid Agency, with the whistleblower receiving 19% of the federal recovery.  USAO MD AL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  FCA State, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 23, 2021

				 California-based Interface Rehab has agreed to pay $2 million to settle claims arising from a qui tam suit by its former director of rehab, Keith Pennetti.  According to Pennetti, Interface violated the False Claims Act when it pressured its therapists to increase the amount of therapy provided to Medicare Part A residents at eleven facilities, with no regard to medical necessity, and caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare.  For instigating the action, Pennetti will receive $360,000 of the settlement proceeds.  USAO CDCA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicare, 
													  SNF, 
													  Upcoding, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 22, 2021

				 Medical laboratory Bluewater Toxicology, LLC, agreed to pay $1.2 million following its self-report of overbilling for urine drug testing services.  In billing Medicare, Kentucky Medicaid, Indiana Medicaid, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA, Bluewater was alleged to have submitted false claims that misrepresented the number of drugs tested in definitive urine drug tests, that lacked sufficient documentation, or that were for specimen validity testing that is not separately billable to Medicare.  USAO ED KY				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  FCA State, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 21, 2021

				 Alliance Family of Companies LLC, a national electroencephalography testing company, and Ancor Holdings LP, a private insurance company, have agreed to pay a combined $15.3 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.  According to a number of whistleblowers, Alliance provided free electroencephalography (EEG) interpretation reports to induce physician orders, caused physicians to submit false claims to the government, used inaccurate billing codes to generate higher reimbursements, and billed for a specialized digital analysis that it didn’t actually perform.  The whistleblowers also alleged that while performing due diligence prior to investing in Alliance, Ancor learned of the kickbacks but allowed them to continue after the change in management.  Two of the whistlebl­owers involved will share a reward of nearly $3 million.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  Defendants, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Upcoding, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 20, 2021

				 Sage Consulting Group, Inc., and its president and owner Robert Pleghardt, agreed to pay $4.8 million to resolve claims that they paid kickbacks to two business, Wete & Company, Inc. and Index Systems, Inc., which were SBA certified as small businesses owned and operated by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, to permit Sage to represent that those companies would be performing at least 50% of the work as subcontractors on Sage’s contracts with the Department of Defense Education Activity and Defense Human Resources Activity when, in fact, Sage performed 100% of the work.  USAO EDVA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Set-Asides and Preferences, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 20, 2021

				 Rheumatologist Enrico Arguelles and his practice, Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Billings, Montana, agreed to pay $1.27 million and relinquish Medicare claims for $802,000 in settlement of claims that they improperly billed for MRI scans and patient visits, and billed for biologic infusions such as Remicade where the treatment was not medically necessary.  USAO MT				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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