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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
July 2, 2021

				 Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson of Sweden has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $16 million, including several properties and a resort in Thailand, in one of the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes ever prosecuted in the United States.  Starting in 2011 until his arrest in Thailand in 2019, Karlsson induced thousands of investors from around the country and over 45 countries around the world to use cryptocurrency to purchase shares in an entity he called Eastern Metal Securities, by falsely claiming that it was run by award-winning economists and had zero risk of loss.  He then misappropriated at least $1.5 million to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself.  USAO NDCA; DOJ; SEC				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 2, 2021

				 An Ohio-based hospital system that has since been acquired by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has agreed to pay over $21 million to resolve alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, Physician Self-Referral Law, and False Claims Act.  Between 2010 and 2016, Akron General Health System (AGHS) allegedly paid area physician groups far above fair market value in order to induce referrals, then submitted claims arising from those illegal referrals to federal healthcare programs.  The settlement resolves a qui tam suit brought forth by former internal audit director at AGHS, Beverly Brouse, and Ethical Solutions LLC.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 2, 2021

				 Select Medical Corporation (SMC) and Encore GC Acquisition LLL have agreed to pay $8.4 million to settle allegations that contract rehabilitation therapy provider Select Medical Rehabilitation Services Inc. (SMRS)—a previous subsidiary of SMC and current subsidiary of Encore—violated the False Claims Act.  According to former SMRS employee Melissa Vail, SMRS’s desire to maximize profits led it to provide medically unnecessary, unreasonable, and unskilled therapy services, and subsequently caused twelve skilled nursing facilities in the New York and New Jersey area to submit false claims to Medicare over a six-year period.  USAO NJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Improper Medical Personnel, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
													  SNF, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 30, 2021

				 Armed Forces Services Corporation (AFSC) d/b/a Magellan Federal has agreed to pay over $4.3 million to resolve its liability under the False Claims Act.  In a written disclosure to the U.S. Small Business Administration, AFSC revealed that a former executive had orchestrated kickbacks for himself and two other executives in exchange for awarding subcontractors work on federal contracts.  USAO EDVA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Set-Asides and Preferences, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 29, 2021

				 Accountant Steven Brown, who operated a financial consulting and investment company called Alpha Trade Analytics, Inc., has been sentenced to over 4 years in prison and ordered to pay over $3.3 million in restitution for running a Ponzi scheme that affected 48 victims, many of whom were connected to a nonprofit that provided dance and theater arts education to children.  Through his role as an accountant for the nonprofit, Brown received access to high-net-worth individuals, whom he encouraged to invest with Alpha Trade through false promises.  When it came time to pay out investors, Brown used funds from new investors, as well as funds embezzled from the nonprofit.  USAO CDCA				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 29, 2021

				 A man in Minnesota who allegedly defrauded two dozen investor clients out of $2.3 million has been sentenced to 7 years in prison.  Isaiah Leslie Goodman, a registered investment advisor and owner of Becoming Financial Group, Inc., Becoming Financial Advisory Services L.L.C., and MoneyVerbs, allegedly lied to prospective and existing clients while misappropriating their funds for his own use.  As part of his sentence, Goodman will forfeit some of his ill-gotten gains.  USAO MN				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 25, 2021

				 UK-based global engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, a subsidiary of John Wood Group plc, has agreed to pay more than $40.7 million in criminal fines, disgorgement, and interest, and enter into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement to settle foreign bribery charges involving a $190 million contract from state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) to design a gas-to-chemicals complex in Brazil.  Through employees located in New York and Texas, Amec Foster Wheeler allegedly conspired with others to pay bribes to win the contract, earning at least $12.9 million in profit as a result. The company also reached settlements with the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office and Brazilian authorities, and will receive credits for payments made to those entities. USAO EDNY; DOJ; SEC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  FCPA, 
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 25, 2021

				 Multinational telecommunications and internet service provider Level 3 Communications, LLC has agreed to pay over $12.7 million to resolve claims a former employee brought under the False Claims Act, alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Act, False Claims Act, and Procurement Integrity Act.  Under a contract with the General Services Administration, Level 3 allegedly accepted kickbacks from subcontractors MSO Tech, Inc. and P.V.S. Inc. in exchange for steering work to them.  Additionally, under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security, Level 3 allegedly maintained that subcontractor PVS qualified as a contractually obligated woman-owned small business when in fact PVS is owned by a man.  USAO EDVA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Set-Asides and Preferences, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 25, 2021

				 Connecticut Addiction Medicine, LLC (CAM) and its owners, Dr. Jay Benson and Dr. Mahboob Aslam, have agreed to pay over $1 million to resolve their liability under the False Claims Act in connection with overcharges for urine drug tests that they caused to Medicare and Medicaid.  As part of their standard practice, CAM ran presumptive tests in-house but also sent the same sample out to an independent reference laboratory for definitive tests.  CAM then billed federal healthcare programs for the medically unnecessary presumptive tests.  USAO CT				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Provider Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
June 25, 2021

				 Alabama-based NaphCare Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $700,000 to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act in connection with healthcare services provided to inmates housed in an Indiana-based Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.  Between 2014 and 2020, NaphCare allegedly defaulted to charging the government for higher-level services than were provided when physicians failed to indicate the level of service provided.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Correctional Services Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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