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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 10, 2023

				 Colombian financial services institution Corporación Financiera Colombiana S.A. (Corficolombiana) has agreed to pay over $80 million to resolve foreign bribery investigations by criminal, civil, and administrative authorities in the United States and Colombia.  Between 2012 and 2015, Corficolombiana allegedly conspired with Brazilian-based construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. (Odebrecht) to offer and pay more than $20 million in bribes to Colombian government officials in order to win rights to construct and operate a 328-mile toll road.  As a result, Corficolombiana earned more than $28 million in profits.  Now, in addition to the financial penalties that it will pay—which will be divided between DOJ and SEC—the company will be subject to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ.  DOJ; SEC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Bribery and Bid-Rigging, 
													  Criminal Proceedings, 
													  FCPA, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 10, 2023

				 Redman Services Inc. and owner Jerry Lee Redman pleaded guilty to underreporting the business’s gross receipts on its corporate income tax returns and underreported his income on his personal income tax return, for at least 2015 through 2018. Redman caused customers to write checks to him personally, rather than to RSI, but did not include the checks in RSI’s gross receipts. RSI’s funds were withdrawn to cover personal expenses but weren’t recorded as income on his personal income tax return. Redman faces a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment if convicted. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 8, 2023

				 Mewbourne Oil Company has agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and spend at least $4.6 million on environmental projects to settle claims of violating the Clean Air Act and New Mexico state law.  A complaint filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Environment Department alleged the company failed to obtain required state and federal permits, capture and control air emissions, and comply with inspection, monitoring, and recordkeeping requirements from at least 2019 to 2022.  As a result, more than 11,000 tons of pollutants, including more than 9,900 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 1,300 tons of methane, were released into the air each year.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 3, 2023

				 Food manufacturer FrieslandCampina, which makes dairy products, has agreed to pay more than $2.8 million to settle allegations of violating the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and New York state law through its air emissions and wastewater discharges into the Delaware River.  The company was found to have released excessive amounts of toluene into the air, which affects the human nervous system, immune system, and kidneys and livers.  It also failed to pre-treat wastewater or comply with the state’s rules concerning water runoff.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
August 1, 2023

				 A now defunct clinical laboratory in Texas, BestCare Laboratory Services LLC, and its owner, Karim Maghareh, have agreed to pay another $5.7 million on top of nearly $800,000 already paid to the government to resolve an outstanding obligation under a 2018 judgment for violating the False Claims Act.  The underlying lawsuit, filed in 2008 by whistleblower Richard Drummond, alleged that BestCare billed Medicare for travel by lab technicians that did not reflect the actual mileage traveled.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Laboratory and IDTF, 
													  Medicare, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 31, 2023

				 The distributors of a product marked as a quick and easy way to quit smoking has been ordered to pay over $7 million in restitution as well as a $500,000 civil penalty.  Michael Connors and his companies ProTouch Marketing LLC (d/b/a Smart Day Supplements), Woodford Hills LLC, Oakhill Research LLC, Evergreen Marketing LLC, Sterling Health LLC, and Clara Vista Media LLC allegedly repeatedly violated the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018 by making misleading claims about their Smoke Away tablets, pellets, and homeopathic sprays, which were said to eliminate nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 31, 2023

				 Martin’s Point Health Care Inc. in Maine has agreed to pay almost $22.5 million to resolve a lawsuit by a former manager in its Risk Adjustment Operations group, which alleged the health plan administrator defrauded Medicare over a three year period.  The former manager, Alicia Wilbur, alleged that Martin’s Point reviewed charts for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to identify additional diagnosis codes, then submitted those codes in claims to Medicare in order to increase reimbursements even though they were not properly supported by patient medical records.  For blowing the whistle on this misconduct, Wilbur will receive a $3.8 million award.  DOJ				 					 

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

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 25, 2023

				 Global Metallurgical, Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.6 million civil penalty for emitting air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and particulate matter at its ferroalloy production facility in Ohio.  According to the government, the company has a history of releasing excessive emissions, but also failed to proactively implement pollution control technology when expanding one of its furnaces.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 21, 2023

				 In one of the largest procurement fraud settlements in history, defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton has agreed to pay almost $377.5 million to resolve claims of violating the False Claims Act.  According to former employee Sarah Feinberg—who filed a qui tam suit in 2016, and who will receive a nearly $70 million share of the settlement—Booz Allen improperly billed the government for indirect charges that should instead have been billed to commercial and international contracts.  USAO DC				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Defense Contract Fraud, 
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
July 19, 2023

				 Amazon.com Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Amazon.com Services LLC have agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty to resolve allegations that its voice assistant service Alexa violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.  Since at least May 2018, Amazon has retained indefinitely and by default voice recordings of children interacting with Alexa. The company also falsely represented that such recordings, including transcriptions and geolocation information, could be deleted by Alexa users, when in fact user deletion requests were not always honored.  As part of the settlement, Amazon will have to identify and delete inactive child profiles and notify users about its retention and deletion practices.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Cybersecurity and Data Breaches, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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