Whistleblower News From The Inside -- April 16, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team New York State Senate leader Dean Skelos at center of new corruption inquiry -- Here we go again…  NYT Russia considers whistleblower rewards -- The Ministry of Labor developed a draft amendment to Russia's antibribery law which would entitle a whistleblower of public graft to remuneration up to 15% of alleged damages to the state budget, though it would be capped at RUR 3...

DOJ Catch Of The Week -- Health Diagnostics

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to Virginia-based cardiovascular testing disease laboratory Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc.  Yesterday, the company agreed to pay $47 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals and billing federal health care programs for medically unnecessary testing.  A second cardio testing lab, California-based Singulex...

Whistleblower News From The Inside – April 8, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Study warns of diet supplement dangers kept quiet by FDA -- Public health experts contend the FDA “is not effectively policing the $33 billion-a-year supplements industry in part because top agency regulators themselves come from the industry and have conflicts of interest.”  NYT SEC charges former Giant Will Allen with Ponzi fraud -- The government accuses the former NFL cornerback with reaping more than...

April 7, 2015

Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore along with his company Preventive Medicine Associates, Inc. pleaded guilty for running a Medicaid fraud scheme involving millions of dollars in taxpayer funds. Kishore was sentenced to 360 days in jail and ordered to pay $9.3 million in restitution. Based on the government’s investigation, Dr. Kishore used bribes, or kickbacks, to induce sober house owners to send their residents’ urine drug screening business to his laboratories for...

Whistleblower News From The Inside – March 24, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Fireman’s Fund to pay $44M to settle False Claims Act charges -- The government alleged the insurance company knowingly issued insurance policies that were ineligible under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s federal crop insurance program and falsified documents.  DOJ 5th Circuit revives whistleblower's claims of overbilling by coworkers -- A unanimous 3-judge panel finds Justin Richardson's 2013 suit against Texas-based Axion Logistics sufficiently alleged...

Whistleblower News From The Inside - March 10, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Survey shows increase in proof of whistleblower retaliation – “Companies are substantiating more cases of whistleblower retaliation as the SEC has turned up the heat.”  WSJ Recovery Home Care to pay $1.1M to settle whistleblower charges of illegal kickbacks -- The settlement resolves allegations the Florida-based home healthcare company violated the False Claims Act by improperly paying doctors for referrals.  DOJ Mental Health Association...

Whistleblower News From The Inside - March 3, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Superstorm of fraud reported in denial of Hurricane Sandy claims -- FEMA executive acknowledges fraud in engineering reports used by insurance companies to deny storm victims insurance relief.  CBS SEC makes new Dodd-Frank whistleblower award -- The SEC announces a whistleblower award payout between $475,000 and $575,000 to a former company officer “who reported original, high-quality information about a securities fraud.”  SEC Snowden ready...

Seventh Circuit Gives Broad Read To What Constitutes A "Referral" Under Anti-Kickback Statute

Under the Anti-Kickback Statute, physicians may not solicit or receive kickbacks for referring Medicare patients to a particular healthcare provider. The question before the Seventh Circuit in United States v. Patel was the scope of what constitutes a referral under the statute. According to the Court, the scope is quite broad, even extending to situations where the physician plays no role in selecting the healthcare provider the patient ultimately uses....

February 26, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General announced the arrest of Dr. Daniel Ronchetta, Chiropractic Physician Assistant John Crowe and patient recruiter Frank Barrios for allegedly defrauding Medicaid and Medicare by paying and receiving kickbacks in return for providing false home health prescriptions and plans of care to patient recruiters. FL

DOJ Catch Of The Week -- New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="247"] Photo Credit: Sheldon Silver[/caption] By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team This week's Department of Justice "catch of the week" goes to long-time New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Yesterday, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI's New York Field Office jointly announced their arrest of Silver on charges he used his official position to receive nearly $4 million...