Catch of the Week: Private Equity Firm and Former Executives of a Mental Health Center Reach $25 Million Medicaid Settlement
Posted 10/15/21
Defendants
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to defendants in whistleblower litigation. You may also be interested in our pages:
October 14, 2021
Owners and executives of Massachusetts mental health provider South Bay Mental Health Center, Inc. have agreed to pay $25 million to resolve claims that they caused the submission of false claims to the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth, by billing for services provided by unlicensed, unqualified, and improperly supervised staff members in violation of MassHealth regulations. Defendants H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC and H.I.G. Capital, LLC will pay $19.95 million and defendants Peter J. Scanlon and Kevin P. Sheehan, who held executive and board positions at relevant entities, will pay $5.05 million. The case was initiated by the filing of a whistleblower complaint under the Massachusetts False Claims Act. SBMHC previously agreed to pay $4 million to resolve related charges. MassAugust 16, 2021
Education publishing company Pearson plc agreed to pay $1 million to resolve an SEC investigation into its disclosures regarding a 2018 data breach that resulted in the exposure of millions of student and school administrator records, including birthdates, e-mail addresses, user names, and hashed passwords. The SEC found that Pearson understated the nature and scope of the incident, overstated the company’s data protections, and had inadequate controls and procedures regarding the assessment and reporting of cybersecurity incidents. Pearson, which is publicly traded in the UK, is a foreign private issuer with ADRs trading on the NYSE. SECAugust 5, 2021
Tennessee’s Department of Human Services has agreed to pay nearly $7 million to resolve allegations of submitting false information to the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known until 2008 as the Food Stamp Program. Under the direction of the Julie Osnes Consulting firm, numerous state agencies—including Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin—allegedly submitted false quality control data to the USDA, receiving performance bonuses as a result. This is the ninth settlement in the matter; more than $67 million has been recovered thus far. USAO EDWAJuly 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. DOJCatch of the Week: Florida Department of Children and Families Pays $17.5 Million to Resolve Alleged SNAP Fraud
Posted 07/16/21
The Program
The SNAP program provides eligible low-income individuals and families with financial assistance to buy nutritious food. Since 2010, SNAP has served on average more than 45 million...July 12, 2021
The Florida Department of Children and Families (FDCF) has agreed to pay $17.5 million and forgo payment of $14.7 million in unpaid bonuses to resolve allegations that it submitted false information to the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was known as the Food Stamp Program until 2008. Although the USDA reimburses states for administering SNAP, it relies on the states to determine applicant eligibility, administer benefits, and perform quality control. FDCF allegedly failed to have proper quality control procedures in place, resulting in false information submitted to the USDA, for which they received unentitled performance bonuses from 2011 through 2014. USAO EDWAPrivate-Equity Red Flags Signal Potential False Claims Act Liability
Posted 05/21/21
Martino-Fleming Case
In the latest shot across the bow, the PE firm, a majority shareholder of a for-profit mental-health provider, knew about the false claims and played a sufficiently active role in operations potentially to have caused them. Evidence...Therakos Settlement Keeps Private Equity in DOJ’s Crosshairs for FCA Liability
Posted 12/4/20
