FCA State

February 11, 2022

Transportation company Academy Bus, LLC, together with related entities and individuals, will pay $20.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit under New Jersey’s False Claims Act that the defendants defrauded New Jersey Transit, for whom defendants operated bus routes.  Defendants were paid by NJ Transit based, in part, on miles and hours driven, with deductions for missed bus trips; they were alleged to have over-reported miles and hours driven, and underreported their missed bus trips to the state.  The settlement also required Academy to implement specific compliance procedures.  The whistleblower, former Academy employee Hector Peralta, will receive an award totaling $3.9 million.  NJ

January 6, 2022

Centene Corporation will pay $21.15 million to resolve claims that the pharmacy benefit manager inaccurately reported its services and costs to New Hampshire’s Medicaid Care Management Program, resulting in overcharges to the state.  NH (related settlements with Ohio, Mississippi, and Kansas)

December 6, 2021

Pharmacy benefit manager Centene Corp. will pay $27.6 million to the State of Kansas to resolve allegations that it failed to satisfy its obligation to represent the state’s best interests in negotiations with companies that supply drugs to the state Medicaid program, failed to accurately report discounts it received from CVS-Caremark on certain retail pharmacy claims, and artificially inflated dispensing-fee amounts reported to state regulators.  The state alleged that Centene used an opaque reporting system that made it difficult for the state to determine the nature and appropriateness of certain pharmacy transactions.  As part of the settlement, Centene also agreed to change certain business practices to ensure greater transparency.  KS

November 29, 2021

General contractor J.A. McDonald, Inc. has agreed to pay $637,500 to settle allegations of presenting false claims to the United States and State of Vermont in connection with the federally-funded construction of several bridges.  Employees at the company allegedly made material alterations, then took steps to conceal those alterations from the Vermont Agency of Transportation, which then caused the agency to submit false claims to the Federal Highway Administration.  USAO VT

November 22, 2021

Seven financial institutions – Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, NatWest Markets Securities Inc., and Washington Mutual Mortgage Securities Corp. – have agreed to collectively pay $32.5 million to resolve claims by New Mexico that the banks did not adequately disclose the characteristics of certain mortgage-backed securities sold to New Mexico pension funds and a state-run investment council between 2003 and 2010.  The settlement resolves a qui tam action under the New Mexico Fraud Against Taxpayers Act brought by Integra REC, LLC.  NM

October 22, 2021

Texas doctors Robert Wills and Brannon Frank, who previously operated Austin Pain Associates, will pay $3.9 million to resolve allegations that they billed federal and state healthcare programs for medically unnecessary urine drug tests that were performed at Austin Pain Associates’ in-house lab.  The investigation was initiated after a whistleblower complaint was filed by former Austin Pain Associates employees Jennifer Nuessner and Robert Hoffman; they will receive approximately $618,000 from the federal share of the settlements. DOJ