Constantine Cannon Client Scores SEC Whistleblower Win
Posted 10/30/20
Whistleblower Case
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Catch of the Week: Guild Mortgage
Posted 10/30/20
October 29, 2020
Long Island construction company VJ Associates will pay $3.13 million to resolve criminal and civil charges alleging that the company overbilled government projects, including by adding bogus time charges on government billing and adding hundreds of thousands of unnecessary costs. The company has agreed to permanent debarment from receipt of federal funds. The investigation was initiated by an unnamed whistleblower, who will receive 22.5% of the recovery. USAO MA; 2021 state settlementOctober 22, 2020
Guild Mortgage Company, based in San Diego, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve whistleblower-brought allegations of knowingly breaching material program requirements in connection with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). As a participant of the FHA’s mortgage insurance program, Guild had the authority to originate and underwrite mortgages without government review for compliance with program rules. According to the former head of quality control, Kevin Dougherty, Guild failed to comply with those rules when it knowingly approved ineligible loans that later defaulted. Dougherty will receive a relator’s share of nearly $5 million. USAO SDCAOctober 14, 2020
Medical device maker Merit Medical Systems Inc. will pay $18 million to resolve claims first brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act that the company paid unlawful kickbacks to doctors and hospitals to induce them to use MMSI’s EmboSphere and QuadraSphere devices for embolization procedures. MMSI was alleged to have offered hospitals and providers with millions of dollars in free advertising assistance, “educational” grants, and other services based on the providers’ past sales and to induce future sales. The whistleblower, Charles J. Wolf, M.D., who will receive $2.65 million, was the Chief Compliance Officer for the company; according to DOJ, he repeatedly warned MMSI that its practices violated the Anti-Kickback Statue. DOJ; USAO NJ; NC AGOctober 2, 2020
Pharmatech, Inc. and its CEO and founder Tuan Pham will pay over $3 million to settle allegations in a case initiated as a qui tam action under the False Claims Act. The government alleged that defendants violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying a medical clinic, Imperial Valley Wellness, a per-specimen fee to induce it to refer orders for laboratory drug-testing to Phamatech which were subsequently billed to Medicare. Many of the tests were also alleged to be not medically necessary. The whistleblower, former Pharmatech employee John Polanco, will receive over $500,000 from the settlement. USAO SD Cal.NASAA Approves Model Whistleblower Award and Protection Act with Changes Recommended by Constantine Cannon Attorneys
Posted 10/2/20
