Whistleblower Rewards

April 21, 2021

Tennessee-based Anesthesia Services Associates, PLLC d/b/a Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS) and its four majority owners have agreed to pay a total of $4.1 million to resolve allegations of violating the federal False Claims Act and Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act.  According to the government, CPS billed Medicare and TennCare for medically unnecessary or non-reimbursable genetic tests, psychological tests, specimen validity tests, and urine drug tests, as well as medically unnecessary or non-reimbursable acupuncture.  For bringing a successful qui tam suit, the whistleblowers in this case will receive a relator’s share of over $610,000.  USAO MDTN

April 20, 2021

In order to resolve a whistleblower suit alleging violations of the False Claims Act, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and its related entities have agreed to pay over $2.6 million.  Over an eight-year period ending in 2020, Massachusetts Eye and Ear allegedly made a habit of submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for office visits that were not reimbursable under program rules.  Altogether, the government programs were defrauded of over a million dollars.  As a reward for blowing the whistle, the unnamed relator will receive a 15% share of the settlement proceeds.  USAO MA

April 15, 2021

The SEC has awarded two whistleblowers a joint award of over $50 million for providing information, voluminous documents, and substantial assistance that led to the return of tens of millions of dollars to harmed investors.  According to the SEC, the fraud scheme at issue involved highly complex transactions that would have been difficult for the agency to detect.  SEC

April 9, 2021

The SEC has awarded approximately $2.5 million to an individual who provided key information and evidence regarding a breach of fiduciary duties to investors.  The whistleblower’s assistance contributed substantially to a successful enforcement action.  SEC

April 1, 2021

Pharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay $75 million to settle a False Claims Act action, filed by a whistleblower, alleging that the company failed to pay amounts it owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. That program, the MDRP, requires drug manufacturers to report the Average Manufacturer Prices (AMPs) of their Medicaid-covered drugs to the government; the higher the reported AMPs, the greater the rebate owed by the pharma company to the government.  The whistleblower alleged that Bristol-Myers systematically under-reported their AMPs for a number of its drugs, including by reducing service fees it paid to wholesalers and excluding the value of price appreciation provisions in wholesale contracts. Of the total settlement, $41 million will be paid to the federal government, and the remainder to states participating in the settlement.  The government did not intervene, and the action was pursued by the whistleblower, Ronald J. Streck, who will receive an undisclosed share of the settlement.  USAO EDPA

March 29, 2021

The SEC has awarded an anonymous whistleblower $500,000 based on recoveries in a covered action and a related action that resulted in the shut-down of an ongoing fraudulent scheme. The whistleblower first reported the alleged misconduct to their employer, using the employer’s internal compliance procedures.  Then, within 120 days of reporting the violations internally, the whistleblower submitted a TCR to the SEC.  According to the SEC, the whistleblower provided significant information that prompted it to open an investigation, and provided ongoing assistance to Commission staff.  Separately, the employer began an internal investigation and ultimately made a report to a government agency.  Because the whistleblower reported internally and to the SEC within 120 days of their internal report, the SEC applied its “safe harbor” rule and treated the whistleblower’s SEC submission as if it had been made on the day that the whistleblower reported internally.  SEC