Education Management Corp. - For-profit college student recruitment violations ($80 million)

Education Management Corporation (EDMC), a Pittsburgh-based operator of for-profit educational institutions, agreed to pay more than $80 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by a whistleblower represented by attorneys at Constantine Cannon.   The settlement was the largest settlement to date in an FCA suit involving the U.S. Department of Education.  The whistleblowers, Lynntoya Washington and Michael T. Mahoney, provided extensive evidence that EDMC had for years paid its recruiters incentive compensation based upon how many students they enrolled, regardless of whether the students were suitable candidates, while steadily concealing its illegal practices with repeated false statements to state and federal authorities. Read more here and from the DOJ.

Tagged in: Education Fraud, FCA Federal, Multiple Whistleblowers and First-to-File, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,