False Claims Act and Whistleblower News

The False Claims Act enables a private citizen with unique knowledge of fraud committed against the federal government (such as health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud) to file a lawsuit under seal (not accessible to the public) seeking treble (triple the amount) damages on behalf of the government...
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recent posts - false claims act (FCA)

March 20, 2013
Hospice of Arizona, L.C., American Hospice Management LLC, and American Hospice Management Holdings LLC, have agreed to pay $12 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly defrauding Medicare, the Department of Justice announced today. Hospice of Arizona and its related entities allegedly engaged in practices that resulted in the admission of ineligible patients, inflated medical bills, and delayed and discouraged staff from discharging patients no longer... full text
March 15, 2013
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the federal district court's decision that the two whistleblowers, or relators, in Rille et al v. Accenture, LLP et al, No. 11-2054 (8th Cir. 2013) were entitled to a 15% share of the federal government's $46 million False Claims Act settlement with Hewlett-Packard, amounting to a $6.9 million award to the whistleblowers. The relators, Norman Rille and Neal Roberts, filed a <i>qui tam</i>, or... full text
March 12, 2013
Tennessee-based Grace Healthcare LLC and its affiliate Grace Ancillary Services LLC (collectively, Grace) have agreed to pay $2.7 million to settle allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims to the Medicare and TennCare/Medicaid programs for unnecessary rehabilitation therapy, the Department of Justice announced last week. The suit alleged that from 2007 to 2011, Grace pressured therapists in ten of its nursing homes to meet targets for Medicare revenue regardless of patients'... full text
March 11, 2013
Colorado-based CH2M Hill Hanford Group (CHG) and its parent company CH2M Hill Companies Ltd. (CH2M Hill) admitted to criminal conduct when CHG engaged in years of widespread time card fraud  on the U.S. Department of Energy. Between 1999 and 2008, CH2M Hill had a federal contract to manage and clean 177 large underground storage tanks containing mixed radioactive and hazardous waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington. The Hanford Site was... full text
March 9, 2013
New York-based Corning Incorporated has agreed to pay $5.65 million to the U.S. government to resolve allegations that it knowingly presented false claims for laboratory research products it sold to federal agencies through its Life Sciences division. In 2005, Corning entered a contract to sell laboratory research products to the federal government through a program that provided authorized purchasers with a streamlined procurement process for commonly used goods and services.  The suit... full text
March 8, 2013
American Systems Corporation, Anixter International Inc., and Corning Cable Systems LLC have agreed to pay the U.S. government $3 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act while bidding on a contract with the CIA, the U.S. Justice Department announced today.  The United States alleged that the three companies provided CIA employees and outside consultants with meals, entertainment, sporting tickets, and other gifts and gratuities while... full text
March 6, 2013
New Jersey-based Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday and agreed to pay $45 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability in the company’s promotion of its prescription drug Megace® ES for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and not covered by federal health care programs, the Justice Department announced.   Par pleaded guilty to an Information charging it with a criminal misdemeanor... full text
March 5, 2013
Mohanbi “Mohan” Ramchandani and his business Mohan’s Custom Tailors, located in Manhattan, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and agreed to pay $5.5 million in damages and penalties to settle a first of its kind prosecution for tax evasion under New York State's False Claims Act.  The guilty plea related to a ten-year scheme to evade payment of New York sales and income taxes.  The settlement stemmed from a civil claim first filed by a whistleblower.  The New... full text
February 28, 2013
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor today issued the interim final regulations governing the employee protection (whistleblower) provision of section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act--also known as Obamacare--which added section 18C of the Fair Labor Standards Act, to provide protections to employees of health insurance issuers or other employers who may have been subject to retaliation for reporting potential violations of the law’s consumer... full text
February 22, 2013
The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it was joining a civil lawsuit alleging that Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports LLC and Tailwind Sports Corporation (Tailwind) submitted or caused the submission of false claims to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in connection with its sponsorship of a professional bicycle racing team by regularly employing banned substances and methods to enhance their performance, in violation of the USPS sponsorship agreements.  ... full text