As Attorney General Eric Holder prepares to step down, his success with False Claims Act cases is being highlighted by the Department of Justice. Amongst his greatest legacy is the creating Heath Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (“HEAT”) in 2009. Since its inception in 2009, the HEAT team has conducted six nationwide enforcement actions resulting in charges against 600 individuals and a financial recovery nearing $2 billion.
A recently unsealed qui tam complaint alleges that Northrop Grumman Inc. repeatedly lied that it had performed certain quality control testing on a navigational device used in military fighter jets, drones, and submarines in order to save time.
After admitting in April 2014 to creating a front company, in order to obtain Cost Guard contracts designated for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), North Florida Shipyards as well as its president, Matt Self, have agreed to pay the United States $1 million to resolve False Claim Act allegations.
In another win for the HEAT (Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team) initiative, EBI, LLC, a medical device company in Parsippany, New Jersey, doing business as Biomet Spine and Bone Healing Technologies and Biomet, Inc., will pay $6 million to resolve allegations of violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
After a coordinated investigation by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS), First RF Corporation has agreed to pay $10 million to settle False Claim Act violations. The allegations arose over a 2005 Army contract with First RF for the sale of electronic warfare antennas.
On October 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice settled a case against DRS Technical Services, Inc. (“DRS”), a defense contractor, regarding allegations of fraudulent billing for $13.7 million.
Thanks to the efforts of two whistleblowers, or relators, the U.S. Department of Justice and eight states announced on October 10, 2014 that they had settled allegations of fraudulent billing against Extendicare Health Services, Inc. (“Extendicare) and its subsidiary Progressive Step Corporation (“ProStep”). The U.S. government and the several states involved in the investigation alleged that Extendicare billed both Medicare and Medicaid for nursing services that were so deficient as to be worthless to the government and the patients.
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP is pleased to announce the election of its newest partner, Pamela Coyle Brecht, in its downtown Philadelphia office. Ms. Brecht is an active member of the firm’s national Qui Tam Practice Group.
In early August, a federal jury found Gosselin World Wide Moving NV and its executive Mark Smet liable for submitting false claims in 2001 and 2002 to the U.S. government to the tune of $33.6 million, which, when trebled per the federal False Claims Act, rises to $100.8 million.
Shire Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a pharmaceuticals company based in Pennsylvania, recently signed a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to its promotion practices of several drugs. Shire, which both manufactures and sells pharmaceuticals used in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was facing allegations that it violated the False Claims Act beginning in 2004.
