Gunnison Energy Corporation and SG Interests settled a series of claims under the federal antitrust statutes and the false claims act related to their agreement not to compete in bidding for natural gas leases that the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management sold at auction. The lawsuits and settlement resulted from a whistleblower who filed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act.
India is seeking to fight corruption by passing its own false claims act modeled on the United States’ version of the act. It would allow whistleblowers to bring claims against contractors and to receive a cut of the proceeds received from such claims. Indian government officials are considering the legislation to counter routine fraud in the infrastructure sector in which poor quality work is rampant.
Kentucky’s Speaker of its House of Representatives, Greg Stumbo, announced that he was introducing false claims act legislation to give whistleblowers strong tools and incentives to expose misuse of state dollars. Stumbo supported his legislation by pointing to other states, such as California and Texas, that have successfully prosecuted cases under their own false claims acts.
The United States settled claims against Pennsylvania-based Capmark Finance LLP for making false statements in connection with loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The government claimed that Capmark falsified information relating to the creditworthiness of two nursing homes that subsequently defaulted on the loans. Capmark (which filed for bankruptcy) agreed to pay the government $3.9 million to settle the claims.
Accela Medical LLC, Coventry Diagnostics LLC and Western Slope Laboratory LLC, three Troy laboratory companies, were fined $6 million to resolve False Claims Act violations against the government. Accela was improperly billing for urine drug testing and Coventry and Western Slope were performing the tests. The scheme was set up by Thomas McCormick of Troy and Charles Reinhardt of Accela.
Orthofix International, a global medical device company, has issued a statement regarding its substantial progress in the resolution of several U.S. Government legal matters. The statement discussed the company’s improvements to its compliance practices, personnel, financial standings, and a stronger focus on the Company’s operations, including investments in R&D.
Between 2000 and 2008, fourteen hospitals located in New York, Mississippi, North Carolina, Washington, Indiana, Missouri and Florida were overcharging Medicare when performing kyphoplasty, a procedure that is used to treat certain spinal fractures. The hospitals agreed to pay the government over $12 million to settle the allegations.
TriWest Healthcare Alliance, one of the Pentagon’s major health care contractors, was fined $10M for claims the company defrauded the government by failing to pass on savings to the military. TriWest Healthcare Alliance is one of three main contractors for Tricare, the Pentagon’s health program. Four former TriWest employees filed the claim stating that TriWest “systematically defrauded” TriCare by keeping savings it brought in while working on the contract.
Influential in Securing House passage of the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986, Representative Howard Berman joins in the commemoration of its 25th anniversary. Since the False Claims Act was amended, the government has recovered over $30 billion in settlements and judgments in civil cases involving fraud against the government.
In January 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission appointed Vincente Martinez, a long-time enforcement officer at the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the head of the CFTC Whistleblower Office. The whistleblower office was established after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, and provides the CFTC with a mechanism to chase fraudulent activities in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act.
