In a split 2-1 decision March 28th, the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the automatic 60 day sealing provision of the False Claims Act. The suit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Government Accountability Project and OMB Watch, alleges the secrecy unlawfully blocks the public’s access to judicial proceedings and violates the whistleblower’s right to freedom of speech by forbidding them to discuss the misconduct.
In January 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan filed a lawsuit against the City of New York, accusing the city’s Human Resources Administration of overbilling Medicaid millions of dollars by abusing the federally funded 24-hour home care program. The suit followed a complaint filed by a whistleblower.
On June 8, 2010, President Obama announced the onset of regional fraud prevention summits; a nationally comprehensive effort to fight health care fraud.
The whistleblower recently awarded $1.1 million by the Internal Revenue Service had initially exposed Enron’s fraudulent practice of generating fictitious income by using abusive tax shelters to the IRS back in 1999. Erika A.
Former Medline Industries, Inc. employee turned whistleblower, Sean Mason, will receive $23.4 million of the $85 million Medline will pay to settle Mason’s lawsuit alleging false claims act violations. Mason’s complaint accuses Medline, an Illinois medical products company, of inducing medical providers such as HCA, Inc. and HealthSouth Corp.
A Bill currently pending before the Washington State Senate would enact a Medicaid False Claims Act to protect against false claims made to the Washington State Medicaid Program. Senate Bill Number 5458 would, like the federal False Claims Act, encourage private whistleblowers (known as qui tam “relators”) to step forward and file a lawsuit against those who submit false claims for payment to the Washington State Medicaid Program.
A telecommunications company, and a New York financial firm have agreed to pay more than $16.5 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit claiming they defrauded the government. Avaya, which provided desktop phone systems to hundreds of federal and state agencies, was alleged to have billed the government for equipment and maintenance even when the devices didn’t work or had been replaced with upgraded systems.
The article, “The IRS’s Proposed Amendments to Its Informant Reward Program” authored by Marc S. Raspanti and Douglas K. Rosenblum was published in The Legal Intelligencer on March 2, 2011. Mr. Raspanti is a partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office and Mr.
On February 11, the SEC appointed Sean McKessy, former corporate secretary for AOL and Altria group (Phillip Morris) to head its new whistleblower program. McKessy was previously an attorney in the SEC’s enforcement division. Because of his corporate background, many worry that he will be an impediment to creating an effective SEC whistleblower program.
New York State recently settled claims against Young Adult Institute (YAI), a provider of residential services for developmentally disabled adults for $18 million. Under government sponsored programs, New York State reimbursed YAI for losses sustained in operating its state programs.
