A False Claims Act case filed in federal district court in Denver by a former employee against OtterBox nears settlement. The Fort Collins-based company has until the end of February to finalize a deal. The whistleblower, who worked as OtterBox’s supply chain director, alleged in his lawsuit that the company failed to pay customs duties on the full value of its popular cellphone cases.
The Department of Justice anounced on February 12, 2014 that MPRI Inc., a Virginia-based company, has agreed to pay the United States Government $3.2 Million to resolve a case involving false labor charges for work on a contract to support of the Army in Afghanistan. The case centered on allegations that MPRI billed for employees who had not worked because they were granted leave and were out of the country.
Dowson Farms, a farm business based in Divernon, Illinois, paid $5,364,000 to the U.S. to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it defrauded the federal farm subsidy program from 2002 to 2008 by avoiding the statutory caps on farm subsidy payments. Specifically, the owners of Dowson Farms, John J.
According to a whistleblower suit brought under the False Claims Act, Prime Healthcare, a major healthcare company, defrauded CMS by over $50 million by misrepresenting the conditions of patients at 14 of its California hospitals. The whistleblower suit was filed by Karin Bernsten, the director of performance improvement at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego.
A whistleblower lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories was given the green light to continue in federal court, surging Abbott’s motion to dismiss in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, January 30, 2014, a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Northrop Grumman defrauded the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) was unsealed in federal Court. According to the suit, which was filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by former Northrop Grumman employee Leo Danilides, Northrop Grumman violated the terms of a DHS missile-defense contract for commercial airlines under the Counter-MANPADS program.
Langhorne-based St. Mary Medical Center has agreed to pay the federal government more than $2.3 million to resolve allegations that it overpaid doctors who referred patients to the hospital.
The Department of Justice raked in more than $8 billion in fiscal year 2013, scoring big on a variety of civil and criminal enforcement actions.
Almost $6 billion came from civil actions, with $3.2 billion related to health-care fraud. Big hauls included $800 million from a settlement with Abbott Laboratories and about $750 million from a settlement with Amgen.
With due respect to our friends at the Internal Revenue Service, most people would rather not hear from them this year. (Well, unless they have a hankering to discuss “Party of Five” with an IRS agent. But we digress.)
But we’re guessing the whistleblower who recently received $20 million for a tip he gave the IRS in 2006 feels differently.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule this week that could allow Medicare Part D plans to curtail coverage for antidepressants.
The rule would remove antidepressants and immunosuppressants from so-called “protected” status in 2015 and would potentially ax antipsychotics from the list a year later.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the False Claims Act, securities, commodities, tax, anti-money laundering, or sanctions laws, contact us today.