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.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that False Claims Act defendants can deduct portions of their civil settlement payments if the parties have not, in negotiating a settlement, agreed to the tax consequences and the payment is considered compensatory as opposed to punitive.
Between 1993 and 1997,
The New York Times published an article noting that, despite huge investments in preventing Medicare fraud—up to $600 million a year—fraud against the program persists to the tune of $60 billion, which is equivalent to 10% of Medicare’s cost. For example, last year, the federal government was only able to recover $4.3 billion.
In the first-of-its-kind enforcement action, The Securities and Exchange Commission accused a hedge fund adviser, Paradigm Capital Management, Inc. and its owner Candace King Weir, of squashing a top trader after learning that he reported trade violations at the firm.
Paradigm had failed to meet their obligations to obtain client’s consent prior to conducting trades.
Medtronic, Inc., a Fridley, Minnesota company, is alleged to have used various types of payments as incentives to physicians for implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators. Under the False Claims Act, the company agreed to pay 9.9 million dollars to resolve these allegations.
Medtronic induced the physicians to implant these devices by: paying the physicians for speaking engagements to increase the flow of referrals;
The Wall Street Journal reports that the development of New York City’s automated payroll system – known as CityTime – was the subject of significant fraudulent kickbacks. The US Attorney recently announced indictments of two New Jersey executives accused of paying off contractors involving over $600 million in city funds,
Two American businessmen, George H. Lee and his son, Justin W. Lee, have been charged with giving U.S. Army officers airline tickets, vacations, and over $1 million in bribes to secure multimillion-dollar contracts to provide supplies to the U.S. military and to help rebuild Iraq. Their indictment was unsealed on May 27,
Three related companies, Areté Sleep LLC, Areté Sleep Therapy LLC and Areté Holdings LLC, have agreed to pay the United States Department of Justice $650,000 to settle claims that the Areté companies defrauded Medicare in violation of the False Claims Act. The settlement resolves claims that Areté submitted false claims to Medicare for diagnostic sleep tests performed by technicians lacking the licenses or certifications required by Medicare’s rules and regulations.
In a recently-unsealed filing, California became the second state to join in a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit originally brought in 2007 against Education Management Corporation (“EMC”), a for-profit college company that operates 14 campuses in California under the “Argosy University” and “Art Institute” brands.
The suit, which was brought by two former employees,
On May 13, 2011, in a case of apparent first impression, Judge John Gleeson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York held that medical services defendants may not implead their billing company where the Government, after intervening in a False Claims Act suit, asserts claims for unjust enrichment and payment by mistake.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.