News & Cases

A U.S. False Claims Act lawsuit alleging Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation failed to provide oncologist supervision to Florida Medicare and TRICARE patients receiving radiation oncology services has been settled for $5.4 million according the Department of Justice.

Oncology Dr. Michael Montejo Exposed Alleged Adventist Cutting Corners

The settlement is the culmination of a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit filed by radiation oncologist, Dr. Michael Montejo in 2010. The “Qui Tam” filing, which allows a private citizen to file suit on behalf of the government, claimed that throughout the period 2010 to 2013 Adventist Health System failed to provide an oncologist or similarly qualified professional to supervise patients served by the Department of Defense’s healthcare system TRICARE and Medicare patients receiving radiation therapy....

In the largest civil settlement with a single entity in U.S. history, Bank of America has agreed to pay a total of $16.6 billion to the federal government and a number of states in order to resolve claims against the company and its former and current subsidiaries for the selling of shoddy mortgage and related securities. The subsidiaries include Country Financial Corporation and Merrill Lynch.

Whistleblowers $170M Reward: Shareef Abdou, Robert Madsen, Edward O’Donnell

The whistleblower case against Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, was brought by four parties: Shareef Abdou, an executive in the bank’s operations group; Robert Madsen, a former property appraiser at a Bank of America subsidiary; Edward O’Donnell, a former financial executive at Countrywide; and Mortgage Now, a small New Jersey mortgage lender headed up by James Marchese. For their efforts, they will receive a total of about $170 million, according to various media sources....

Over 1000 public schools throughout California are set to receive their share of $68.5 million in a landmark California False Claims Act settlement with Office Depot. The whistleblower who reported the fraud has been awarded a hefty amount of money as well.

Office Depot Allegedly Overcharged California Schools

According to a news post from the San Bernardino County Sun, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are two of the big winners in the resolution of California False Claims Act case surrounding an alleged scheme whereby Office Depot fraudulently overcharged California school districts for school supplies....

A former Walgreens employee received a $1.1 million punitive damage award for what the court found to be Walgreens' retaliation in firing him for alerting the government to the company's overbilling practices.

The False Claims Act (FCA) empowers employees to initiate legal action against wrongdoing companies for defrauding the government. However, many people who identify their employers' bad behavior fear coming forward, because they don't want to lose their jobs, face social isolation at work or endure other types of retaliation....

Document storage firm Iron Mountain paid $44.5 million to settle allegations of government procurement fraud. Whistleblowers Brent Stanley and Patrick McKillop filed a False Claims Act lawsuit in California alleging Iron Mountain overcharged federal entities for record storage services. Stanley and McKillop will collect just over $8 million for alerting the government to the company’s alleged fraudulent contract violations.

Brent Stanley and Patrick McKillop Allege Iron Mountain Overcharged GSA

From 2001 to 2014, Boston based Iron Mountain Inc. and Iron Mountain Information Management LLC provided government record storage services via the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program, a program that supplies the government with a structured means of obtaining commercial goods and services....

OtisMed Corp. and its former chief executive officer, Charlie Chi, have agreed to pay more than $80 million to resolve criminal and civil liability for knowingly submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare regarding the sale of a medical device. This was in violation of both the False Claims Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The civil settlement resolves claims filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private citizens to file suit on behalf of the United States government and to share in the government’s financial recovery.

The whistleblower case against OtisMed was brought by Richard Adrian, a former sales executive with Stryker Corp., the Michigan-based parent company of OtisMed. Adrian, who worked at Stryker for 15 years, got $7 million for his efforts.

Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice has recovered $23 billion under the False Claims Act, with $15 billion of that being from fraud perpetrated against federal health care programs....

German citizen Michael Epp will receive a $16 million False Claims Act whistleblower award in a $146 million FCA settlement against Supreme Foodservice GmbH and Supreme Foodservice FZE announced today. The case is doubly significant in first affirming the trend of paying non-U.S. citizens cash rewards for blowing the whistle on frauds against the United States government and second as one of the largest government contract fraud cases to date.

Whistleblower Lawsuit: Overcharging and Other Government Contract Fraud

Michael Epp filed his False Claims Act case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the FCA’s whistleblower provision allowing a private party to file a whistleblower lawsuit on behalf of the people of the United States and share in any monies recovered. Epp was a Supreme Commercial Division and Supply Chain director with inside knowledge of the complex set of alleged frauds....

Donald Gallick and Tracy Lovvron will soon collect over $2 million for their roles in blowing the whistle on fraudulent practices and corruption at Extendicare Health Services, Inc. nursing home facilities.

The plaintiffs filed separate whistleblower lawsuits against Extendicare per the False Claims Act, a federal law that allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the government to recover fraudulently obtained funds. Lovvron will receive over $1.8 million as a reward for exposing fraud, and Gallick will collect over $250,000.

Intentional, Systematic Attempts to Defraud Money from Medicare

Extendicare employed Tracy Lovvorn from 2008 to 2009, during which time she claimed that she discovered a substandard pattern of care. She said Extendicare facilities in Delaware and Pennsylvania prescribed unnecessary therapies to claim extra reimbursements from Medicare. Patients didn’t need the help, but the company provided it anyway to take advantage of Medicare reimbursement policies....

The Boeing Company has played a large and diverse role in producing products, services and processes for the U.S. Defense Department over the past century. But Boeing has come under the gun recently for repeatedly engaging in fraudulent activity that’s cost the federal government and taxpayers millions. Company insiders have blown the whistle on these activities, setting off a series of False Claims Act (FCA) cases involving the manufacturer.

Four Boeing employees and ex-employees brought the latest FCA case, United States ex rel. Craddock v. Boeing, resolved in October 2014; they will share an award of almost $4 million. Boeing, meanwhile, will pay $23 million, pursuant to allegations that the company falsely claimed labor charges for maintenance on C-17 Globemaster aircraft....

Community Health Systems Inc., the largest operator of acute care hospitals in the United States, agreed to pay $98 million in a settlement announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Seven False Claims Act Whistleblower Lawsuits

The settlement allowed the healthcare giant to resolve seven lawsuits filed by nine whistleblowers under the U.S. False Claims Act that alleged Community Health Systems had intentionally billed federal healthcare programs (Medicare and Medicaid) incorrectly at 119 different hospitals between 2005 and 2010, resulting in additional profits for Community Health Systems Inc. and higher costs to the government....