By now we all know the general story of the 2008 financial crisis. Large banks made reckless subprime mortgage loans to people buying homes. These loans were resold to different institutions in various forms until the market eventually crashed when borrowers were no longer able to make their payments. One reason many banks were willing to make reckless loans is…
The False Claims Act is one of the government’s most powerful tools to fight fraud. Under the Act a whistleblower, called a “relator,” can provide the government with information about the ways in which it is being defrauded. If the government subsequently recovers money as a result of the relator’s tip, the relator receives a share of the government’s recovery…
Medical devices are a crucial component to health care treatment and advancements. With an increasingly competitive market, medical device manufacturers and sales personnel are under pressure to maximize their sales and outpace competitors. To accomplish these objectives, device manufacturers may engage in sales practices that violate the False Claims Act (FCA)—a federal statute that allows individuals, known as whistleblowers or…
What is a Whistleblower? A Whistleblower is a person who informs the federal and/or state government about illegal and fraudulent behavior that causes the government to pay money to an individual or business that is not entitled to receive those government funds. For assisting the government in uncovering fraud, the Whistleblower receives between 15% to 30% of the amount of…
Retaliation is generally understood as punishment for taking an action or making a statement. Employees often are aware that they have some protections against retaliation by their employers, but are not clear on what protections the law provides. The short answer is that the law generally protects employees from retaliation only for conduct or activities that the law specifically recognizes…
The Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) administer customs laws and collects antidumping duties to prevent foreign companies from saturating U.S. markets with below-cost products. These laws require importers to carefully classify and disclose the goods imported to the United States. Because most disclosures are only subject to the “honor-system” importers may mislabel or misrepresent the quality and value of their…
It’s no secret that Medicare fraud wastes tons of taxpayer money and inflates everyone’s healthcare bills. However, many may not realize that providers may comply with the expected medical standard of care yet still commit Medicare fraud by overbilling for those services. One of a myriad of examples where providers overbill Medicare for services—even those properly administered and medically necessary—is…
The old adage that “the penny matchmaker is a millionaire today” applies to the False Claims Act case I filed on behalf of David Sherwin against Office Depot in 2009. Mr. Sherwin was an Office Depot Account Representative who was responsible for responding to the needs of Office Depot’s municipal, county, and state government clients around the country. These entities’ contract provided…
In United States ex rel. Martin v. Life Care Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142660 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 29, 2014)., a federal district court agreed with the United States Government that statistical evidence could be used to prove the nature and extent of the harm in the False Claims Act matter. It seems that the defense bar is…
Corporations have long used confidentiality agreements as a cudgel to prevent employees from disclosing information about fraud and abuse to the Government. While each confidentiality agreement must be viewed in light of its individual circumstances, potential whistleblowers may be surprised to learn that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.203-18 actually prohibits the use of government funds with an entity that requires its…