False Claims Act: Mergers and Acquisitions as Kickbacks in Healthcare
FThe Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b) (the “AKS”), prohibits the payment of kickbacks in any form as an inducement for the referral or provision of healthcare services that are reimbursed by federal health care programs, but since there are exceptions and exceptions to the exceptions it is...
The False Claim Act: How It Works for Whistleblowers
The False Claim Act, also referred to as the “Lincoln Law,” is a very well-known whistleblower law utilized by some of the best whistleblower law firms resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of whistleblower awards each year. This qui tam statute allows private citizens through the use a False Claims...
Small Business Administration(SBA) Identifies $80 Billion in Potential Pandemic Fraud
The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently announced that it has identified over $80 billion in COVID-19 relief loans that may have been fraudulently obtained, a significant portion attributable to PPP Loan Fraud. The government is starting to retroactively examine these loans and insiders who blow...
Will Speaking to an attorney about suspected Medicare fraud violate HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA, is intended to protect the privacy of patients’ healthcare information, and levies heavy fines to anyone who discusses confidential patient information in public. HIPAA compliance is a must for everyone in the US medical...
Administration Announces Pandemic Fraud Chief
Now more than ever, it’s important to promptly report PPP Loan Fraud, and other COVID related fraud with the use of a False Claims Act Whistleblower law firm. At the 2022 State of the Union Address, it was announced that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) will name a Chief Prosecutor for fraud related to the...
SEC Whistleblower Spotlight: Financial Reporting and Accounting Fraud
In 2021, the SEC Whistleblower Program awarded over $560 million to whistleblowers who provided insider information about securities law violations primarily through the use of an SEC whistleblower attorney. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Provision, an SEC whistleblower can receive between 10% and...
Types of Accounting Fraud an SEC Whistleblower Should Look For
When reporting a violation to the SEC through the use of an SEC whistleblower law firm, it is useful for a whistleblower to be aware of the signs of accounting fraud. Whistleblowers that report to The SEC Whistleblower Program about potential violations of federal securities laws can receive significant...
Using the False Claims Act to Combat Clinical Trial Fraud
In December 2021, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun G. Rao highlighted some of recent enforcement priorities of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), including COVID fraud, including PPP loan fraud, overprescribing opioids, and clinical trial fraud, all matters which whistleblowers can raise utilizing the...
SEC Whistleblowing – Frequently Asked Questions
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to SEC whistleblowers. The SEC’s robust whistleblower program investigates a wide variety of securities violations, including pump-and-dump schemes, boiler rooms, publishing false information to manipulate stock prices,...
2022 Emerging Whistleblower Trends for qui tam
Background: The False Claims Act Provides Substantial Whistleblower AwardsThe False Claims Act empowers regular, everyday people, working with a whistleblower law firm, to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government to stop someone else from cheating the government. In return for blowing the whistle on such...
Another Blockbuster Year for SEC & CFTC Whistleblower Law Firms
Whistleblower awards have continued on a record pace this year for individuals who blew the whistle the right way with the right whistleblower law firm. Record-setting whistleblower awards were issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as...
NHTSA Whistleblower Award Issued – First Award of its Kind
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a whistleblower award of over $24 million to a former safety engineer for Hyundai who reported to NHTSA in 2016 that the company was failing to address a design flaw linked to its Theta II engines, leaving the engines prone to seizing up...
The False Claims Act is Important Now More Than Ever – Are FinTechs to Blame?
With the unprecedented wave of government spending to combat the effects of the pandemic (see $1.9 trillion spending bill passed earlier this year), we project that a record amount of fraudulent claims for pandemic-relief money have been and will be submitted, making qui tam suits under the False Claims Act...
“Brace Yourself”: Durable Medical Equipment Fraud is Big Business
Durable medical equipment (DME) fraud is one of the leading ways that suppliers and physicians defraud Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. DME is defined as supplies or equipment ordered by a health care provider for everyday or extended use. Examples might include neck, back, or leg braces; wheelchairs;...
SEC Whistleblower Awards Top $1 Billion
On September 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it has now paid more than $1 billion to over two hundred whistleblowers over the course of the program’s 10-year history, including awards of more than $500 million in FY 2021 alone. On the same day, the agency issued awards of...
Defense-Contracting Fraud: Taxpayers Wiped Clean from $14,000 Toilet Seats
In 2018, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) penned an op-ed for the New York Times, decrying such wasteful Pentagon spending as $14,000 for individual 3-D printed toilet seat lids, cups costing $1,280, $436 for hammers, $117 soap dish covers and $999 pliers. As Senator Grassley – father of the modern False...
