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The is the principal federal agency authorized to enforce the laws and defend the interests of the United States. As such, it oversees the enforcement of the False Claims Act, the foundation of the American whistleblower system, as well as numerous other laws.
The agency traces its origins to the Judiciary Act of 1789 which created the Office of the Attorney General, and the 1870 Act to Establish the Department of Justice, which established the agency as “an executive department of the government of the United States” with the Attorney General as its head.
The agency is comprised of numerous divisions with the Civil Division and in some instances, the Criminal Division, overseeing investigations and prosecutions under the False Claims Act. The of the federal district where the False Claims Act case is filed also plays a key role in False Claims Act enforcement.
Below are summaries of recent DOJ settlements or successful resolutions under the False Claims Act as well as other successful prosecutions for fraud and misconduct. If you believe you have information about fraud which could give rise to a claim for a whistleblower reward, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.
May 30, 2019
HyperHeal Hyperbarics, an oxygen therapy facility in Maryland, has agreed to pay over $400,000 to settle whistleblower allegations filed under the False Claims Act. In their 2016 qui tam suit, former employees Lesa Schrum and Juliette Skelton alleged that from 2013 to 2014, HyperHeal and its part-owner Eric Shapiro billed TRICARE for medically unnecessary services, services performed without physician supervision, or services that weren't ever performed. As part of the settlement, Schrum and Skelton will receive $74,635.25.May 30, 2019
Joseph P. Galichia, a cardiologist in Wichita, Kansas, will pay $5.8 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that he and his practice, Galichia Medical Group, P.A., implanted cardiac stents in patients who did not need them, and billed Medicare, the Defense Health Agency, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for these medically unnecessary procedures. Galichia will also be excluded from participating in federal healthcare programs for three years. The case was initiated by a whistleblower, Aly Gadalla, M.D., who filed a qui tam complaint. Dr. Gadalla will receive a whistleblower reward of $1.16 million. This is the third time Galichia had settled FCA claims against him and his practice. ;May 29, 2019
Houston-based patient recruiter and home health clinic owner Egondu “Kate” Koko has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $14 million for participating in a $20 million kickback scheme involving Medicare beneficiaries. Koko had plead guilty in October to paying bribes to both physicians and patients in order to earn between $9.5 and $25 million in ill-gotten gains, as well as to laundering money under another person’s identity and using proceeds from the fraud to buy a home.May 29, 2019
Almirall, LLC, f/k/a Aqua Pharmaceuticals, LLC , will pay $3.5 million to settle kickback allegations exposed by a former Aqua sales representative. According to the whistleblower, the pharmaceutical company paid kickbacks in the form of free meals, trips, gift cards, and gifts, to dermatology providers in exchange for prescriptions of their drugs to Medicare and TRICARE patients. It also paid kickbacks by compensating healthcare providers for speaking engagements and consulting services. For coming forward with details of the fraud, the unnamed whistleblower will receive a $735,000 share of the recovery.May 29, 2019
A doctor in South Carolina has agreed to pay $92,506.30 to settle allegations of accepting illegal payments from OK Compounding, LLC, in exchange for prescribing their pain creams to TRICARE patients. The False Claims Act violations allegedly occurred between February and May 2013, and involved “medical director fees” paid to Dr. Jerry Back that were in reality, kickbacks. This was the eighth kickback settlement in the Northern District of Oklahoma since the beginning of the year.May 28, 2019
John K. Morrow, former owner of Louisiana company UVC Technologies, LLC, was sentenced to over seven years in prison for defrauding investors out of more than $2 million dollars. Instead of using the funds for business expenses, Morrow spent the money on personal living and travel expenses. In addition to time in prison, Morrow was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, and he must pay $2,066,923 in restitution.