About This Blog
Presented by Hodgson Russ, the Whistleblower Blog is written by a team of lawyers experienced in successfully guiding both whistleblowers and companies accused by whistleblowers of wrongdoing through the False Claims Act process.
Stay Connected
Showing 5 posts from 2015.
Boeing Settles False Claims Act Lawsuit for $18 Million
The Boeing Company has settled an False Claims Act case originated by a former employee-turned-whistleblower for $18 million. The case alleged that Boeing “submitted false claims for labor charges on maintenance contracts with the U.S. Air Force for the C-17 Globemaster aircraft,” according to a recent Justice Department press release. In the case, Boeing was accused of “improperly charg[ing] labor costs under contracts with the Air Force for the maintenance and repair of C-17 Globemaster aircraft.” The government alleged that Boeing “knowingly charged the United States for time its mechanics spent on extended breaks and lunch hours, and not on maintenance and repair work properly chargeable to the contracts.”
Learn more about our Whistleblower Practice
Comment
IRS Whistleblowers Collect Over $230 Million In 3 Years
The IRS Whistleblower Award Program has paid over $230 million in awards over the last three fiscal years, according to its most recent report to Congress. The awards averaged over $650,000 each, and average about 18% of the amount collected in each case. The program received over 14,000 new claims during FY 2014. According to the report, the award program exists to provide whistleblowers with an incentive to report “significant tax noncompliance” to the IRS.
Learn more about our whistleblower practice and contact us today.
Florida Nursing Facility Pays $17 Million False Claims
The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that it had settled allegations involving violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute by skilled nursing facilities in the United States. Specifically, Hebrew Homes Health Network Inc., its operating subsidiaries and affiliates, and William Zubkoff, the former president and executive director of the network, agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by improperly paying doctors for referrals of Medicare patients requiring skilled nursing care. This is the largest FCA settlement to date involving a skilled nursing facility.
Learn more about our Whistleblower Practice
Government Asserts Right to Final Say in FCA Settlements
A recent decision from the U,S. District Court for the District of Columbia illustrates the power of the government to block False Claims Act settlements between relators and defendants. United States ex rel. Landis v. Tailwind Sports Corp., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46140 (D.D.C. April 9, 2015) involves former professional cyclist Floyd Landis, who brought FCA violations against Lance Armstrong and other defendants, including Armstrong’s agents and their company, called Capital Sports and Entertainment. The case was based on Landis’s allegations that defendants submitted claims for sponsorship payments to the U.S. Postal Service while knowing that the team had been using performance-enhancing drugs in violation of the sponsorship agreement.
Adventist to Pay $5 Million For False Claims Act Allegations
Radiation oncology provider Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation has agreed to pay more than $5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it provided “radiation oncology services to Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries that were not directly supervised by radiation oncologists or similarly qualified persons,” according to a recent Department of Justice press release.
Adventist operates a large network of hospitals in the South and the Midwest. According to the release, “[r]adiation oncology services provided to patients served by Medicare and TRICARE, the Department of Defense’s health care program, must be directly supervised by a radiation oncologist or similarly qualified personnel.” The qui tam FCA case alleged that Adventist “violated this supervision requirement for radiation oncology services provided to federal health care program beneficiaries at several Florida locations, including in Altamonte Springs, Daytona Beach, Deland, Kissimmee, Orange City, Orlando, Palm Coast and Winter Park. These services included radiation simulation, dosimetry, radiation treatment delivery and devices, and intensity-modulated radiation therapy.”
The case had been initiated by a physician who had been employed as a radiation oncologist. The whistleblower will receive $1,082,500 as his relator’s share.
Attorney Advertising
Hodgson Russ LLP
