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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.
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Michelle Merola
Showing 11 posts by Michelle Merola.
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Other Prosecutors Hard At Work Replenishing State Coffers Depleted By State’s COVID Response
As the holiday season approaches and New Yorkers struggle with finances due to COVID-related limitations imposed on business, the government has been searching for ways to alleviate the hardships faced by many. For example, Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) renewed, for the eighth time, an order to halt the collection of medical and student debt owed to the State of New York, including those matters specifically referred to the OAG for collection. However, when one hand giveth, the other taketh away. Because the State treasury has also suffered tremendously during the pandemic, agencies are under pressure to recoup losses. Thus, like other agencies, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the OAG is working harder than ever to prosecute health care fraud and recapture State funds and penalties.
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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.
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Whistleblowers Recover $2 Million in Worthless Services Case
On October 10, 2014, the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) jointly announced that Extendicare Health Services Inc. (Extendicare) and its subsidiary Progressive Step Corporation (ProStep) agreed to pay $38 million to the United States and eight states for False Claims Act liability. Approximately $2 million of the total settlement amount will be awarded to the whistleblowers who revealed the fraudulent conduct at issue by bringing suit under the False Claims Act.
The New York State False Claims Act Reaches Tax Violations Prior to 2010
The New York False Claims Act (NY FCA) was amended in August 2010 to expressly apply to knowing violations of the New York State Tax Law. As reported in a previous blog entry, a whistleblower filed an action against Sprint Nextel Corporation alleging that it failed to collect or pay New York State sales taxes on receipts from the sale of certain wireless telephone services. After an investigation, the attorney general for the State of New York, Eric T. Schneiderman, intervened and filed a superseding complaint adopting the FCA claims and alleging additional claims against the mobile telecommunications service provider. Among those claims were claims premised on conduct predating 2010, when the NY FCA was amended to include tax violations.
Whistleblower Teams Up With the State of New York in Groundbreaking Suit Against Sprint-Nextel Corporation
On April 19, 2012, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against Sprint-Nextel Corporation for deliberately under-collecting and underpaying millions of dollars in New York State and local sales taxes. The lawsuit was brought under the New York False Claims Act, which, unlike its federal counterpart, expressly permits cases involving tax fraud.
Shareholder Derivative Suits Premised on False Claims Act Violations
The government and the whistleblowers who assist the government are not the only parties taking aim at corporate America. Private plaintiffs are finding ways to bring civil actions based in part on alleged False Claims Act violations. Recently there have been a rash of shareholder derivative suits that allege breaches of fiduciary duties and reckless mismanagement by officers and directors. Although shareholder derivative suits are not new, the charge alleged in these suits is—namely, that the failure to manage risk appropriately led to violations of the False Claims Act or other fraud statutes.
SEC Rules Implement Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program
After much deliberation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final rules implementing the whistleblower program mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. Under the new rules, individuals (referred to as whistleblowers) may claim rewards if they voluntarily provide to the SEC original information about a violation of the federal securities laws, including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (see our January 24 blog post on this topic) that leads to a successful enforcement action resulting in monetary sanctions that total more than $1 million.
If an individual meets each of these requirements, the SEC will be required to award the whistleblower between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary penalties recovered, including penalties recovered in related actions by other regulatory agencies.
Proposed Expansion of the IRS Whistleblower Program
Under Internal Revenue Code Section 7623(a), the IRS shall pay awards to people who provide “specific and credible information” to the IRS if the information results in the collection of taxes, penalties, interest, or other amounts from a noncompliant taxpayer. Guaranteed awards, however, are limited to individuals who provide information about significant tax issues. “Significant” is defined by the IRS as taxes, penalties, and interest owed in excess of $2 million. Thus, to meet the $2 million threshold—including back taxes, interest and penalties—the noncompliant taxpayer should have an annual gross income of more than $200,000. If the IRS successfully obtains a recovery from such a taxpayer, the IRS is required to pay the whistleblower between 15 and 30 percent of the recovery. If the whistleblower is not satisfied with the reward, he or she may appeal to the U.S. Tax Court. In cases involving less than $2 million, payment of an award to the whistleblower is discretionary, with a maximum of 15 percent of the recovery and no right of appeal.
Dodd-Frank Act Impacts Whistleblowers | Hodgson Russ
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 brings a new round of sweeping reform to our nation’s financial system. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, a whistleblower who provides “original information” to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) or the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is eligible to receive a portion of the proceeds recovered by the government as a result of a successful enforcement action.
Major Changes to New York State False Claims Act
On August 13, 2010, New York State Governor Paterson signed into law Assembly Bill 11568, which includes major changes to New York’s False Claims Act, enacted in 2007. According to legislators, the bill was passed to address several issues that have arisen in the courts since its enactment. It is also designed to assure that the New York law continues to keep pace with federal law. One of the biggest changes, a divergence from the federal False Claims Act, is a provision that allows qui tam plaintiffs to bring actions for tax fraud, but only when the net income or sales of the defendant total $1 million or more and the damages pleaded in the action exceed $350,000. It also strengthens the protections for whistleblowers, both private individuals and government employees, who uncover information concerning the misuse of government funds. These amendments took effect immediately and apply to all false claims, records, and statements made or used prior to, on, or after the April 1, 2007, effective date of the New York False Claims Act.
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