Court Rejects “Duty Speech”/“Fraud Alert” Exception to False Claims Act Whistleblower Protection

False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblowers have enabled the federal government to recover nearly $30 billion, and in 2017 alone, qui tam cases filed by whistleblowers generated $898 million in recoveries.  Blowing the whistle on fraud, however, can be perilous and many whistleblowers suffer retaliation, including blacklisting. To encourage whistleblowers to come forward, Congress included a strong anti-retaliation provision in the False Claims Act. Read more »

Tennessee Chiropractor Pays More Than $1.45 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

A Lenior City, Tennessee, chiropractor has paid $1.45 million, plus interest, to resolve False Claims Act violations, announced U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee. The settlement also calls for a Cookeville, Tennessee, pain clinic nurse practitioner to pay $32,000 and surrender her DEA registration to settle allegations that she violated the Controlled Substances Act.

Matthew Anderson and his management company, PMC LLC, managed four pain clinics in Tennessee, most recently known as; Cookeville Center for Pain Management; Spinal Pain Solutions in Harriman; Preferred Pain Center of Grundy County in Gruetli Laager; and McMinnville Pain Relief Center.    All of these clinics are now closed. Read more »

CFTC Charges Randall Crater, Mark Gillespie, and My Big Coin Pay, Inc. with Fraud and Misappropriation in Ongoing Virtual Currency Scam

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing of a federal court enforcement action under seal on January 16, 2018, charging commodity fraud and misappropriation related to the ongoing solicitation of customers for a virtual currency known as My Big Coin (MBC). The CFTC Complaint charges Defendants Randall Crater of East Hampton, New York, Mark Gillespie of Hartland, Michigan, and My Big Coin Pay, Inc., a corporation based in Las Vegas, Nevada, with misappropriating over $6 million from customers by, among other things, transferring customer funds into personal bank accounts, and using those funds for personal expenses and the purchase of luxury goods. Read more »

GE is under SEC investigation

General Electric is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

GE (GE) said on Wednesday that regulators are investigating a $6.2 billion insurance loss that the company revealed last week. The disclosure is a new and potentially much more serious problem for a company already reeling from missteps and questionable management decisions.

The SEC is also investigating the company's accounting, chief financial officer Jamie Miller told analysts during a conference call. Specifically, she said the agency is looking into "revenue recognition and controls" for the company's long-term service agreements. Read more »

Florida Federal Court: Escobar Requires Reversal of $348 Million False Claims Act Jury Verdict

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated a large jury verdict in a False Claims Act case against the owners and operators of nursing homes because the evidence did not satisfy the materiality standards articulated in the U.S Supreme Court’s 2016 opinion in Universal Health Services v. Escobar.

The court’s thorough and well-written opinion in United States ex rel. Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation Services, LLC concluded the nearly $350 million verdict could not survive because the relator failed to present evidence that the federal and state governments would not have paid the claims if they were aware of the alleged violations.  Indeed, as the court noted, both governments were aware of the disputed practices and the litigation, but both continued to pay the claims despite this knowledge. Read more »