AmerisourceBergen to pay $625 million in U.S. civil fraud settlement

AmerisourceBergen Corp, one of the largest U.S. drug wholesalers, will pay $625 million to resolve civil fraud charges over the sale of syringes containing drugs for cancer patients, double billing, and providing kickbacks to doctors.

The settlement announced on Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice boosts AmerisourceBergen’s total payout to $885 million over its repackaging and distribution of pre-filled syringes that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Four whistleblowers including Michael Mullen, a former chief operating officer at AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group, will share $99 million from the payout, lawyers for Mullen said. read more »

Medicare Advantage Provider to Pay $270 Million to Settle False Claims Act Liabilities

HealthCare Partners Holdings LLC, doing business as DaVita Medical Holdings LLC (DaVita), has agreed to pay $270 million to resolve its False Claims Act liability for providing inaccurate information that caused Medicare Advantage Plans to receive inflated Medicare payments, the Justice Department announced today.

The whistleblower in this action is James Swoben, who was a former employee of an MAO that did business with DaVita. Mr. Swoben will receive $10,199,100 for the settlement of the “one way” allegations. read more »

Oil Services CEO and Executive Sentenced to Prison for Roles in Foreign Bribery Scheme

A former CEO and former executive of an oil services company were sentenced to prison today for their involvement in an international bribery conspiracy.

“Anthony Mace and Robert Zubiate played key roles in a massive bribery scheme that involved the payment of millions of dollars to public officials in exchange for lucrative oil-services contracts,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “Their actions rewarded corrupt officials’ greed and tilted the playing field against honest, law-abiding companies.  Today they paid a heavy price for their crimes.  Their sentences should serve as a warning to corporate executives everywhere: if you pay bribes to advance your business interests, we will catch you and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.” read more »