ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Technology Consultant Blows Whistle On Fraud
$20 Million Consent Judgment Announced
How Qui Tam Cases Work
Healthcare providers in the U.S., including hospice service providers, sellers of medical products and devices, hospitals and clinics, are all subject to a number of statutes to prevent any fraudulent billing under government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. When the providers violate federal healthcare laws such as eligibility guidelines, they also violate the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, for submitting false claims for payment to the government. One of the underlying protections against fraud in the healthcare field is individuals with information about this kind of scheme can be rewarded for bringing this kind of illegal practice to light. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represents individuals who bring FCA cases based for any kind of fraud against Medicare or Medicaid or other government-sponsored healthcare programs. If you have credible, original information of healthcare fraud in Santa Clara County, elsewhere in the South Bay or anywhere in Northern California, call us today at (415)441-8669 or toll-free at (888)-50EVANS (503-8267) and we can help.
Recent FCA Case Consent Judgment*
According to a recent U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, a businessman and the 10 companies he represented agreed to enter in a $20 million consent judgment to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) through pandemic relief fraud. The judgement stems from a qui tam whistleblower suit filed by a consultant, who performed information technology services for the defendant and his businesses. According to the DOJ, Defendants provided false information about his companies’ employee rosters and payrolls in support of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan applications. “Some of the entities for which [he] submitted loan applications were dormant or inactive,” the government states. The DOJ further alleges that the individual defendant used those loan proceeds for impermissible personal purposes, including the purchase of a private island, investment in Texas oil interests, and paying off personal debts.
“PPP and EIDL loans were intended to help small businesses during the pandemic,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov M. Roth of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to holding accountable those who undermined the purpose of these programs by knowingly obtaining and retaining loan proceeds for which they were not eligible.”
During FY 2024, settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.9 billion and over $2.4 billion of the recoveries stemmed from qui tam whistleblower lawsuits. Furthermore, according to the government, a record 979 qui tam lawsuits were filed in FY 2024.
How False Claims Act Whistleblower Cases Work
Cases such as this one are often initiated under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the FCA. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The FCA allows private parties to sue on behalf of the government for false claims, and to receive a share of any recovery. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b) (procedures for initiating qui tam actions). The suit is filed confidentially and remains under seal giving the government time to review the allegations in the case. If the government decides to intervene, the government essentially takes over the case. If the government declines to intervene, the plaintiff has the right to continue the suit of their own. The whistleblowers stand to receive up to 15-30% of the settlement in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(1) and (2).
Contact Us
If you have information of healthcare fraud against the federal government or the State of California occurring in San Francisco or elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area or State of California, contact Ingrid M. Evans at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or toll-free at (888)-50EVANS (503-8267) or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. In addition to False Claims cases, Ingrid also represents individual whistleblowers in qui tam cases involving bank fraud under FIRREA/FIAFEA, commodity trading and securities fraud under the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program and the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, and tax fraud under the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program.
*Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
