Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Feds Charge 107 Individuals with Health Care Fraud

The Medicaid Fraud Strike Force executed a massive takedown on Wednesday, bringing health care fraud charges against 107 individuals across six states.  The individuals are allegedly responsible for over $452 million in false or fraudulent Medicare claims.  In addition to the charges brought against the individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services suspended or took administrative action against 52 health care providers.  The Medicaid Fraud Strike Force teams are a joint effort by the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Florida, Michigan, Texas, California, Louisiana, and Illinois.

Read the entire press release, “Medicare Fraud Strike Force Charges 107 Individuals for Approximately $452 Million in False Billing"

U.S. Joins Case Against Princeton Review

The federal government joined a suit alleging that Princeton Review violated the False Claims Act by billing for tutoring services for underprivileged students that were never provided.  Princeton Review was contracted to provide Supplemental Education Services tutoring at underperforming NYC schools under the No Child Left Behind law.  Under the contract, Princeton Review was to be paid per student, per hour.  According to the complaint, employees were rewarded with bonuses when sessions were well-attended and were threatened with pay-cuts or termination when they were not.  Employees allegedly forged student signatures to boost their attendance rates.  According to the government, the sign-in sheet records include the names of students who were out of the country on days they purportedly attended tutoring sessions, signatures that misspelled students’ own names, and tutoring sessions on days that schools were closed.  The federal government estimated that the alleged scheme resulted in millions of dollars in fraudulent billings. 

Read the entire article, “Suit: Princeton Review charged city for tutoring it didn’t provide"

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

BNY Mellon Prevails in Virginia

A Virginia judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging BNY Mellon overcharged the state’s pension funds for foreign currency exchanges.  According to the judge, the state failed to establish that BNY Mellon had submitted a claim for payment, as required under Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.

A California judge dismissed similar allegations under California’s False Claims Act last month, but allowed several other allegations to go forward.  Related suits brought by Florida, New York, and the federal government are still pending. 

Read the entire article, “Virginia’s $1B suit against N.Y. bank tossed out"
Read our earlier post, “FCA Allegations Dismissed in BNY Mellon Case"

Thursday, April 26, 2012

McKesson Settles AWP Case for $190 Million

McKesson has agreed to pay $190 million to resolve allegations that the company fraudulently inflated the reported prices of several of its prescription drugs in an effort to manipulate Medicare’s Average Wholesale Price.  Over $2 billion has been recovered in AWP fraud cases filed against multiple drug manufacturers.

Read the press release, “McKesson Corp. Pays U.S. More Than $190 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations"

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

U.S. Intervenes in FCA Suit against Ink Manufacturer

The federal government has joined a whistleblower suit alleging that Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co. and its subsidiaries violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay import duties on certain ink pigments.  According to the complaint, the company claimed that the pigment was imported from Mexico and Japan, allowing it to escape anti-dumping and countervailing duties it would have had to pay if it disclosed that the pigments had actually been manufactured in India and China.

Read the entire press release, “U.S. Intervenes in False Claims Lawsuit Alleging Knowing Failure to Pay Import Duties by Japanese and U.S. Companies"

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