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Whistleblower Blog

New State False Claims Act Trend Is Evaluated at Southeastern Health Care Fraud Conference in Atlanta

Yesterday I enjoyed leading a panel discussion of the new State False Claims Acts, at the Southeastern Health Care Fraud Conference in Atlanta. Of particular interest to this audience was the new Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act that became law in May 2007, which has qui tam whistleblower provisions similar to the federal False Claims Act.

Our audience of health care attorneys heard a detailed account of Florida’s successes with its State False Claims Act by Mark S. Thomas, the Chief
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Confidentiality of IRS Tax Whistleblowers or Informants–Federal Regulation on Keeping Whistleblowers Confidential

Our potential tax whistleblower clients–who call our attorneys about participating in the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program–regularly ask before they proceed if the IRS will keep their identities confidential.

Across the country, the IRS Special Agents we have been dealing with in representing our tax whistleblower clients (for example, in New York, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Atlanta, to name a few) have consistently answered the question the same way. Confidentiality is addressed by Treasury Regulations applicable to the IRS, which provide in part
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Whistleblower Lawyer Blog Update: Kickback Allegations Lead IBM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers to Settle False Claims Act Liability

One of the many types of fraud and false claims that whistleblowers can report to whistleblower attorneys is unlawful “kickbacks” paid by companies that do business with the federal government.

The Justice Department has announced a settlement with IBM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers for more than $5.2 million, to resolve allegations that these firms violated the False Claims Act through business arrangements that allegedly constituted unlawful kickbacks. The announcement followed a whistleblower suit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which
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Reverse False Claim Act Case Settlment Announced by Justice Department

The Minerals Management Service of the U. S. Department of Interior is responsible for the collection of royalties on federal and Indian leases. Companies who have such leases are required to report to the Department of Interior the value of natural gas produced (or minerals mined) from federal and Indian leases and to pay a percentage to the government as royalties. When the entity that has the duty to pay the royalties files a false report and misstates what the collected revenues were, this is
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Whistleblower Lawyer Update: Medicaid Fraud Investigation Into Fraudulent Pharmacy Billings Produces Recovery in Missouri

Medicaid Fraud Recovery Announced by Missouri Attorney General
False and fraudulent billings were uncovered in a Missouri Medicaid fraud investigation that has produced a recovery by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Billings like this typically violate the False Claims Act or the various state False Claims Acts.

Prescriptions that had not been authorized by physicians were submitted and paid for by the Medicaid program. Once the suspicious activity was reported, the Attorney General’s Office’s investigation followed and produced
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Statute of Limitations for a Tax Whistleblower Case Under the IRS Whistleblower Program

From potential clients seeking information about the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program that our attorneys have written about extensively, questions have been asked about the statute of limitations for tax whistleblower cases.

If a whistleblower informant possesses information concerning false of fraudulent tax returns filed with the intent to evade taxes, 26 U.S.C. § 6501(c)(1) provides for no statute of limitations. In the case of a willful attempt in any manner to defeat or evade income tax obligations, once again, the IRS may
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Whistleblower Lawyer Update: Medical Equipment Fraud, Fraudulent Billing by Doctor, and Home Health Care Fraud Highlight Week of Indictments in Health Care Compliance Cases

This past week produced examples of why whistleblowers and their attorneys must continue to insist that false claims and health care fraud not be tolerated. The indictments of Texas medical equipment suppliers–who are alleged to have overbilled Medicare and Medicaid for expensive scooters and chairs while providing cheaper ones –show how prevalent false claims are.

The indictment of a physician in West Virginia for allegedly falsifying the time spent in patient visits shows another common type of health care fraud and false claims.
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Should a Tax Whistleblower in the New IRS Whistleblower Program Use an IRS Form 3949?

Question about the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program: if you go to the Internal Revenue Service’s website, the IRS notifies persons that, if they have evidence of suspected tax violations, they should use a Form 3949 and send it to an Internal Revenue Service Office in Fresno, California. While this blog is not legal advice, we have not seen a basis for individuals seeking a reward under the new IRS Whistleblower Program for blowing the whistle to utilize this form. The reason is because
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Justice Department Attorneys Announce $30.5 Million Settlement in Qui Tam Whistleblower Case of Medicaid Fraud

Another False Claims Act Recovery by Government Lawyers Is Part of $42.65 Million Heath Care Fraud Settlement

A qui tam whistleblower case alleging Medicaid fraud by Maximus, Inc. of Reston, Virginia led to a $30.5 million settlement under the False Claims Act this week.

According to the Justice Department, the whistleblower case settlement accompanied a deferred prosecution agreement and corporate integrity agreement by Maximus to end the government’s investigation of Maximus’ contract with the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA).
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The Profile of the New Tax Whistleblower

When the Tax Relief and Healthcare Act of 2006 was signed into law on December 20, 2006, Congress hoped to encourage businessmen and women to come forward with information concerning tax cheats. The new IRS Whistleblower Program (found at 26 U.S.C. § 7623) purposely focuses on large claims. To qualify for whistleblower rewards, a minimum of $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest must be involved. Given this amount of money, the primary targets of the new legislation are businesses whose employees and/or former employees
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SEC Welcomes SEC Whistleblowers Who Are Foreign Citizens Living Abroad

Yesterday’s record award to an SEC whistleblower has far-reaching consequences because the SEC made clear it will reward foreign citizens living abroad who meet its criteria for a whistleblower award.

This decision rejects any suggestion that the SEC Whistleblower Program’s reach ends at the nation’s borders. The SEC recognized that a leading federal appeals court imposed such a limitation on the anti-retaliation provisions of the Dodd-Frank law, which authorized the SEC Whistleblower Program, but announced it is taking a different approach to whistleblower awards:
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SEC Whistleblower Receives Record Award of $30 Million

Today the SEC Office of the Whistleblower announced the largest-ever award to an SEC whistleblower: $30 million to a whistleblower living abroad.

The size of the award reflects the SEC’s seriousness about utilizing whistleblowers’ information to expose major securities violations. The SEC described this as “ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect” without the whistleblower, according to the Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Andrew Ceresney.

Sean McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, added that this award demonstrates
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FATCA – Foreign Bank Account Headaches

FATCA is being implemented in a number of countries outside the U.S., with the result that U.S. individuals who hold foreign bank or financial accounts and have not disclosed these accounts in the U.S., are about to be reported to the IRS.

(This post is by our colleague Richard Rubin of Rubin Law (www.rubinlaw.us), a tax attorney with significant experience in U.S. cross-border matters, including FATCA and U.S. international compliance.)

Bank accounts in countries outside the U.S. can cause headaches when owned by U.S. taxpayers. While owning foreign accounts has always entailed a reporting headache for U.S. taxpayers, the problem has recently heightened as a result of the FATCA legislation that is being implemented in a number of countries outside the U.S.

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What the Just-Released 2013 IRS Whistleblower Office Annual Report Means for Future Tax Whistleblowers

The just-released FY 2013 IRS Whistleblower Office Annual Report reveals clues to what the future holds for tax whistleblowers.

Steve Whitlock, Director of the IRS Whistleblower Office, gave a preview last Fall. Listening to an audience react enthusiastically to his SEC counterpart Sean McKessy discuss awarding more than $14 million to a whistleblower, Whitlock wryly observed that the IRS had “only” awarded $50 million to whistleblowers in FY 2013.

To those who follow the IRS Whistleblower Program closely, Whitlock’s comment was a rare moment to
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New York False Claims Act Case Against Sprint Nextel Takes Giant Step Forward

In a momentous decision that will impact many future cases, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has just won a major victory in his pioneering tax fraud case against Sprint Nextel Corp.

The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the trial court’s 2013 ruling (background discussed here) to allow Schneiderman’s first tax enforcement case under the New York False Claims Act to proceed.

The Complaint alleges that Sprint unlawfully failed to collect and pay $130 million in New York sales taxes on a portion of its revenue from fixed monthly access charges. Like the federal False Claims Act, the New York False Claims Act provides for recovery of three times the amount of damages incurred–“treble damages.”

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First Large SEC Whistleblower Award Is Encouraging, As SEC’s “Loss” in Mark Cuban Case May Be

“Government shutdown” month (October 2013) has brought encouraging news from the SEC–including some good news you might not realize.

On October 1, the SEC announced its first SEC whistleblower award of more than $1 million. The Commission’s Office of the Whistleblowerer led by Sean McKessy awarded more than $14 million to a whistleblower who remains confidential. According to the SEC, the whistleblower’s information “led to an SEC enforcement action that recovered substantial investor funds.”

Two weeks later, a Texas jury found against the SEC
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The False Claims Act and the New Georgia “Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act’

After I helped draft Georgia’s new False Claims Act enacted last year, the “Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act,” I have been asked many questions about this new whistleblower law. Like the federal False Claims Act, its “qui tam” provisions allow private citizens to report fraud against public funds and receive a share of the recovery.

What many people may not know is that Georgia’s two False Claims Acts now apply to all spending by the state, and all spending by local governments.

The 2012 Act can be used by a wide array of “local government” bodies, and by citizens who know about fraud against those entities. The Act defines “local government” broadly to include “any Georgia county, municipal corporation, consolidated government, authority, board of education or other local public board, body, or commission, town, school district, board of cooperative educational services, local public benefit corporation, hospital authority, taxing authority, or other political subdivision of the state or of such local government, including MARTA.”

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Liechtenstein Bank Secrecy Gives Way in $23.8 Million IRS Settlement That Exposes US Tax Evaders

Another shoe dropped for offshore tax evaders today, in an encouraging sign for the IRS Whistleblower Office.

A Liechtenstein bank avoided prosecution by agreeing to turn over files on 200 U.S. customers and to pay $23.8 million for assisting U.S. taxpayers in opening and maintaining undeclared bank accounts from 2001 through 2011.

Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG (LLB-Vaduz) helped a significant number of U.S. taxpayers hide these offshore accounts, evade U.S. taxes, and file false tax returns with the IRS, according to today’s announcement.

The Justice Department
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CFTC Whistleblower Program Taps SEC Enforcement Lawyer As New Director

In January, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) lost to the SEC the first director of the new CFTC Whistleblower Office, Vincente Martinez. CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler has announced that he has recruited from the SEC Enforcement Division Christopher Ehrman to lead the CFTC Whistleblower Office’s efforts to attract whistleblowers in the swaps and futures markets.

Mr. Ehrman most recently had been Assistant Director of the SEC’s Office of Market Intelligence. His experience there should serve him well since he “oversaw the processing, review and
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Court Allows N.Y. Tax Whistleblower Case To Proceed Against Sprint-Nextel Corporation

When New York amended its state False Claims Act in 2010, it broke new ground by including tax whistleblower cases. New York’s decision to attract tax whistleblowers bore fruit when the NY Supreme Court recently ruled that New York’s $100 million tax whistleblower case against Sprint-Nextel Corp. may proceed.

If successful, this case may net New York three times the more than $100 million in unpaid taxes that the state alleges Sprint has failed to pay its state and local governments. It may also bring the whistleblower 15%-25% of what the state recovers.

The N.Y. Supreme Court first rejected Sprint’s arguments that the N.Y. Tax Law did not require payment of the sales tax in question. The Court allowed the case to proceed.

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