Among the many 2009 changes to strengthen the False Claims Act is one whose impact is about to be experienced: greater use of “civil investigative demands” to gather evidence. Civil investigative demands allow to government to require any person believed to have documents or information relevant to a False Claims…
As if the nation’s expenditures to rebuild Iraq were not enough, fraud that steals taxpayer dollars continues to infect the Iraq reconstruction program. This fraud often results in qui tam whistleblower cases under the False Claims Act, which allows those reporting the fraud to receive a a share of the…
The Justice Department has just announced that, to protect patients from harm in seven Georgia psychiatric hospitals, its Civil Rights Division has filed for relief including immediate appointment of a monitor to protect those patients. DOJ cited the threat to patients of “imminent and serious threat of harm to their…
How does the IRS treat whistleblowers who receive awards under the False Claims Act’s “qui tam” provisions, which allow private citizens who expose fraud to share in the government’s recovery of money? The Tax Court this week addressed that question. It held that awards to whistleblowers or “relators” are part…
Attorneys from across the country will gather tomorrow in Atlanta to discuss health care fraud and the 2009 amendments to the False Claims Act, the nation’s primary whistleblower statute. I am pleased to be on the panel discussing “False Claims Act Developments,” moderated by Jack Boese of Fried Frank. This…
Since the Madoff and Stanford schemes proved ruinous to so many investors, many have asked why the SEC has no meaningful “whistleblower” program to expose wrongdoing, a topic we have written about previously. Perhaps Harry Markopolis’ voice is finally being heard, albeit faintly. Last week, the House Financial Services Committee…
The battle against those who steal taxpayer dollars through Medicare fraud and other health care fraud took a step forward this week. The Senate is now considering the “Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act,” which will enhance the government’s tools used to investigate and remedy Medicare and Medicaid fraud. After a…
With the nation’s health care costs growing, a DOJ and HHS initiative to combat health care fraud continues to show progress. Building on past enforcement efforts, in May 2009 the government announced its Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), as part of what is now a Cabinet-level…
Defrauding the government of taxpayer dollars has gotten tougher over the past five months. Important changes to the nation’s primary anti-fraud statute, the False Claims Act, took effect on May 20, 2009, when the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 became law. Among the most significant changes, Congress clarified…
At the “Advanced Health Law” seminar on October 9, attorneys prosecuting and defending cases of alleged health care fraud will discuss the important new amendments to the False Claims Act. I am honored to be the panelist who will discuss these important new provisions from the perspective of representing whistleblowers…