Whistleblower Group

Takeda Pays $13.7M to Settle False Claims Act Violations of Paying Kickbacks to Physicians

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Last Thursday (May 14), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay roughly $13.7 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by paying kickbacks to healthcare providers to induce prescriptions of Takeda’s Trintellix antidepressant medication.[1]

What Type of Kickbacks Did...

Perfectus Aluminum to Pay Whopping $549.5M False Claims Act Settlement, Largest Customs Fraud Settlement Ever

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On May 12, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that California-based Perfectus Aluminum and four affiliated warehousing companies agreed to pay $549.5 million to settle allegations they violated the False Claims Act by evading antidumping and countervailing duties owed on aluminum extrusions imported from China.[1]  It is the largest customs fraud False Claims...

Clothing Company to Pay $3 Million to Settle False Claims Act Case Initiated by Investigative-Firm Whistleblower

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York recently announced a settlement of a False Claims Act case initially brought by a whistleblower against Lafayette 148, Inc., a clothing company based in Brooklyn, New York.  The FCA case alleged that Lafayette “falsely certify[ied] that it was eligible for a pandemic-era second-draw Paycheck Protection Program...

Health Care Practice and Doctor Agree to Pay Over $6.73 Million to Settle False Claims Act Case

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that a California-based health care practice and a doctor have agreed to pay $6.73 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act.[1]  The DOJ alleged that the practice, called Feliciano Serrano, M.D., Inc. d/b/a Serrano Kidney & Vascular Access Center, and Dr. Serrano submitted or caused...

Echostar's DISH Network Pays $17.3M to Settle False Claims Act Violations of Defrauding FCC Broadband Benefits Programs

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Last Wednesday (May 6), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Colorado-based DISH Wireless agreed to pay roughly $17.3 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by defrauding two Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband benefits programs.[1]

How Did DISH Allegedly Defraud the FCC Broadband Benefit Programs?

The two FCC programs at...

Government Seizes $2M+ from California Wound Care Clinic Over Alleged Medicare Skin Graft Fraud

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On April 28, a federal court granted the government’s request to seize over $2 million from a California clinic, Expert Wound Care, which allegedly defrauded Medicare by billing for skin grafts and skin graft substitutes that patients never received. United States Magistrate Judge Alicia G. Rosenberg authorized the seizure of roughly $2,039,792 from a bank account...

CFTC Announces New Whistleblower Chief

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On April 29, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Raagnee Beri will be the new Director of the CFTC Whistleblower Office.[1]  She replaces Cynthia Lie who had served as the CFTC’s Acting Director for more than a year.  The Whistleblower Chief is the agency’s key interface with whistleblowers under the CFTC Whistleblower Program, which...

DOJ Wants to Hear From Data Miner Whistleblowers

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team On April 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new initiative -- called the Fraud Oversight through Careful Use of Statistics (FOCUS) initiative -- targeting data miner whistleblowers.[1]  It follows what DOJ describes as a “surge” in False Claims Act cases “driven by companies or individuals who analyze publicly available government data for potential...

PET Scan Provider to Pay $8.3M to Resolve Allegations of Kickbacks and False Claims Act Violations

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team California-based medical scan provider, Modern Nuclear Inc. (MNI), agreed to pay $8,334,350, and additional money based on future revenue, to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying referring cardiologists hefty fees to supervise positron emission tomography (PET) scans, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.[1]

What Did the Alleged...

Fitness Company Settles False Claims Act Customs Case Initiated by Whistleblower

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee recently announced that Echelon Fitness Multimedia agreed to pay $2,100,000 to settle a False Claims Act case alleging that it knowingly undervalued fitness equipment imported into the United States to lower the tariff payments owed to the government.[1]

What Was the Alleged Fraud?

Echelon is a company...