Compliance

Many commentators (including us) have been predicting it for years — cybersecurity is the next wave of False Claims Act enforcement. Despite a handful of publicly reported fraud cases involving cybersecurity issues, a wave has yet to materialize. Some wondered if former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston’s remarks in December 2020, where he noted […]

In September, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment charging Afework Bereket, a former account manager with a large telecom company, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and commit money laundering. The indictment — initially filed just six months after the U.S. Department of […]

The US Department of Justice is increasing its arsenal to pursue cyber-related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients. The program, called the “Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative,” was announced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Wednesday. The initiative – along with other recent steps taken by the federal government – should prompt companies to be […]

The district court dismissed a qui tam case alleging the defendant made material misstatements and omitted necessary information when it submitted medical devices for approval to the FDA and therefore obtained approval for the devices through fraud. The court found that some of the alleged misstatements and omissions were disputable, but held that the relator […]

The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss a qui tam case alleging fraud on government healthcare programs and unlawful employment retaliation. While the defendant provided detailed allegations about falsified eye exams and unnecessary surgeries that were billed to Medicaid and Medicare, the court found that he had not alleged any details about the […]

In May the Department of Justice, through its Fraud Section and in conjunction with the Center for Program Integrity, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CPI/CMS), began prosecuting defendants who were alleged to have perpetrated a variety of COVID-19-related scams on federal healthcare programs. On September 17, the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit, in coordination […]

In July of 2021, the Department of Justice announced that it entered into a settlement agreement with two Texas companies, Alliance Parent, Inc. and Anchor Holdings LP d/b/a Anchor Capital Partners, for their violation of the False Claims Act after several qui tam actions were filed against the companies. The case is notable given that […]

The Department of Justice has announced a new Civil Cyber-Fraud initiative which will use the False Claims Act to enforce government contract cybersecurity requirements....

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the launch of its new Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative — an effort designed to harness the department’s knowledge in civil fraud enforcement, government procurement and cybersecurity to combat emerging (and escalating) cyber threats. The initiative comes on the heels of the DOJ’s comprehensive, 120-day review into its […]

In a five-part series of articles, Tom Fox explores the development and use of internal controls. “The whole concept of internal controls is that companies need to focus on where the risks are, whether they be compliance risks or other, and they need to allocate their limited resources to putting controls in place that address […]