Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology (Diagnostic Labs), a California-based mobile lab and x-ray provider, will pay $17.5 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks for referral of its services subsequently billed to Medicare and Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. According to the allegations, Diagnostic Labs charged discounted rates to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) for inpatient services…
U.S. Suit Against Allied Will Proceed
A federal judge has given the green light to a fraud lawsuit brought by the U.S. government against Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. Allied is alleged to have fostered a “culture of corruption” that led to the fraudulent misrepresentation of the creditworthiness of thousands of mortgage applicants. One of the government’s more colorful allegations is…
Bayer Targeted in Chinese Investigation
Close on the heels of its investigation of GlaxoSmithKline for “economic crimes,” China’s Federation of Industry and Commerce has contacted German drug giant Bayer in relation to an antitrust probe. A spokesman for Bayer said, “We assume that this contact is related to a wider investigation into the pharmaceutical industry in China.” Sales in China…
Virginia Qui Tam Suit Against Quest Diagnostics Filed
Details were recently made public of a suit against Quest Diagnostics Inc. accusing the medical lab company—the country’s largest—of charging Virginia’s Medicaid program rates higher than those charged other customers. The suit, which was unsealed last month, originated as a qui tam action under the state’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. Among the allegations is a…
With Health Law Rollout Approaching, Authorities Watchful for Fraud
Among the many changes brought about by the enactment of the Affordable Care Act is an increase in Medicaid enrollment in many states. Officials in Massachusetts, mindful that increased enrollment means increased opportunity for fraud, have implemented a new $5 million program aimed at detecting and preventing phony claims before any money changes hands. The…
More Fraud Allegations Facing Bank of America
The latest chapter in Bank of America’s legal woes began Tuesday with the filing of parallel suits by the SEC and DOJ charging the bank with fraudulently misleading investors as to the risks associated with some $850 million worth of mortgage-backed securities. Those securities, not surprisingly, did not fare well when the housing market collapsed,…
Libor Settlement Is a Gift that Keeps Giving for U.S. Regulators
In the wake of last year’s Libor scandal, the implicated banks agreed to settlements worth $2.5 billion. Now, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) turns its attention to another important financial benchmark, those agreements may prove a powerful weapon in the agency’s investigatory arsenal. ISDAfix is an obscure but important benchmark used by…
$5 Million Settlement in Nursing Home Kickback Suit
Morris and Phillip Esformes, a father and son team accused of participating in a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme, have agreed to pay $5 million to resolve federal charges against them, the Chicago Tribune reports this week. The allegations arose from the 2004 sale of Total Pharmacy, a company partly owned by Phillip Esformes, to Omnicare Inc….
Tech Vendor Pays $400,000 to Settle FCA Charges
The Justice Department announced this week that Texas businessman Larry Lehmann has agreed to pay $400,000 in connection with his alleged role in corrupting the E-rate federal subsidy program in the Houston school system. Congress created the E-rate Program in 1996 to subsidize internet access in libraries and public schools. When the Houston Independent School…
Amgen Agrees to Pay $15 Million
Amgen Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a whistleblower suit alleging that the company paid kickbacks to physicians and physician groups for prescribing Xgeva, a cancer drug. Amgen created a program whereby the company paid doctors for completing surveys on how they were treating patients with bone cancer. Although doctors were supposed…