Qui Tam

Is UVa Allowing a Political Bias to Inhibit Cooperation with the Virginia Attorney General?

Posted on July 06, 2010
First, let me say that this is not a political blog.  This is a blog dealing with the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and with litigation under the Federal False Claims Act in Virginia Courts.  Let me also say that I have no thoughts whatsoever on the issue of global warming (sometimes also called climate change, depending on whether you believe in it or not)...

The June 2010 Issue of Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Newsletter

Posted on June 29, 2010
The latest newsletter from Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is out, and it includes a rundown of the Unit's latest big win.  I am referring to the Fourth Circuit's decision in United States v. Abdelshafi, 592 F.3d 602 (4th Cir. 2010), in which the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Abdelshafi for aggravated identity theft for his use of Medicaid patient information...

Breaking News: The Dodd-Frank Conference Report on Amendments to the anti-retaliation provisions of the Federal False Claims Act

Posted on June 28, 2010
Last Friday evening, the Dodd-Frank Conference Report was issued, which contains the agreement on the language of the new Financial Reform Bill (I'm not sure of the actual name of the legislation, because everyone has been calling it "the Financial Reform Bill...

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun....including the reasons UVa seeks to quash the Civil Investigative Demand issued by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Posted on June 01, 2010
Lest anyone think that the debate about Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's civil investigative demand to the University of Virginia is something new, I am here to confirm that there is nothing new under the sun.  In fact, it is rather common for targets of lawsuits (or the recipient of a CID) pursuant to the Federal False Claims Act or the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act to claim that they are being targeted for political reasons...

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Cuccinelli Investigates Grant Fraud at the University of Virginia

Posted on May 04, 2010
The D.C. Examiner has a story today about Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issuing a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") to the University of Virginia as part of an investigation into grant fraud.  You can read Bill Flook's excellent story here...

Senator Grassley Sends a Warning to State Legislatures Across the Country

Posted on May 01, 2010
As more states struggle to pass state-level false claims act legislation, I have mentioned recently that PhRMA and other health care lobbyists seem to have switched their tactics.  Simply put, as more and more states come on board and reap fantastic rewards from having a state FCA, it has become impossible for the paid health care lobbyists to make states believe that the world will end if their state has an FCA...

New Opinion on Reasonable Attorney's Fees in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Posted on April 28, 2010
Today Judge Cacheris issued a favorable opinion on my petition for attorney's fees in a Fair Labor Standards Act case.   Although the case was an FLSA case and not a False Claims Act case, the same concepts apply to any prevailing plaintiff in an action brought under a fee-shifting statute in the Fourth Circuit...

My apologies for posting this important news so late.....

Posted on April 26, 2010
In the middle of everything else that is going on, I neglected to mention yet another amendment to the federal False Claims Act.  As you are all no doubt aware, on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub...

Govenor O'Malley Signs The Maryland False Claims Act Into Law!

Posted on April 13, 2010
Today Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed the Maryland False Health Claims Act into law, bringing to a close one of the most heated legislative battles over a state false claims act in recent memory.   Of the nearly two-hundred bills signed into law today, Governor O'Malley signed the Maryland False Health Claims Act first--a symbolic gesture which showed the importance of this law for Maryland's future fiscal health in these financial hard times...

The travails of Colorado, and perhaps an interesting new change in strategy from the enemies of fiscal responsibility.....

Posted on March 30, 2010
Breaking news from the front lines in Colorado has that state's proposed false claims act  (I believe it is SB 187) being amended to include the following language:    WHEN A RELATOR BRINGS AN ACTION UNDER THIS SUBSECTION  (2), THE FEDERAL FALSE CLAIMS ACT, OR ANY SIMILAR PROVISION OF THE LAWS OF ANY OTHER STATE, NO PERSON OTHER THAN THE STATE MAY INTERVENE OR BRING A RELATED ACTION BASED ON THE FACTS UNDERLYING THE PENDING ACTION...

The Maryland False Health Claims Act of 2010 is Amended and Sent to the House of Delegates

Posted on March 29, 2010
Today the Baltimore Business Journal carried an article on the amended Maryland False Health Claims Act of 2010.  While the amended bill will not pass muster under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (and in the process earn Maryland an additional 10% on its Medicaid share) the bill is better than nothing...

The Maryland House of Delegates hears testimony on the Maryland False Health Claims Act of 2010

Posted on March 10, 2010
Today the Maryland House of Delegates heard testimony on the Maryland False Health Claims Act of 2010.  WBAL's Channel 11 News covered the story, including a quote from yours truly.  The House Committee heard the testimony of three panels who supported the legislation...

Connecticut becomes the 26th state to pass a state False Claims Act

Posted on March 08, 2010
Connecticut becomes the 26th state to pass a state False Claims Act.  My apologies for missing this, but in December of 2009 Connecticut became the twenty-sixth state to pass a state false claims act.  The Connecticut statute--which contains a qui tam provisions and the other requirements to meet the requirements of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005--is available here...

Important New Opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Posted on March 03, 2010
An important opinion was issued today by Judge Cacheris in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia concerning qui tam litigation.  By way of background, the first step in a qui tam case under the federal False Claims Act is to disclose the claim by serving a written disclosure memorandum on the Attorney General of the United States and also on the U...

March 2, 1863: On This Day in History...

Posted on March 02, 2010
On March 2, 1863 the 37th Congress passed the federal False Claims Act, making today the 147th birthday of the statute.  And just think--after all that history, the best is yet to come!       

The Virginia Supreme Court ends a series of misguided attempts to abuse the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on March 01, 2010
Last Thursday, the Virginia Supreme Court announced its opinion in Ligon v. County of Goochland, et al., in the process putting a stop to a troubling trend.  In the last couple of years, a small number of plaintiff's lawyers have been attempting to convert the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act into a generalized whistleblower cause of action for wrongful termination on behalf of government employees...

Report from Annapolis on the Maryland False Claims Act

Posted on February 23, 2010
I am just back from a full day in Annapolis where, I am pleased to report, resistance to the idea of a Maryland False Claims Act seems to be crumbling. This year, two different versions of a state FCA were introduced in the Maryland Senate--one version, SB 279 was a health care only bill, and was introduced by Lt...

Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund files amicus brief in ACLU et al. v. Eric Holder, et al. in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Posted on February 03, 2010
Today, TAFEF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the case captioned ACLU et al. v. Eric Holder, et al., 09-2086.  A copy of the amicus is available here.  My name is on the brief, but the credit for it belongs to Marc Vezina of Vezina & Gattuso, LLC, and to Cleveland Lawrence and Jeb White from TAFEF...

Missouri's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Ranked Number One in FY 2008, Despite Not Having a State False Claims Act

Posted on January 27, 2010
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said today that Missouri has earned the distinction of returning more money to the public fisc through Medicaid fraud prosecutions than any other state in the nation.  This is, however, only when the federal Medicaid grant to Missouri is considered:  according to national data from the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit obtained $18...

State Legislative Update for 2010

Posted on January 12, 2010
Over the next several weeks, state legislatures across the country will convene and begin the 2010 legislative session.  We will follow those states considering passing false claims-style legislation and provide updates where available...

State Sen. Jamie Raskin fires the opening salvo in this year's fight for a Maryland False Claims Act

Posted on January 11, 2010
The Maryland legislature has failed to pass a Maryland False Claims Act in each of the last two legislative sessions.  Each time, the bill failed by a single vote in the state Senate.  This year will be different.  We have a bona fide champion in the Maryland state Senate for the first time--state Sen...

Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli Staffs Up the Office of the Attorney General

Posted on January 08, 2010
The WaPo political blog has important updates about the staffing of Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli's office.  It appears Ken has made some good choices, picking people with significant legal experience.  Perhaps most significant for the FCA/qui tam world is Cuccinelli's selection of Steve  Buck--who spent the last three years as Section Chief of the Health Care Fraud Section of the OAG--to head up Public Safety and Enforcement...

Fraud on the Government--a true Equal Opportunity Employer

Posted on January 06, 2010
The Washington Post today has this story about deaf entrepreneur John Yeh and a false claims act case filed against him by the U.S. Department of Justice. Yeh is a graduate of Gallaudet University, and has been at the forefront of the deaf community for some years...

GMU Law School Sponsors Lecture on the False Claims Act

Posted on November 12, 2009
I am honored to be joining Alan S. Goldberg, Peter B. Hutt II, and Victor Kubli in presenting a lecture on the federal False Claims Act at the George Mason University School of Law today.  The lecture is sponsored by GMU's Journal of Law, Economics, and Policy, and it may well be available soon as a podcast...

Virginia's Award-Winning Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Issues its FY 2008-2009 Annual Report

Posted on November 07, 2009
I have just finished reading the new Annual Report for Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and it makes an impressive read.  Virginia has an award-winning MFCU, and the work and tenacity of the lawyers, investigators, and others in the Unit is just incredible...

News from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia: United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Suit Against Virginia Medicaid Providers

Posted on November 05, 2009
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ? The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have intervened in a False Claims Act suit in the Western District of Virginia against the Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC, the Justice Department announced today...

California Files Suit Against State Street--Claims Bankers Engaged in Massive Fraud

Posted on October 20, 2009
October 20, 2009--California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced his intervention in a California state qui tam lawsuit against State Street Bank today.  The original complaint was filed under seal by a qui tam relator and his counsel roughly one year ago in the Superior Court for the City of Sacramento...

Everyone seems to focus on the treble damages, civil penalties, and attorney's fees...

Posted on October 08, 2009
For understandable reasons, people tend to focus on the treble damages, civil penalties, and attorney's fees provided for in the federal False Claims Act and in the 26 states with false claims acts.  Today, I want to talk about one of the least emphasized--but most important--benefits that accrues to the public fisc as a result of increased false claims prosecutions...

In Pursuit of a Maryland False Claims Act

Posted on September 15, 2009
The current edition of the Maryland Bar Bulletin sports an article by yours truly on the topic of a Maryland False Claims Act.  I strongly believe that 2010 will be the year--so stay tuned...

North Carolina Joins the Deficit Reduction Club With a Bang

Posted on September 05, 2009
 My apologies for missing this last week, but on August 28, 2009, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed the North Carolina False Claims Act into law, making North Carolina, by my count, the 26th state to pass a state false claims act...

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