April 10, 2013
Bad news: On March 18th the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit significantly broadened the scope of False Claims Act (FCA) liability for government contractors. United States ex rel. Carter v. Halliburton, No. 12-1011 (4th Cir. Mar. 18, 2013). How? By holding that the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) delays the FCA’s six-year statute of…
April 8, 2013
In an attempt to ensure state false claims legislation keeps up with recent amendments to the federal False Claims Act (FCA), the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS OIG) recently updated its guidelines for determining whether a state’s false claims act qualifies for monetary incentives provided under section 1909 of the Social Security Act.
The…
February 6, 2013
In United States v. Jill Ann Charpia, No. 12-CR-00704 (S.D. Tex. 2012), a former Air Force officer was sentenced to 30 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $920,000 in restitution for falsely billing $1.27 million to the Government regarding Iraq reconstruction contracts. Charpia was the co-owner of Sourcing Specialist LLC. The company was awarded a contract to provide…
January 15, 2013
Montgomery, Alabama construction company Caddell Construction Co. (“Caddell”) recently agreed to a non-prosecution agreement in which the company will pay a $2 million penalty to resolve Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations that the company made false statements in connection with the Mentor-Protégé and Indian Incentive Programs.
Caddell worked on three military construction projects at Fort…
January 7, 2013
Continuing the strong trend to increase the reach of the False Claims Act, on December 28, 2012, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied AT&T’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower suit filed by Constance Lyttle, a former AT&T IP Relay call center employee. See United States ex rel. Lyttle v. AT&T Corp., No. 10-cv-1376 (W.D. Pa.…
December 21, 2012
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery recently announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) record year for False Claims Act (FCA) civil recoveries. What was the FY 2012 amount? Nearly $5 billion.
To what does DOJ attribute this startling number? According to Delery, who spoke at a recent briefing, “this Administration has achieved record returns for the U.S.…
December 19, 2012
A 70 year old man was recently sentenced to over seven years in federal prison for falsely claiming to be a service-disabled veteran and war hero in order to obtain nearly $6.8 million dollars in federal contracts set aside under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOB) Program. This harsh sentence is yet another example of the Federal Government’s increased focus on…
December 17, 2012
In United States v. Rabinowitz, No. 11-CR-230, Jerome Rabinowitz was indicted in the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division on multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statements. Mr. Rabinowitz was the owner of J&W Technologies, LLC (“J&W”), a New York corporation and DOD contractor that sold and supplied parts to the DOD. The items at issue included a…
December 3, 2012
On November 27, 2012, President Obama signed S. 743, the "Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012." The Act is a significant enhancement to existing whistleblower protections for federal employees. The Act passed both houses of Congress with unanimous support.
The Act expands the protections of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. According to a…
November 21, 2012
Taxpayers Against Fraud recently released information about fiscal year 2012 recoveries under the False Claims Act. The $9 billion collected in 2012 doubled that collected in 2011. The 2012 sum includes criminal fines and civil settlements from both federal and state FCA cases. The largest settlements were from the pharmaceutical and banking industries. Notably, 28 of the 30 largest settlements…
November 19, 2012
In a recent federal criminal case pending in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, United States v. Robert Lustyik, Michael Taylor, and Johannes Thaler, No. 12-CR-00645 (D. Utah filed Oct. 18, 2012), a former FBI Agent and a former Green Beret in the U.S. Special Forces were indicted on multiple charges related to a criminal investigation concerning a military contract in…
November 16, 2012
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit becomes the third circuit to hold that the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”) amendments to the liability provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) apply to all cases pending after June 7, 2008. See United States ex rel. Sanders v. Allison Engine Co., Nos. 10-3818/10-3821 (6th Cir. Nov. 2, 2012). This trend,…
April 10, 2013
Bad news: On March 18th the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit significantly broadened the scope of False Claims Act (FCA) liability for government contractors. United States ex rel. Carter v. Halliburton, No. 12-1011 (4th Cir. Mar. 18, 2013). How? By holding that the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) delays the FCA’s six-year statute of…
April 8, 2013
In an attempt to ensure state false claims legislation keeps up with recent amendments to the federal False Claims Act (FCA), the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS OIG) recently updated its guidelines for determining whether a state’s false claims act qualifies for monetary incentives provided under section 1909 of the Social Security Act.
The…
February 6, 2013
In United States v. Jill Ann Charpia, No. 12-CR-00704 (S.D. Tex. 2012), a former Air Force officer was sentenced to 30 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $920,000 in restitution for falsely billing $1.27 million to the Government regarding Iraq reconstruction contracts. Charpia was the co-owner of Sourcing Specialist LLC. The company was awarded a contract to provide…
January 15, 2013
Montgomery, Alabama construction company Caddell Construction Co. (“Caddell”) recently agreed to a non-prosecution agreement in which the company will pay a $2 million penalty to resolve Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations that the company made false statements in connection with the Mentor-Protégé and Indian Incentive Programs.
Caddell worked on three military construction projects at Fort…
January 7, 2013
Continuing the strong trend to increase the reach of the False Claims Act, on December 28, 2012, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied AT&T’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower suit filed by Constance Lyttle, a former AT&T IP Relay call center employee. See United States ex rel. Lyttle v. AT&T Corp., No. 10-cv-1376 (W.D. Pa.…
December 21, 2012
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery recently announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) record year for False Claims Act (FCA) civil recoveries. What was the FY 2012 amount? Nearly $5 billion.
To what does DOJ attribute this startling number? According to Delery, who spoke at a recent briefing, “this Administration has achieved record returns for the U.S.…
December 19, 2012
A 70 year old man was recently sentenced to over seven years in federal prison for falsely claiming to be a service-disabled veteran and war hero in order to obtain nearly $6.8 million dollars in federal contracts set aside under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOB) Program. This harsh sentence is yet another example of the Federal Government’s increased focus on…
December 17, 2012
In United States v. Rabinowitz, No. 11-CR-230, Jerome Rabinowitz was indicted in the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division on multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statements. Mr. Rabinowitz was the owner of J&W Technologies, LLC (“J&W”), a New York corporation and DOD contractor that sold and supplied parts to the DOD. The items at issue included a…
December 3, 2012
On November 27, 2012, President Obama signed S. 743, the "Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012." The Act is a significant enhancement to existing whistleblower protections for federal employees. The Act passed both houses of Congress with unanimous support.
The Act expands the protections of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. According to a…
November 21, 2012
Taxpayers Against Fraud recently released information about fiscal year 2012 recoveries under the False Claims Act. The $9 billion collected in 2012 doubled that collected in 2011. The 2012 sum includes criminal fines and civil settlements from both federal and state FCA cases. The largest settlements were from the pharmaceutical and banking industries. Notably, 28 of the 30 largest settlements…
November 19, 2012
In a recent federal criminal case pending in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, United States v. Robert Lustyik, Michael Taylor, and Johannes Thaler, No. 12-CR-00645 (D. Utah filed Oct. 18, 2012), a former FBI Agent and a former Green Beret in the U.S. Special Forces were indicted on multiple charges related to a criminal investigation concerning a military contract in…
November 16, 2012
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit becomes the third circuit to hold that the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”) amendments to the liability provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) apply to all cases pending after June 7, 2008. See United States ex rel. Sanders v. Allison Engine Co., Nos. 10-3818/10-3821 (6th Cir. Nov. 2, 2012). This trend,…
