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Chicago – Federal District Court Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr., rejected Chrysler’s attempt to get a False Claims Act, qui tam, lawsuit alleging that Chrysler defrauded the United States by wrongfully denying powertrain warranty coverage on government owned vehicles dismissed. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the United States by the relator in federal […]

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving Universal Health Services who is accused of violating the False Claims Act.  The Court agreed to decide whether an implied certification theory is viable cause of action under the FCA. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal, which reviews district court cases including those out of the […]

The False Claims Act 31 U.S.C. 3729 imposes treble damages and civil penalties for submitting false or fraudulent claims to the government. The FCA statute states that the defendant is subject to a penalty of between $5,000 and $10,000 for each false claim submitted.  This amount is, according to the FCA, adjusted pursuant to the […]

According to the Wall Street Journal, once again the Department of Justice is investigation drug companies for lying about the price of their drugs to the Medicaid program, a federal and state funded health care program for the poor.  The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Department […]

The Department of Justice wasted no time in showing that its new policy of going after individuals, not just companies, engaged in fraudulent conduct was for real. Late last week, October 29, 2015, the government charged the former president of a subsidiary of Warner Chilcott PLC, a pharmaceutical division, with conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback […]

DOJ to Focus on Individual Accountability for Corporate Fraud The U.S. Department of Justice announces that holding individuals accountable for corporate fraud is a top priority. In a seven-page memorandum, released September 9, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, announced new guidelines focusing on individual accountability for corporate misdeeds. The Memorandum states that focusing […]

Chicago – As most of us know by now, eyewitness identifications are notoriously bad. Mistaken identifications by eyewitnesses account for the vast majority, roughly 85%, of wrongful convictions, according to some reports. Eyewitness misidentification is considered the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions. The State of Illinois alone has in fact released 21 individuals erroneously […]

Chicago – The False Claims Act places several restrictions on a person’s ability to pursue a qui tam case on behalf of the government. One of these restrictions is known as the “public disclosure bar”. The definition of public disclosure was recently addressed in the case of United States, et al. v. Whipple, et al. […]

Chicago – The Illinois Supreme Court finally issued its opinion addressing a number of aspects of the Illinois Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon Statute, 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6.  The Court found most importantly the mandatory prison sentencing provision unconstitutional under section (d)(2). Accepting an argument that I advanced in my representation of clients charged with […]

Chicago – In a case that has been before the Court of Appeals for the third time and before the United States Supreme Court twice, the relator appealed the district court’s dismissal of her qui tam case based on the False Claims Act’s public disclosure bar.  Fortunately, for the relator, the Court of Appeals reversed.  […]