On July 25, 2023, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), introduced a bill that aims to, among other things, make it easier for the government to satisfy the False Claims Act’s materiality requirement when the government has made payment on a claim the government knows to be false or fraudulent. The bill, titled the “False Claims
False Claims Act
Government Contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Enters One of the Largest Procurement Fraud Settlements with DOJ over FCA Allegations
On Friday, July 21, 2023, DOJ announced it has reached a $377,453,150 settlement with Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (Booz Allen), the parent company of Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., the large government and military contractor that also has commercial and international customers. DOJ alleged that Booz Allen violated the False Claims Act by “improperly billing…
Seventh Circuit Requires Proof in FCA Suits That False Statement in Mortgage Insurance Application Caused Subsequent Default
In its June 14, 2023, decision in United States ex rel. Michelle Calderon v. Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, No. 22-1553, 2023 WL 3991013, (7th Cir. 2023), the Seventh Circuit explained the high bar for relators to prove proximate causation in FCA suits based on alleged false certifications of mortgage loans for Federal Housing Administration…
Supreme Court Affirms Government Dismissal Power — Subject to Minor Limits — in FCA Qui Tam Cases
On June 16, 2023, the Supreme Court in United States ex rel. Polanksy v. Executive Health Resources, affirmed the Third Circuit’s deferential standard regarding the government’s ability to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower cases being litigated by qui tam relators. Notwithstanding this deferential standard, the Court rejected the government’s position that it has…
SuperValu: Supreme Court Clarifies FCA’s State-of-Mind Requirement
On June 1, 2023, in U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., the Supreme Court clarified the state-of-mind (or “scienter”) standard under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that a defendant’s subjective belief that a claim was false was sufficient to establish the FCA’s scienter element. In doing so, the Court rejected the Seventh…
Insurance May Cover Your False Claims Act Settlement
On May 3, 2023, the Seventh Circuit affirmed $10 million in insurance coverage for a False Claims Act (FCA) settlement in a case based on alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations. Astellas US Holding, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company concerns a settlement of an investigation into whether a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s sponsorship of patient assistance plans violated the…
A Sight for Sore Eyes: Sixth Circuit Rejects Government’s Expansive AKS and FCA Theories in Ophthalmologist Dispute
Last week, the Sixth Circuit closed two paths the government and relators have tried to take to expand liability for medical providers under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and False Claims Act (FCA): the meaning of “remuneration” under the AKS and the causation standard for AKS-based FCA claims.
Key Takeaways
The AKS, which prohibits referrals in…
Senator Wants to Sharpen the FCA’s Bite, Criticizes Judges for “Activist” Rulings
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently criticized “activist judges” for rewriting the text of the False Claims Act to achieve their own policy goals, revealing plans to reintroduce legislation that would correct “unduly restrictive” interpretations of the statute and expand liability for defendants.
Grassley — who delivered his remarks in a pre-recorded keynote speech at the…
Key Insights from DOJ’s False Claims Act Statistics for Fiscal Year 2022
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual summary of False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for the prior fiscal year, and the data points to a number of notable trends.
Although DOJ brought in the second-highest number of settlements and judgments that the government has ever collected in a single year, the dollar value of…
The False Claims Act in 2022: A Year in Review
In 2022, the government continued to utilize the False Claims Act as its primary tool to combat fraud. Though the government’s recoveries at $2.2 billion were down compared to recent years, the government and whistleblowers were party to more than 350 settlements and judgments – the second-highest number of FCA settlements and judgments in a…