Related Pages
Government Enforcement RSS
State Enforcement Actions
Each state enforces its laws and defends its interests, and states often work with the federal government in investigating and prosecuting corporate frauds. 聽Whistleblowers with knowledge of fraud or wrongful conduct that involves state or local funds or programs may be able to bring a claim under a state or local False Claims Act, and may be eligible to receive a monetary reward and protection against retaliation.
Below are summaries of recent settlements, successful prosecutions, and enforcement actions by states.聽If you believe you have information about fraud which could give rise to a claim under a State or Local False Claims Act or other whistleblower reward provision, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.
July 11, 2019
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, which marketed and sold the opioid addiction treatment drug Suboxone until 2014 through its then-subsidiary Indivior Inc., will pay a total of $1.4 billion in a global settlement resolving criminal, civil, and administrative claims.聽 In marketing Suboxone Film, Indivior allegedly made unsupported claims that the drug was less-divertable and less-abusable than other buprenorphine drugs, and steered patients to doctors known to have a history of over-prescribing Suboxone and other opioids.聽 In addition, Indivior was alleged to have discontinued its tablet Suboxone for pretextual reasons, claiming a concern for pediatric exposure when, in fact, the company was seeking to delay FDA approval of a generic form of tablet Suboxone.聽 In a non-prosecution agreement, RB Group will forfeit $647 million in proceeds it received from Indivior, will cooperate with ongoing investigations, and will not manufacture or market controlled substances in the U.S. for three years.聽 In resolution of civil claims with the U.S. and states, including six lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, RB Group will pay $700 million to resolve claims that the marketing of Suboxone caused false claims to be submitted to federal- and state-funded government healthcare programs.聽 Finally, RB Group has agreed to pay $50 million in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve claims that it engaged in unfair competition in seeking to impede generic equivalents of Suboxone.聽 ; ; ; ; ;July 10, 2019
Overstock.com has been ordered by a Delaware court to pay $7.3 million following a jury verdict against it on claims that the online retailer misrepresented its disposition of abandoned gift card balances to Delaware's revenue agency in order to avoid obligations under the Delaware escheat law, which requires that Delaware-chartered companies turn over unclaimed assets to the state.聽 The case was brought by whistleblower William Sean French, a former employee of a gift card company, under the Delaware False Claims and Reporting Act. (note: the trial court judgment was reversed by the Delaware Supreme Court in an issued June 24, 2020)July 2, 2019
To settle a qui tam suit by a former employee, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and its affiliates have agreed to pay $5.8 million to resolve their liability under the Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee False Claims Acts.聽 LexisNexis had signed a contract with law enforcement agencies to access automobile crash reports that they then sold to individuals, insurance companies, and law firms for claims adjustment purposes.聽 According to the contract, LexisNexis would pay the agencies each time a report was sold; however, it allegedly paid the agencies for the first report only but not for each subsequent report.聽 ; ; ; Later Florida settlementJuly 1, 2019
Hylan Asset Management, LLC, and its owners, Andrew Shaevel and Joe Purizhansky have been banned from the debt collection industry and ordered to pay $6.75 million. 聽According to the FTC and the New York Attorney General鈥檚 Office, Hylan and its owners knew the debt portfolios they bought and sold contained fake debts, but continued to distribute these portfolios to collection agencies.聽 ;May 28, 2019
California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, recovers $1,498,574 in a lawsuit against telemarketing company, Consumer Rights Legal Services (CRLS), and four individuals. President and owner of CRLS, James Davitt, and three others, scammed more than 150 victims by offering phony 鈥渋nvestment recovery services鈥� that they said would recover the money that the victims had lost from prior investments. The victims, many of them elderly, had to pay an up-front fee for the fraudulent service.