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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
December 18, 2018

				 The New York Department of Financial Services has imposed a $15 million fine on Barclays Bank PLC based on efforts by the bank and its CEO, Jess Staley, to identify an anonymous whistleblower within the organization, in contravention of the bank's whistleblower policies.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anonymity, 
													  Financial Institution Fraud, 
													  Retaliation, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 18, 2018

				 The Trump Foundation has entered in to an agreement with the State of New York to dissolve under judicial supervision.聽 The attorney general's lawsuit against the Foundation will continue, with the state seeking millions in restitution and penalties, including a bar on President Trump and his three eldest children from serving on the boards of other New York charities.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 18, 2018

				 Following an earlier settlement of federal claims, Florida has announced that hospital chain Health Management Associates, LLC, will pay $5.5 million to Florida to resolve claims that two HMA hospitals, Charlotte Regional Medical Center and Peace River Medical Center, billed the Florida Medicaid program for services referred by physicians to whom HMA provided remuneration in return for patient referrals.聽 The unlawful remuneration took the form of free rent, office space, and staff services, as well as direct payments purportedly meant to cover overhead and administrative costs.聽 FL AG				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Anti-Kickback and Stark, 
													  FCA State, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Hospital Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 14, 2018

				 Crossroads Hospice of Kansas has agreed to pay $300,000 for violating the Kansas False Claims Act. Under that law, once a healthcare provider is alerted to charges improperly submitted to the state's Medicaid program, it is obligated to refund the reimbursement in a timely manner or risk prosecution. In the case of Crossroads, the provider had failed to refund money paid on behalf of improperly certified beneficiaries. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Home Health and Hospice, 
													  Lack of Medical Necessity, 
													  Medicaid, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 14, 2018

				 A debt-relief telemarketing operator has been permanently banned from both industries and ordered to pay over $23 million to the FTC and State of Florida for violating the Federal Trade Commission Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, and Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade 91吃瓜网 Act. Under the guise of multiple shell companies, Kevin Guice and his associates sold fraudulent debt relief services to more than 10,000 unsuspecting consumers, often by calling phone numbers on the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry. In one scheme, telemarketers falsely claimed to be able to substantially and permanently lower credit card interest rates in exchange for an upfront fee of between $500 to $5,000. In another scheme, telemarketers again falsely claimed to be able to access non-existent government funds to pay off credit card debt in exchange for another upfront fee of between $2,500 to $26,000. Proceeds from the $23 million judgment will be used to pay restitution to consumers harmed by these fraudulent schemes. ; FL AG				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 13, 2018

				 Relationship Toward Self-Discovery (RTS), the operator of a residential care facility for developmentally disabled adults, has been ordered to pay $2.79 million in the first ever Medicaid False Claims Act trial in the State of Washington. Initially filed by a former bookkeeper turned whistleblower, the lawsuit alleged that from 2012 to 2015, RTS billed Medicare for 60,328 "sleep hours" spent by overnight employees at its facility. Per state law, a "sleep rate" is required to be paid to overnight employees for every hour spent on call on site; if the employees are called to work, a regular rate is paid instead. Although Medicare reimbursed the company for $928,221, RTS allegedly paid its employees only a fraction of the amount owed to them, and in a single year, the difference between the amount RTS reported to Medicare that it paid and the actual amount it paid totaled as much as $200,000. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
December 11, 2018

				 Target Corp. will pay $3 million to settle allegations that it improperly billed and received payments from the state鈥檚 Medicaid program (MassHealth). Between August 2009 and July 2015, at their Massachusetts locations, Target allowed auto-refills on prescriptions that were not clearly requested by a MassHealth patient or caregiver at the time of refill. The investigation arose from a qui tam action by an unnamed whistleblower in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. 

 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
													  Medicaid, 
													  Medical Billing Fraud, 
													  Pharma Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 27, 2018

				 In New York, Bottini Fuel pleaded guilty to unlawfully retaining overpayments made by fuel oil customers, including public entity customers.聽 Rather than inform customers that they had made overpayments, or refund those payments, Bottini admitted that it diverted the customers' credit balances to the personal accounts of company owners, employees, and other friends and family.聽 Bottini agreed to pay over $3.2 million in restitution and civil damages.聽 The investigation was initiated by the filing of a whistleblower complaint under the New York False Claims Act; the unnamed whistleblower will receive $491,358 of the settlement.聽 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Government Procurement Fraud, 
													  Whistleblower Case, 
													  Whistleblower Rewards, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 16, 2018

				 The CFTC and State of Utah have charged Rust Rare Coin, Inc. (RRC) and owner Gaylen Dean Rust for their roles in a precious metals Ponzi scheme. According to the DOJ press release, beginning in 2008 until only just recently, Rust fraudulently obtained over $170 million for RRC by lying to at least 200 investors in at least 17 states to get them to invest money in a silver pool. Investors were told the company's silver holdings amounted to between $77 to $80 million, and they stood to gain between 20-40% profit each year as a result of RRC鈥檚 buying and selling strategy. In reality, however, the defendants did not have nearly as much silver and were using investor contributions to pay other investors, as well as personal expenses. , 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Financial and Investment Fraud, 
													  Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, 
													  Ponzi Schemes, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 13, 2018

				 Offshore art purchaser, Porsal Equities Ltd., will pay $10.75 million to settle claims for tax fraud and for violation of the New York False Claims Act. Between 2010 and 2015 Porsal Equities Ltd., a company based in the British Virgin Islands, finagled their way out of paying sales tax on over $50 million in artwork and other goods purchased in New York. They fraudulently claimed that they were exempt from paying sales tax because the art was purchased for resale. The truth is that the art was purchased for personal use and for display in the New York City apartments of the company鈥檚 sole director.聽 Furthermore, despite the notice which the director received from a tax authority, Porsal Equities failed to pay use tax on art they purchased outside of New York which was shipped into New York for personal use in the apartments belonging to the director. Porsal Equities did admit their violations in the settlement agreement. The company also agreed to report and file use tax returns for any artwork used in the state. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA State, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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