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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.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
November 30, 2016

				  鈥揂n Ohio man was sentenced to prison for stealing more than $2 million in timber from property owned by an elderly Grove City resident. Vinton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Simmons sentenced Mark Betts, 53, of McArthur, to four years in prison. Betts was also ordered to pay $2,025,088 in restitution. Betts, the owner of Betts Logging, pleaded guilty last month to cutting the trees from the victim鈥檚 property without permission and stealing the timber between April 2007 and September 2010. An investigation conducted by the Attorney General鈥檚 Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Vinton County Sheriff鈥檚 Office found that Betts harvested hundreds of acres of trees, valued by a forestry expert to be worth $2,025,088, from the victim鈥檚 property on Goose Creek Road and Dunkle Creek Road and then sold the timber to sawmills for more than $578,000. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 22, 2016

				 A national loan servicer responsible for handling millions of student loan accounts across the country has agreed to pay $2.4 million over allegations that it failed to properly process struggling Massachusetts students鈥� applications for federal repayment plans intended to lower their monthly payments and engaged in harassing debt collection practices, amongst other violations of state and federal law. The assurance of discontinuance, alleges that ACS Education Services (ACS), which services federal loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program along with private loans, also charged some borrowers excessive late fees, failed to protect some active-duty service members as required by federal law, and made excessive phone calls to borrowers. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Education Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 21, 2016

				 Pennsylvania announced the filing of criminal charges against 50 individuals following investigations by the Office of Attorney General鈥檚 Insurance Fraud Section. The charges are part of a November sweep conducted by the Insurance Fraud Section, which is the largest law enforcement entity in Pennsylvania with specific authority to investigate and prosecute cases of insurance fraud. The total potential fraud involved in these cases is more than $1.1 million. The charges announced involve some of the most common types of insurance fraud. PA				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Private Insurance Whistleblower Reward Programs, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 21, 2016

				 Georgia 41 other states filed an amended antitrust lawsuit against the makers of Suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction, over allegations that the companies engaged in a scheme to block generic competitors and cause purchasers to pay artificially high prices. Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, now known as Indivior, is accused of conspiring with MonoSol Rx to switch Suboxone from a tablet version to a film (that dissolves in the mouth) in order to prevent or delay generic alternatives and maintain monopoly profits. According to the lawsuit, when Reckitt introduced Suboxone in 2002 (in tablet form), it had exclusivity protection that lasted for seven years, meaning no generic version could enter the market during that time. Before that period ended, however, Reckitt worked with MonoSol Rx to create a new version of Suboxone 鈥� a dissolvable film, similar in size to a breath strip. Over time, Reckitt allegedly converted the market away from the tablet to the film through marketing, price adjustments, and other methods. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Drug and DME Pricing, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 18, 2016

				 New York announced a $25 million settlement agreement against Trump University. Under the terms of the settlement, over 6,000 victims will receive restitution and Trump University will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the State of New York for violating state education laws. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Education Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 17, 2016

				 California announced a $14 million settlement with BP West Coast Products LLC, BP Products North America, Inc., and Atlantic Richfield Company over allegations that the companies violated state laws regarding operating and maintaining motor vehicle fuel underground storage tank laws.  The Attorney General鈥檚 office and several district attorneys across the state allege that BP failed to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale at approximately 780 gas stations in California over a period of 10 years and violated other hazardous material and hazardous waste laws. The complaint alleges that, since 2006, BP has improperly monitored, inspected, and maintained underground storage tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale; tampered with or disabled leak detection devices; and improperly handled and disposed of hazardous wastes and materials associated with the underground storage tanks at retail gas stations throughout California. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Environmental Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 16, 2016

				 New York announced that Zwanger & Pesiri Radiology Group, LLP, Zwanger Radiology P.C. and Dr. Steven Mendelson (collectively, 鈥淶wanger鈥�) will pay $8,153,727 to resolve allegations that the defendants knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid. The settlement resolved allegations that from January 1, 2003 through October 26, 2015, Zwanger submitted claims for services provided or supervised by physicians, or at a Zwanger location, that were not enrolled in Medicare and/or Medicaid and therefore ineligible for payment. Zwanger falsely claimed that Dr. Mendelson, who was a Medicare and Medicaid enrolled provider, had in fact performed the procedures. The settlement also resolved allegations that from January 1, 2008 through February 28, 2014, Zwanger submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for certain radiology procedures that were not ordered by a treating physician. These procedures included the automatic performance of certain types of x-rays, and the automatic performance of ultrasounds in female patients, even these both procedures were not ordered by a treating physician. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  FCA Federal, 
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 16, 2016

				 Washington announced that CHI Franciscan will provide more than $1.1 million in healthcare cost relief after an investigation into mislabeled charges and inadequate fee disclosures. CHI Franciscan operates three urgent care clinics in Kitsap County that charge a facility fee due to their affiliation with the hospital. The clinics must disclose the fee to patients through a variety of methods, including identification on the clinic鈥檚 website, signage at the clinic and a notice provided to patients before they receive care. The Attorney General pursued an investigation based on evidence that Franciscan did not meet its obligation to disclose this fee. In addition, the Attorney General investigated concerns that CHI Franciscan mislabeled facility fees as emergency room fees during a three month period in 2015. 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Healthcare Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 15, 2016

				 Resolving a multistate investigation into a 2013 data breach that involved the personal information of more than 50,000 Massachusetts residents, software company Adobe Systems, Inc. (Adobe) has agreed to pay $1 million and implement new policies and practices to prevent future breaches. An investigation by the states revealed that in September 2013, Adobe received an alert that the hard drive for one of its application servers was nearing capacity. In responding to the alert, Adobe learned that an unauthorized attempt was being made to decrypt customer payment card numbers maintained on the server. The states allege that the nature of the attack was foreseeable and that contrary to Adobe鈥檚 representations to its customers, it did not take reasonable steps to protect consumers鈥� personal information, or to promptly detect the attack and prevent the theft of consumers鈥� data.  The states allege that the data breach of certain Adobe servers included those containing the personal information of approximately 534,000 residents of the participating states, including approximately 53,000 Massachusetts residents. , , 				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Cybersecurity and Data Breaches, 
													  Misrepresentations, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
November 15, 2016

				 Florida and five other states announced a settlement with the National Football League resolving antitrust concerns about the NFL鈥檚 league-wide mandatory price floor policy. The policy required each of the 32 NFL member teams to impose a price floor on all secondary market ticket sales on the NFL鈥檚 Ticket Exchange and related websites officially sanctioned by the league. This policy, which the NFL terminated after the investigation began, prohibited sellers from listing tickets for resale on the NFL鈥檚 officially sanctioned resale sites at a price lower than the face-value of the ticket. The settlement prohibits a league-wide mandatory price floor policy and includes disclosure requirements in cases where an individual team imposes its own price floor. Additionally, the settlement prohibits the NFL from directing or requiring ticketing practices among teams that are designed to preclude fans from using competing exchanges and prohibits the NFL from interfering with an individual team鈥檚 efforts to coordinate anti-fraud measures with competing secondary ticket exchanges. FL				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Antitrust Enforcement, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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