July 17, 2024

Kindred and Related Entities Agree to Pay $19.428M to Settle Federal and State False Claims Act Lawsuits Alleging Ineligible Claims for Hospice Patients

Gentiva, successor to Kindred at Home, has agreed to pay $19.428 million to resolve allegations that Kindred at Home and related entities (Kindred) knowingly submitted false claims and knowingly retained overpayments for hospice services provided to patients who were ineligible to receive hospice benefits under various federal health care programs.

July 17, 2024

Florida Man Charged with Six Felonies for Mail-Order Pharmacy and Healthcare Kickback Scheme

A federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 16, 2024, against Franz (aka “Frank”) Peter Suess, 77, of Wellington, Florida, for running a long-standing conspiracy related to his operation of a network of mail-order pharmacies and payment of illegal healthcare kickbacks in order to procure prescriptions for his pharmacies.

July 16, 2024

Cooperating Cancer Testing Company Agrees to Pay Over $900,000 to Resolve Allegations of False Claims for Lab Tests

Guardant Health, Inc., a precision oncology company based in Palo Alto, has agreed to settle allegations that it knowingly violated the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-31, and regulations of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey McIntosh, and Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Western Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Bryan D. Denny.

July 12, 2024

Pharmaceutical Marketer Sentenced for Compounded Medications Fraud Scheme

A Texas pharmaceutical marketer was sentenced today to two years and five months in prison and ordered to pay over $59 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud the United States, receiving illegal kickbacks in exchange for compounded medications prescription referrals, and money laundering.

July 12, 2024

Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner Sentenced to Prison

John Oxendine, the former Georgia Insurance Commissioner, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in connection with unnecessary lab testing.

July 12, 2024

U.S. Navy Reserve Officer Convicted for Bribery Scheme Impacting Department of State’s Approval Process for Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Nationals

A federal jury convicted a U.S. Navy Reserve commander today on multiple criminal charges related to a years-long bribery scheme involving Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals.

July 11, 2024

Active-duty Army and Former Marine Reserve Indicted and Arrested for Drug Conspiracy

A California man who is on active duty with the Army and a former Marine Reserve was arrested at Fort Carson in Colorado. David Julian Mendoza Gonzalez, 26, had an initial appearance before a federal judge in the District of Colorado. He is charged in the Northern District of Oklahoma for Drug Conspiracy and Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises.

July 10, 2024

The Grand Health Care System and 12 Affiliated Skilled Nursing Facilities to Pay $21.3M for Allegedly Providing and Billing for Fraudulent Rehabilitation Therapy Services

Strauss Ventures LLC, doing business as The Grand Health Care System, and 12 affiliated skilled nursing facilities (collectively, the Grand) have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing federal health care programs for therapy services that were unreasonable, unnecessary, unskilled or that simply did not occur as billed.

July 10, 2024

U.S. Attorney's Office Announces Working Group Meeting To Advance Environmental Justice Initiative

The U.S. Attorney’s Office convened a meeting today of the Western District’s Environmental Justice & Environmental Crimes Working Group, reaffirming its commitment to advancing environmental justice.

July 9, 2024

U.S. Army Reserve Officer Admits to Military Pay Fraud While Another Is Charged

A second U.S. Army Reservist from Utah’s 76th Operational Response Command was indicted July 3, 2024, by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City for military pay fraud that occurred at Fort Douglas, Utah, during the coronavirus pandemic.