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A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against CDI Corporation who is accused of charging the military for work not actually performed. 

Under the terms of the settlement, the whistleblower will receive $360,750.

The whistleblower cae was originally filed in 2005. The United States alleged that CDI wrongfully charged labor costs to work orders under military aircraft engine contracts for The General Electric Company (GE). The civil investigation examined CDI’s labor and billing records from Jan. 15, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2006. The civil investigation found that during this time period, CDI directed the mischarging of employees’ labor costs to purchase orders that would be reimbursed by the U.S. military. In fact, the employees did not perform the work billed to those military projects. CDI entered these mischarged labor costs in increments of 0.5 hours or less to evade detection.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Cisco Systems and Westcon Group North America (formerly d.b.a. Comstor). They are accused of making misrepresentations to the General Services Administration (GSA) and other federal agencies.

Under the terms of this agreement, the United States has agreed to dismiss a whistleblower case filed in 2004.

The United States alleged that Cisco and Westcon knowingly provided incomplete information to GSA contracting officers during negotiations in regard to Westcon's contract with the GSA, which resulted in defective pricing of Cisco products and submission of false claims to the United States.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against El Centro Regional Medical Center who is accused of defrauding Medicare.

The whistleblower will receive $375,000.

The original lawsuit was filed in May 2006. The United States alleged that the 165-bed acute care hospital fraudulently inflated its charges to Medicare patients to obtain larger reimbursements from the federal health care program. The settlement covers claims submitted by the hospital for short inpatient admissions, usually of one day or less, when the services should have been billed on an outpatient “observation” basis or as emergency room visits.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Hewlett-Packard Co who is accused of defrauding the General Services Administration (GSA) and other federal agencies.

The whitsleblowers' recovery amount was not disclosed.

The allegations made were from a whistleblower case that was originally filed in 2004.  The United States alleged that HP knowingly paid kickbacks, or “influencer fees,” to systems integrator companies in return for recommendations that federal agencies purchase HP’s products.  The settlement also resolves claims that HP’s 2002 contract with the GSA was defectively priced because HP provided incomplete information to GSA contracting officers during contract negotiations. 

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Ciena Capital LLC and a subsidiary, Business Loan Center (BLC).  They are accused of submitting false claims for payment on loans made through the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The settlement for $26.3 million, which includes a credit for $18.1 million previously negotiated by andpaid to the SBA. The whistleblowers will receive $4.3 million as their share of the government’s recovery. 

The original case was filed in 2004.  The United States alleged Ciena and BLC falsely certified that they complied with SBA regulations when they submitted claims for payment on loans they originated, underwrote, and serviced.  Some of these loans defaulted shortly after they were made as a result of Ciena’s and BLC’s disregard of SBA rules, regulations, and underwriting requirements.  Other loans were originated by former BLC Executive Vice President Patrick Harrington, or his office, during his tenure.  Harrington pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his prominent role in the fraudulent loan scheme, which included falsifying loan documents, inflating property appraisals, and using straw purchasers to engage in sham transactions.  This settlement also resolves allegations that the defendants’ parent company, Allied Capital Corporation, is liable for the acts of its subsidiaries.     

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Learning Tree International Inc who is accused of knowingly invoicing federal agencies for training courses that were not provided.

The settlement resolves allegations that Learning Tree knowingly invoiced federal agencies in advance for multi-course training packages before employees of the purchasing agencies had attended the full number of courses available under each. The government further alleged that upon expiration of the training packages, Learning Tree retained federal funds that the company received in connection with unused courses without providing a refund or credit. As a result, Learning Tree received federal funds for training courses that were not, in fact, provided.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Rush University Medical Center who is accused of submitting false claims to Medicare.

The whistleblowers will receive $270,760 in relation to the settlement with Rush, however the original case was filed in 2004 against many other defendants with similar allegations.

The United States alleged that Rush entered into prohibited financial relationships with certain physicians during the period 2000 through 2007 by entering into certain leasing arrangements for office space with two individual physicians and three physician practice groups that violated the Stark Law.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Alpharma Inc who is accused of paing health care providers to induce them to promote or prescribe their drug, Kadian.

According to the settllement, the United States will receive $33.6 million to resolve the federal claims and the states will receive approximately $8.9 million to settle their respective claims. The whistleblower will receive $5.33 million out of the federal share of the recovery.

The original case was filed in September of 2006.  The United States alleged that, between January 1, 2000 and December 29, 2008, Alpharma paid health care providers to induce them to promote or prescribe Kadian, and made misrepresentations about the safety and efficacy of the drug, which is used to treat chronic moderate to severe pain. A

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Dr. Todd J. Scarbrough and Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates P.A. (MIMA), who are accused of submitting false claims to Medicare and the military’s health care program - TRICARE.

The whistleblower will receive $2.64 million of the settlement.

The case was originally filed in July 2008.  The United States alleged MIMA Cancer Center had defrauded the federal health care programs by improperly inflating claims through various schemes specifically designed to cloak the fraudulent practices. In particular, the MIMA Cancer Center billed for services not supervised, duplicate and unnecessary services, services not rendered and upcoded services - a practice in which provider services are billed for higher procedure codes than were actually performed. The United States’ investigation found that MIMA executives had knowledge of a substantial number of the fraudulent billing practices at the facility, but had failed to stop the fraudulent billing.

A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Atricure Inc who is accused of submitting false and fraudulent claims for Medicare reimbursement.

The whistleblower that filed this lawsuit will receive a total of $625,000.

The case was originally filed in 2007.  The United States alleged that Atricure marketed its medical devices to treat atrial fibrillation (the most common cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm), a use that is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Atricure also allegedly promoted expensive heart surgery using the company’s devices when less invasive alternatives were appropriate, advised hospitals to up-code surgical procedures using the company’s devices to inflate Medicare reimbursement, and paid kickbacks to health care providers to use its devices. The United States asserted that by engaging in this conduct, Atricure knowingly violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims in violation of the False Claims Act.