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Former Prosecutor from Shuttered Antitrust Division Office Joins White Collar Firm
Noted Antitrust and Disaster Fraud Prosecutor Joan E. Marshall Joins GeyerGorey LLP
Joan Marshall who prosecuted the worldwide vitamins cartel and brought a series of fraud cases in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, has joined the firm as a partner. Previously, Ms. Marshall was with the US DOJ Antitrust Division in the Dallas Field Office. She is the tenth former DOJ prosecutor to join the new boutique law firm in less than a year.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Aug. 6, 2013 – WASHINGTON, D.C. — GeyerGorey LLP is pleased to announce that Joan E. Marshall, a former Department of Justice prosecutor, has joined the firm as partner. Ms. Marshall will open a new office for the firm, in Dallas, where she will be resident.
Ms. Marshall comes to GeyerGorey from the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, where she also served as a prosecutor on the Department’s Disaster Fraud Task Force and its predecessor, the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force. While with the Department of Justice, Ms. Marshall supervised numerous multi-agency investigations of bid rigging, price fixing, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, bribery, perjury and obstruction of justice.
Ms. Marshall had the distinction of breaking the Dallas Field Office’s acclaimed vitamins cartel case and helped to devise, structure and carry out what became one of the most comprehensive international investigations and prosecutions of all time, resulting in more than $1 billion in collected criminal fines. She led the Antitrust Division’s bribery prosecutions involving construction of the levees surrounding New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Her experience spans investigations and prosecutions involving numerous industries including wholesale groceries, milk, seafood, medical equipment, oilfield supplies, military moving and storage, road and building construction, and municipal finance.
“We are thrilled that Joan has decided to join us,” said Hays Gorey. “She adds deep experience with numerous enforcement agencies and compliments our experience in key industries like oil and gas exploration, not to mention the fraud piece. Our corporate compliance and competition expertise is a perfect fit in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market, which has the largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the United States.”
Ms. Marshall is a frequent speaker on antitrust enforcement and fraud prevention and detection and has developed numerous training programs. She is a recipient of the United States Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General’s Award and certificates of appreciation from the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, and the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, Major Procurement Fraud Unit.
Robert Zastrow, who was Verizon’s Assistant General Counsel for 15 years before co-founding the firm in October 2012, added, “Joan’s extensive background and expertise nicely complements our firm’s unique philosophy and enriches our solid bench in the White Collar world.” Co-founder, Brad Geyer added: “We are very involved in servicing the government contractor and the non-profit and non-governmental organization community and we are excited to roll in Joan’s disaster fraud experience into our overall product offerings. It is also unusual to have career prosecutors in one firm that worked on the highest profile matters on both the criminal and civil worlds. Joan will give us a strategic presence in the Dallas market, which is home to companies in the airline, technology, energy, banking, medical and defense contracting sectors.”
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., GeyerGorey LLP specializes in white collar criminal defense, particularly investigations and cases involving allegations of economic crimes, such as violations of the federal antitrust laws (price fixing, bid rigging, territorial and customer allocation agreements), procurement fraud, securities fraud, foreign bribery (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and qui tam (False Claims Act) and other whistleblower actions. The firm also conducts internal investigations of possible criminal conduct and provides advice regarding compliance with U.S. antitrust, anti-bribery and other laws.
Phillip Zane’s Game Theory: Ten Years On
Phillip Zane be the only attorney whose colleagues and clients might expect to see an open book on games and strategy on his desk.
Ten years ago this spring, Zane published The Price Fixer’s Dilemma: Applying Game Theory to the Decision of Whether to Plead Guilty to Antitrust Crimes, 48 Antitrust Bull. 1 (2003), which changed the way law-and-economics scholars and sophisticated prosecutors and defense counsel analyze whether, and when, to settle high-stakes antitrust cases.
Zane’s article strongly suggested that in a number of common situations, pleading guilty (or even seeking the protections of the corporate leniency program) is not always justified. Zane’s article used a repeated, or iterative, version of the prisoner’s dilemma to demonstrate that pleading guilty was not always the best strategy for antitrust defendants facing criminal prosecution and civil liability in multiple proceedings or jurisdictions.
At the time, a few of the brainier Antitrust Division prosecutors breathed a sigh of relief when the defense bar did not seem to notice and they failed to incorporate Zane’s research into their negotiating strategies.
In 2007, Zane published “An Introduction to Game Theory for Antitrust Lawyers,” which he used in a unit of an antitrust class he taught at George Mason University School of Law. That paper was another milestone on the way to making game theory concepts accessible and useful to the antitrust defense bar.
Zane’s work, which now used game theory to criticize the settlement of the second Microsoft case and the Government’s approach to conscious parallelism, as well as the leniency program, was met with official grumblings within the Antitrust Division.
GeyerGorey LLP was founded on the principle that the chances for achieving the best possible outcome are maximized by having access to multiple, top-notch, cross-disciplinary legal minds that are synced together by an organizational and compensation structure that encourages sharing of ideas and information in client relationships.
As international enforcement agencies sprouted and developed criminal capabilities and as more hybrid matters included prosecutors from US enforcement agency components with sometimes overlapping jurisdictions, such as the Antitrust, Criminal, Civil and Tax Divisions of the Department of Justice, and the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission, it became apparent that Zane’s game-theoretic approach has application in almost every significant decision we could be called upon to make. Since Zane has joined us we have been working to factor in the increased risks associated with what we call hybrid conduct (conduct that violates more than a single statute). Our tools of analysis for identifying risks for violations of competition laws, anti-corruption laws, anti-money-laundering laws, and other prohibitions, include sophisticated game-theoretic techniques, as well as, of course, the noses of former seasoned prosecutors, taking into account, each particular client’s tolerance for risk.
To take one example, an internal investigation might show both possible price fixing and bribery of foreign government officials. How, given the potential for multiple prosecutions, should decisions to defend or cooperate be assessed? And how might such decisions trigger interest by the Tax Division, the SEC, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or other regulators. When should a corporation launch an internal investigation? When should it make a mandatory disclosure? What should it disclose and to which agency, in what order? When should it seek leniency and when should it instead stand silent? These tools are valuable in the civil context as well: When should it abandon a proposed merger or instead oppose an enforcement agency’s challenge to a proposed deal?
These are truly the most difficult questions a lawyer advising large corporations is required to address. We are well positioned to help answer these questions.
DLA Piper’s Robert Connolly pens MLEX article regarding “The DOJ Antitrust Division’s policy on independent compliance monitors: is it misguided?”
Friend of the Firm, Robert Connolly, former Chief of the Philadelphia Field Office of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, now resident in DLA Piper’s Philadelphia Office last week penned an important contribution for MLEX regarding DOJ’s evolving policy regarding compliance monitors: “The DOJ Antitrust Divsion’s policy on independent compliance monitors: is it misguided?”
Maurice Stucke: Looking at Monopsony in the Mirror 62 Emory L.J. 1509 (2013)
Although still a distant second to monopoly, buyer power and monopsony are hot topics in the competition community. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Competition Network (ICN), and American Antitrust Institute (AAI) have studied monopsony and buyer power recently. The U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission pay more attention to buyer power in their 2010 merger guidelines than they did in their earlier guidelines. With growing buyer concentration in commodities such as coffee, tea, and cocoa, and among retailers, buyer power is a human rights issue. (Continue Reading)
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Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Agrees to Pay $490.9 Million for Marketing the Prescription Drug Rapamune for Unapproved Uses
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical company acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 2009, has agreed to pay $490.9 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the unlawful marketing of the prescription drug Rapamune for uses not approved as safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today. Rapamune is an “immunosuppressive” drug that prevents the body’s immune system from rejecting a transplanted organ.
“FDA’s drug approval process ensures companies market their products for uses proven safe and effective,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will hold accountable those who put patients’ health at risk in pursuit of financial gain.”
The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) requires a company such as Wyeth to specify the intended uses of a product in its new drug application to the FDA. Once approved, a drug may not be introduced into interstate commerce for unapproved or “off-label” uses until the company receives FDA approval for the new intended uses. In 1999, Wyeth received approval from the FDA for Rapamune use in renal (kidney) transplant patients. However, the information alleges, Wyeth trained its national Rapamune sales force to promote the use of the drug in non-renal transplant patients. Wyeth provided the sales force with training materials regarding non-renal transplant use and trained them on how to use these materials in presentations to transplant physicians. Then, Wyeth encouraged sales force members, through financial incentives, to target all transplant patient populations to increase Rapamune sales.
“The FDA approves drugs for certain uses after lengthy clinical trials,” said Sanford Coats, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. “Compliance with these approved uses is important to protect patient safety, and drug companies must only market and promote their drugs for FDA-approved uses. The FDA approved Rapamune for limited use in renal transplants and required the label to include a warning against certain uses. Yet, Wyeth trained its sales force to promote Rapamune for off-label uses not approved by the FDA, including ex-renal uses, and even paid bonuses to incentivize those sales. This was a systemic, corporate effort to seek profit over safety. Companies that ignore compliance with FDA regulations will face criminal prosecution and stiff penalties.”
Wyeth has pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging it with a misbranding violation under the FDCA. The resolution includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $233.5 million. Under a plea agreement, which has been accepted by the U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, Wyeth has agreed to pay a criminal fine of $157.58 million and forfeit assets of $76 million.
The resolution also includes civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $257.4 million. Wyeth has agreed to settle its potential civil liability in connection with its off-label marketing of Rapamune. The government alleged that Wyeth violated the False Claims Act, from 1998 through 2009, by promoting Rapamune for unapproved uses, some of which were not medically accepted indications and, therefore, were not covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs. These unapproved uses included non-renal transplants, conversion use (switching a patient from another immunosuppressant to Rapamune) and using Rapamune in combination with other immunosuppressive agents not listed on the label. The government alleged that this conduct resulted in the submission of false claims to government health care programs. Of the amounts to resolve the civil claims, Wyeth will pay $230,112,596 to the federal government and $27,287,404 to the states.
“Wyeth’s conduct put profits ahead of the health and safety of a highly vulnerable patient population dependent on life-sustaining therapy,” said Antoinette V. Henry, Special Agent in Charge, Metro-Washington Field Office, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations. “FDA OCI is committed to working with the Department of Justice and our law enforcement counterparts to protect public health.”
Pfizer is currently subject to a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General that it entered in connection with another matter in 2009, shortly before acquiring Wyeth. The CIA covers former Wyeth employees who now perform sales and marketing functions at Pfizer. Under the CIA, Pfizer is subject to exclusion from federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for a material breach of the CIA, and the company is subject to monetary penalties for less significant breaches.
“We are committed to enforcing the laws protecting public health, taxpayers and government health programs, and to promoting effective compliance programs,” said Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services. “Our integrity agreement with Pfizer, which acquired Wyeth, includes required risk assessments, a confidential disclosure program, and auditing and monitoring to help prospectively identify improper marketing.”
The civil settlement resolves two lawsuits pending in federal court in the Western District of Oklahoma under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The first action was filed by a former Rapamune sales representative, Marlene Sandler, and a pharmacist, Scott Paris. The second action was filed by a former Rapamune sales representative, Mark Campbell. The whistleblowers’ share of the civil settlement has not been resolved.
“The success obtained in this case is an excellent example of how we address the threats to our nation’s health care system; the importance of the public reporting of fraud, waste, or abuse; and the significant results that can be obtained through multiple agencies cooperating in investigations,” said James E. Finch, Special Agent in Charge of the Oklahoma City Division of the FBI.
The criminal case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma (USAO) and the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch. The civil settlement was handled by USAO and the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch. The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Counsel to the Inspector General; the HHS Office of General Counsel, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel; and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. These matters were investigated by the FBI; the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation; HHS’ Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations and Office of Audit Services; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General and Office of Audit Services; the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Office of Inspector General; and TRICARE Program Integrity.
Except for conduct admitted in connection with the criminal plea, the claims settled by the civil agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of civil liability. The civil lawsuits are captioned United States ex rel. Sandler et al v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Case No. 05-6609 (E.D. Pa.) and United States ex rel. Campbell v. Wyeth, Inc., Case No. 07-00051 (W.D. Okla.).
Department of Justice Announces Agreement with Liechtenstein Bank to Pay $23.8 Million to Resolve Criminal Tax Investigation Bank, with Assistance of Liechtenstein Government, Produced Account Files of More Than 200 Non-compliant U.S. Taxpayers
Kathryn Keneally, the Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Richard Weber, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced today that Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, a bank based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein (LLB-Vaduz), has agreed to pay more than $23.8 million to the United States and entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The NPA provides that LLB-Vaduz will not be criminally prosecuted for opening and maintaining undeclared bank accounts for U.S. taxpayers from 2001 through 2011, when LLB-Vaduz assisted a significant number of U.S. taxpayers in evading their U.S. tax obligations, filing false federal tax returns with the IRS and otherwise hiding accounts held at LLB-Vaduz from the IRS. The NPA requires LLB-Vaduz to forfeit $16,316,000, representing the total gross revenues that it earned in maintaining these undeclared accounts, and to pay $7,525,542 in restitution to the IRS, representing the approximate unpaid taxes arising from the tax evasion by LLB-Vaduz’s clients. The NPA applies only to LLB-Vaduz and not to any of its subsidiaries or any individuals. LLB-Vaduz has decided to close its wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary, Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Switzerland) Ltd. and has also decided to sell another wholly-owned subsidiary, Jura Trust AG.
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally stated “this non-prosecution agreement addresses the past wrongful conduct of LLB-Vaduz in allowing U.S. taxpayers to evade their legal obligations through the use of undisclosed Liechtenstein bank accounts, while also acknowledging the extraordinary efforts of the bank in bringing about significant changes in Liechtenstein law. As a result of new Liechtenstein legislation, U.S. taxpayers who thought that they had obtained the benefit of Liechtenstein’s tax secrecy laws have learned that their bank files were turned over on the request of the Department of Justice.”
“With this agreement, one of Liechtenstein’s most important banks has put an era behind it. Today’s agreement with Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG reflects the unprecedented nature of the bank’s cooperation, and serves as another reminder for U.S. tax cheats who mistakenly believe that their offshore bank will never turn over their account files to U.S. authorities. To them we say, you can hide, but not forever”, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
“In 2008, Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG began requiring all U.S. taxpayers with accounts at LLB-Vaduz to declare their income. In addition, Liechtenstein’s Parliament amended their national law on tax matters to make easier the identification to the United States of non-compliant taxpayers. Today’s action sends a strong message to those Americans who hide their true income from the IRS. It’s time to come clean and pay your fair share of taxes like law-abiding citizens do every day”, said IRS-CI Chief Weber.
The NPA recognizes that, in 2008, before the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office began the investigation, LLB-Vaduz voluntarily implemented a series of remedial measures to stop assisting undeclared U.S. taxpayers in evading federal income taxes. The NPA further recognizes LLB-Vaduz’s extraordinary cooperation in the form of its support and assistance in 2012 to obtain a change in law by the Liechtenstein Parliament that permitted the Department of Justice to request and obtain the bank files of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers from Liechtenstein without having to identify the taxpayers by name (the “2012 Law”).
Pursuant to such a request by the Department of Justice, Liechtenstein transferred to the Department of Justice more than 200 files of U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz, directly or through sham corporations, foundations or trusts (“structures”). In addition, pursuant to the 2012 Law, the Department of Justice has submitted a second request to the Liechtenstein government for records relating to various Liechtenstein firms that provided trust administration and other fiduciary services that enabled U.S. taxpayers to hold undeclared accounts through structures at banks in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and elsewhere.
As part of the NPA, LLB-Vaduz admitted various facts concerning its wrongful conduct and the remedial measures that it took to cease that conduct. Specifically, LLB-Vaduz admitted that it knew certain U.S. taxpayers were maintaining undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz in order to evade their U.S. tax obligations, in violation of U.S. law. In addition, LLB-Vaduz admitted that it knew of the high probability that other U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts did so for the same unlawful purpose because significant numbers of U.S. taxpayers employed structures to hold their accounts, instructed LLB-Vaduz to use code names or numbers to refer to them on account statements and other bank documents, instructed LLB-Vaduz not to mail such documents to them in the United States, and instructed LLB-Vaduz not to disclose their identity to the IRS, among other things. At the end of 2006, LLB-Vaduz held more than $340 million of undeclared assets on behalf of U.S. taxpayers in more than 900 accounts.
As part of the NPA, LLB-Vaduz has agreed to forfeit $16,316,000 to the United States, representing LLB-Vaduz’s total gross revenues from services that it provided to undeclared U.S. taxpayers from 2001 through 2011. In connection with this forfeiture, LLB-Vaduz has agreed not to contest a civil forfeiture action filed by the United States. That action was filed on July 30, 2013, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine P. Failla.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office entered into the NPA based on factors including:
· LLB-Vaduz’s voluntary implementation of various remedial measures beginning in June 2008, before the investigation of its conduct began;
· LLB-Vaduz’s voluntary cooperation with this Office and the government of Liechtenstein after becoming aware of this Office’s investigation;
· LLB-Vaduz’s willingness to continue to cooperate with this Office and the IRS to the extent permitted by applicable law;
· LLB-Vaduz’s substantial support for the 2012 Law, which has already permitted the production to the Department of Justice of more than 200 account files of U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz;
· LLB-Vaduz’s representation, based on an investigation by external counsel, that the misconduct under investigation did not, and does not, extend beyond that described in the statement of facts;
The NPA requires LLB-Vaduz to continue to cooperate with the United States for at least three years from the date of the agreement. The NPA applies only to LLB-Vaduz and does not apply to any of its subsidiaries, including its Swiss subsidiary, or to any individuals. In the event that LLB-Vaduz violates the NPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may prosecute LLB-Vaduz.
U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked the IRS for its outstanding work in the investigation of this matter and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice for its assistance in the investigation. Bharara also thanked the Liechtenstein Tax Authority and the Liechtenstein Public Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance in this matter.
This investigation is being overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David B. Massey, Daniel W. Levy and Jason H. Cowley are in charge of the matter.
Allen Grunes quoted regarding Publicis-Omnicom Merger in Bloomberg News
Allen Grunes shared his perspective with Bloomberg News regarding the proposed Publicis-Omnicom Merger. Click Below:
Publicis-Omnicom Merger Seen as Drawing Antitrust Look
Halliburton Pleads Guilty: New York Times (Interesting Tea Leaves)
Health Care Clinic Director Sentenced for Role in $63 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
A former health care clinic director and licensed clinical psychologist at defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN) was sentenced today in Miami to serve 135 months in prison for her central role in a fraud scheme that resulted in more than $63 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Florida Medicaid.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the Miami office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
Alina Feas, 53, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida. In addition to her prison term, Feas was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $24.1 million in restitution.
On May 7, 2013, Feas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one substantive health care fraud count. During the course of the conspiracy, Feas was employed as a therapist and clinical director of HCSN’s Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP). A PHP is a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness. HCSN of Florida (HCSN-FL) operated community mental health centers at two locations. In her capacity as clinical director, Feas oversaw the entire clinical program and supervised therapists and other HCSN-FL personnel. She also conducted group therapy sessions when therapists were absent, and she was aware that HCSN-FL paid illegal kickbacks to owners and operators of Miami-Dade County Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) in exchange for patient referral information to be used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Feas also knew that many of the ALF referral patients were ineligible for PHP services because many patients suffered from mental retardation, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Feas submitted claims to Medicare for individual therapy she purportedly provided to HCSN-FL patients using her personal Medicare provider number, knowing that HCSN-FL was simultaneously billing the same patients for PHP services. She continued to bill Medicare under her personal provider number while an HCSN community health center in North Carolina (HCSN-NC) simultaneously submitted false and fraudulent PHP claims.
Feas was also aware that HCSN-FL personnel were fabricating patient medical records. Many of these medical records were created weeks or months after the patients were admitted to HCSN-FL for purported PHP treatment and were used to support false and fraudulent billing to government-sponsored health care benefit programs, including Medicare and Florida Medicaid. During her employment at HCSN-FL, Feas signed fabricated PHP therapy notes and other medical records used to support false claims to government-sponsored health care programs.
At HCSN-NC, Feas was aware that her co-conspirators were fabricating medical records to support the fraudulent claims she was causing to be submitted to Medicare on behalf of HCSN-NC. She knew that a majority of the fabricated notes were created at the HCSN-FL facility for patients admitted into the PHP at HCSN-NC. In some instances, Feas signed therapy notes and other medical records even though she never provided services in HCSN-NC’s PHP.
From 2004 through 2011, HCSN billed Medicare and the Medicaid program more than $63 million for purported mental health services.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Allan J. Medina, former Special Trial Attorney Allan J. Medina, and Deputy Chief Benjamin D. Singer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.