Notable Recent Decisions Under the False Claims Act--Part 2
This is the second installment of our four part series about notable recent decisions under the False Claims Act. This week's featured decision is United States ex rel. Glenda Martin v. Life Care Centers of America, Inc., 2012 WL 6084626 (E.D. Tenn., Nov. 15, 2012).
This case deals with the extent to which matters under the FCA should remain under seal, both during the pendency of the Government's pre-intervention investigation and thereafter. The specific issues presented were: whether the court should grant the Government's request to maintain several documents under seal after the Government intervened in an action; and whether a local newspaper should be entitled to intervene to oppose the requested seal. The District Court allowed the newspaper to intervene and denied the Government's request to maintain certain documents under seal. While the case involves narrow issues, the District Court's excoriation of the Government for what it believed to be its abuse of the sealing provisions of the FCA is priceless.
This case was filed in October 2008. The Government sought several extensions of the seal. On January 13, 2011, the Court granted the Government's request for an indefinite extension of time in which the Government could make its intervention determination, and it ordered that the case be administratively closed. In support of that request, the Government had filed a status report indicating that it was involved in a "nationwide investigation" of the defendant, that it "continues to devote significant time and resources to this investigation," that its investigation had already involved over 150 witnesses nationwide, that it intended to serve additional subpoenas, that it had made a "lengthy and detailed presentation" to the defendant, and that the defendant had requested time to consider the information presented.
In March 2012, the Government transferred a second qui tam case raising the same issues to the Eastern District of Tennessee and sought to consolidate the two cases. At a status conference held on consolidation request, the Government objected to a reporter's presence and asked that the courtroom be sealed. The Court then asked the parties to brief whether all pleadings in the case should remain sealed and whether the Court should close the courtroom for all future proceedings in the case.
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A recent Northern District of Illinois case concerning fraud against investors alleges causes of actions against the financial institutions where the investors' funds were being held. This case poses an interesting question as to whether financial institutions should have a heightened duty to monitor bank accounts that are known to be customer segregated accounts.
Each week for the next four weeks, we will provide a summary of a notable recent decision under the False Claims Act. The first in this series is United States v. Kernan Hospital, 2012 WL 5879133 (D.Md., Nov. 20, 2012). Read the decision here:
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for periodic audits to ensure that covered entities and business associates are complying with the HIPAA privacy and security rules and the HITECH Act's breach notification standards. To implement this mandate, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) piloted a program to conduct 115 audits of covered entities to assess privacy and security compliance. Audits conducted under OCR's pilot program began in November 2011 and ended in December 2012.
Following the SEC's payment of its first Whistleblower award in the amount of $50,000, the SEC reports that its Whistleblower Program generated a total of 3001 tips through fiscal year 2012. Read the report here:
When it comes to wiretapping, Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state--meaning both parties to a conversation must consent before a wire, electronic or oral communication is intercepted for the interception to be lawful. Although there are exceptions available, sometimes the "two-party" requirement in the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act ("Wiretap Act") presents difficult issues for law enforcement. But in order for the Wiretap Act to even apply, there must be an interception of a communication. In
In federal court, a defendant is entitled to pre-trial discovery under
18 U.S.C. §666(a)(1)(B) prohibits, among other things, state government officials from accepting anything of value with an intent to be influenced or rewarded in connection with business related to the state government. There is a split amongst the circuits as to whether a conviction under §666 requires that the official actually confer some benefit in return for the payment (e.g., a quid pro quo). The Fourth and Second Circuits have held that a conviction under §666 requires a quid pro quo. The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits have held that a conviction under §666 does not require a quid pro quo. The Third Circuit has not ruled on this issue.
The Criminal Division of the United States Department Of Justice has just published a 125-page "Resource Guide" to give both non-lawyers and lawyers at least some clarification in the real world workings of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). Link to the FCPA Resource Guide here:
The dirty details of this presently unfolding scandal do not require repetition on this page. Google will lead you to all that you want (and don't want) to know about these sordid details. However, you won't read much of the following advice in the mainstream media. So, here we go ...
Here is an update to our October 8, 2012 post about an insider trading case involving information received at an Alcoholics Anonymous ("AA") meeting.
Joseph M. Elles, Carter's Inc.'s former Vice President of Sales, is facing federal criminal charges alleging that he aided Carter's in misstating its income in various Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The case is United States v. Elles, No. 1:11-CR-445 (N.D. Ga). Elles has objected to the government's attempts to introduce into evidence statements that he made to attorneys conducting an internal investigation for Carter's. (See
On October 15, 2012, three former Purdue Frederick Company executives filed a Petition for Rehearing En Banc before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Click here to view a copy of the petition:
Using information learned from a fellow Alcoholics Anonymous ("AA") member to make money in the stock market may be morally dubious. Should it be a federal crime, however? A recent case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,
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