Mail and Wire Fraud Claims - RICO Report Podcast
In last year’s edition of EnforceMintz, we predicted that 2024 would bring an increase in False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement activity related to COVID-19 pandemic fraud. Those predictions proved correct. The COVID-19 Fraud...more
A recent spate of mail thefts has left the IRS holding the bag when taxpayer refunds have failed to reach those taxpayers. Congress has begun looking into these thefts. Some have occurred from USPS employee theft, but others...more
District Court Declines to Stay Case Pending Resolution of FCA Causation Standard Issue Before Court of Appeals - Earlier this week, a Massachusetts federal judge denied a motion to stay proceedings filed by Medtronic,...more
Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries- Canadian Man Sentenced for Operating $175 Million Psychic Mass-Mailing Fraud Scheme - On April 15, Patrice Runner, a Canadian and French...more
On May 10, 2023, the First Circuit dealt a major blow to the Department of Justice’s wide-ranging "Varsity Blues" investigation by reversing convictions of two defendants. Individuals, companies, and federal contractors in...more
In recent weeks, the Department of Justice has released key guidance in the form of a memorandum from Attorney General Garland regarding charging, pleas, and sentencing, in addition to an updated Corporate Enforcement Policy...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Consumer Protection Branch works with other branches and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute civil and criminal violations of the nation’s consumer protection...more
KBR Reaches $13 Million Settlement To Resolve Kickback Allegations - Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. and three related companies (collectively “KBR”) reached a $13.67 million settlement to resolve a suit alleging...more
The Justice Department trumpeted its criminal prosecutions against defendants charged with Libor-rigging. It had a right to toot its own horn. But many of these convictions have not withstood the scrutiny of appellate...more
Report on Research Compliance 18, no. 10 (October, 2021) - An audit by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) pre-award risk assessment process concluded that...more
Taxpayers who file false tax returns with the IRS can find themselves in hot water. Indeed, section 7206(1) of the Internal Revenue Code (“Title 26”) makes it a felony to file a false return when the taxpayer knows that the...more
Court Rules Prescription Drug Event and Enrollee Encounter Data Are 'Claims for Payment' Under the False Claims Act - US District Judge Noel L. Hillman approved a whistleblower’s request to file a Fourth Amended Complaint...more
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), through its Cyber Digital Task Force (hereinafter the “Task Force”), published its 83-page crypto guidance report titled “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework.”...more
The past decade has taught lenders much about regulatory enforcement risk. In the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis and collapse of the housing and related markets, the Department of Justice and other agencies...more
The Department of Justice recently indicted four men—two of whom are located in Canada and two in New York—for a mass-mailing scheme that bilked thousands of senior citizens out of tens of millions of dollars....more
“Front” Seafood Businesses Allegedly Hid the Proceeds From Smuggled Shark Fins and Marijuana Distribution - Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia unsealed an indictment returned in July,...more
Tips on Preparing to Defend Against Allegations of SBA Loan Fraud During the COVID-19 Crisis - Federal emergency relief legislation—including the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”)—has...more
FCPA cases can arise in un usual situations. DOJ has focused two separate prosecutions on bribery and fraud involving adoptions from Uganda and Poland. At the heart, the defendants bribed Ugandan and Polish authorities to...more
DOJ Issues First FCPA Advisory Opinion Since 2014 - On August 14, the DOJ issued its first advisory opinion on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in six years. The DOJ’s opinion release process allows companies to...more
On April 16, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California charged Dr. Jennings Ryan Staley, a licensed physician and the operator of Skinny Beach Med Spa in San Diego, with mail fraud in...more
Although U.S.-China bilateral tensions eased to a degree earlier this year with the signing of an interim trade agreement, fundamental differences remained. These differences — such as the role that China’s industrial policy...more
Two recent rulings in separate foreign bribery cases highlight the continued impact of individual prosecutions on the interpretation of various provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In United States v....more
Last week the Department of Justice announced that American Airlines will pay over $22 million to settle claims that it falsely reported delivery times for mail it delivered on behalf of the United States Postal Service. ...more
On June 5, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a global settlement with Insys Therapeutics (Insys) that preliminarily resolves criminal and civil cases against the opioid manufacturer in a number of jurisdictions....more
On March 12, 2019, the Justice Department unveiled its indictment and charges of 50 individuals involved in one of the most sweeping admissions scandals to hit higher education. Eight universities have been implicated in the...more