In June 2011 a final settlement was reached among the relator, the Government, and the defendant in the False Claims Act matter, US ex rel. [Relator] v. Institute of International Education (index number 07 CV 8294 (Castel, J.)), filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, involving allegations of defrauding the State Department’s Fulbright Scholarship Program for foreign graduate students studying in the US. The whistleblower received a $170,000 reward from the Government.

Related filed court documents:

Government Press Release (PDF) 
Complaint (PDF)
Amended Complaint (PDF)
Complaint in Intervention (PDF)
Qui Tam Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Relator Share Agreement (PDF)

In October 2009, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed notices in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, located in Manhattan, to partially join two False Claims Act cases brought by tenant Edmund Rosner against two large NYC residential landlords, accusing them with defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 8 Voucher Program.

On April 21, 2010, following a settlement between the parties, United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed Joseph Kim’s whistleblower retaliation case against his former employer, Medco Enterprises, Inc. The Complaint, filed by qui tam whistleblower attorney Timothy J. McInnis, has been pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Docket No. 07-CV-1305 (AKH).

Kim, a respiratory therapist, alleged that he was fired by Medco because he had investigated and complained of Medicare fraud committed by his former employer in connection with services for respiratory patients at Medco’s Wayne Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bronx, New York. Kim’s allegations were set forth in a First Amended Complaint against Medco that was filed in August 2008. The terms of the settlement between Kim and Medco were not publicly disclosed in the action at the time of its dismissal.

Related filed court documents:

Amended Complaint (PDF)
Order Dismissal (PDF)

In April 2009, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed a notice of partial intervention in a civil Medicare fraud case against Staten Island Ophthalmologist Joseph R. Mermelstein, M.D. (United States ex rel Gerald P. Astorino v. Joseph R. Mermelstein, Index number 04 cv 1692 (Johnson, J.)). The case was originally brought under the False Claims Act qui tam provisions by Gerald Astorino, an optician formerly employed by Mermelstein.

Astorino’s complaint, which was filed under seal in April 2004, but has since been made public, alleges various schemes to defraud the Medicare Program, primarily billing for ophthalmology services that were not rendered or that were unnecessary. Mermelstein is currently serving a five-year prison term as a result of his guilty plea to related criminal charges also filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

This qui tam case was settled in January 2011 for $700,000.

Related filed court documents:

Astorino Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Astorino Complaint (PDF)

In March 2009, a final settlement was reached among the relator, Government and defendant in the False Claims Act matter, US ex rel Joseph B. Lee v. Victory Memorial Hospital, (index number 04 cv 3234 (Ross, J.)), filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

In 2004, and in anticipation of a settlement between the parties, United States District Judge Malcolm Muir dismissed David A. Anderson’s whistleblower retaliation case against his former employer McTish, Kunkle & Associates which was pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Docket No. 04-CV-754.

Columbia University Pays More Than $5 Million To U.S.; Whistleblower Case Alleged Medical School Obstetricians Defrauded Medicaid Over Midwife-Handled Deliveries

UPDATE May 2008: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled against New York Presbyterian Hospital’s second Motion for Summary Judgment, setting an August 4th trial date for the Romano case.

At that time a jury will determine if the hospital is liable for thousands of False Claims Act violations over a five-year period, each of which carries a maximum fine of up to $11,000.

In his April 2, 2008 ruling The Hon. Louis I. Stanton found that no “presentment” requirement was needed in this qui tam case, even though invoices were first given to the New York State Medicaid program (which is funded with federal dollars). In an earlier ruling, in April 2006 Judge Stanton dismissed a hospital motion for Summary Judgment on other grounds.

Columbia University UPDATE: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has, in effect, ordered a trial to determine if the remaining defendant in the Romano case, New York Presbyterian Hospital, is also liable for False Claims Act violations. In April 2006, The Hon. Louis L. Stanton dismissed the hospital’s motion for Summary Judgment which clears the way for a trial to determine if the hospital is liable for as many as 2,000 False Claims Act violations per year over a more-than-five-year period. Under federal law a fine of up to $11,000 per count, along with up to three times actual damages could be assessed.

Columbia University Pays More Than $5 Million To U.S.; Whistleblower Case Alleged That Medical School Obstetricians Defrauded Medicaid Over Midwife-Handled Deliveries
NEW YORK CITY – Columbia University obstetricians defrauded Medicaid for more than a decade by falsely taking credit for deliveries routinely handled by certified nurse midwives at The New York and Presbyterian Hospital’s Allen Pavilion, according to court documents unsealed today after the university agreed to pay more than $5 million to the U.S. to settle the allegations.

Catskill Regional Medical Center For Treating Thousands of Alcohol And Substance Abuse Patients A New York Hospital Received Millions, Paying $52,000 Monthly In Illegal Kickbacks To Unnamed “Entity” Under Sham Administrative Agreement, According To Federal Complaint And Qui Tam Whistleblower Suit Settlement; Catskill Regional Medical Center (“Catskill”) Agrees To Pay $1.5 Million For Illegal Referral Scheme And Cooperate In Government’s Continuing Investigation

NEW YORK CITY — From 1997 to 2000, an upstate New York hospital received millions of dollars for treating thousands of illegally referred alcohol and substance abuse inpatients, kicking back $52,000 monthly to an undisclosed referring “entity” under a sham “administrative services agreement”, according to attorneys Timothy J. McInnis and David A. Koenigsberg, who represent the whistleblower who brought the case to the Government. A federal civil Complaint was unsealed today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with a Settlement Agreement.
Related filed court documents:

Catskill Qui Tam Whistleblower News Release (PDF) 
Catskill Complaint (PDF)
Catskill Settlement Agreement (PDF) 

Psychotherapy Center With 85 Employees At Five Queens and Nassau County Locations Allowed Unlicensed Psychologist To Treat Woman And Son, Then Falsely Billed Medicaid, Federal Whistleblower Suit Alleges

Director Of Three Comprehensive Counseling Center Locations, Who Is New York State-Licensed But Never Saw Either Patient, Signed Medicare Billing Forms, Since Treating Psychologist Was Ineligible To Bill, According to Whistleblower Attorney Timothy J. McInnis, Esq.

M.L. Energia, Inc. and Moshe Lavid, Ph.d. Eight-Year Scheme of Duplicated Research, False Billing and False Statements Involving Air Force, Navy, EPA and National Science Foundation “SBIR” Contracts Alleged in Whistleblower Complaint; Research/ Consulting Lab, Owner Will Repay Approximately $1.1 Million To Settle Allegations

NEWARK, NJ — The owner of a Plainsboro, New Jersey-based research and consulting firm today settled whistleblower allegations brought under the Qui Tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”), agreeing to pay more than $1.1 million to the Government for his alleged role in an eight-year scheme to defraud several federal agencies under Small Business Innovation Research Program (“SBIR”) grants, Manhattan-based attorney Timothy J. McInnis announced.