Last month, the Central District of California granted the government’s affirmative motion for partial summary judgment in U.S. v. Reliance Medical Sys., 2022 WL 524062 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2022).  The Reliance Medical case involved an FCA action based on a theory that certain physician-owned distributorships (PODs) violated the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).  As detailed below, the Central District found – in accordance with the substantial majority of other courts – that violations of the AKS are material under the FCA.

Oregon JV LLC v. Advanced Investment et al. was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon on March 2, 2022. Plaintiff asserts claims sounding in fraud and requests compensatory and equitable relief against a construction lender and other individuals and entities that funded various loans to a homebuilder with a history of fraud and embezzlement.

Plaintiff is a company that managed a construction loan pool for non-party Joseph Russi.  Defendant Advanced Investment Corp (“AIC”) is an Oregon-based corporation that previously managed the loan pool at issue. The remaining Defendants consist of trustees of various trusts, Oregon-based financial institutions, and several Oregon residents, all of which were investors in the subject loan pool (the “Defendant Lenders”).

TELEO Capital Management has announced it has acquired CHCS Services from Capgemini America.

CHCS, based in Pensacola, Fla., is a technology-enabled third-party administrator for the senior health and eldercare markets. Founded in 1989, the company focuses on long-term care and Medicare supplement plans.

TELEO, based in El Segundo, Calif., is a lower middle…

Federal contractors should take note of a $48.5 million False Claims Act settlement between the Department of Justice and TriMark USA LLC — the largest-ever FCA settlement based on allegations of small-business set-aside contracting fraud. DOJ alleged that TriMark had a plan to circumvent specific small-business contracting requirements by providing significant assistance to three small…

On March 18, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Connecticut Attorney General announced that a Connecticut eye care practice and its owners had agreed to pay $192,699 to resolve allegations that the practice improperly employed an individual who was excluded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) from federal health care programs.

RELATED UPDATES:
FinCEN Alert Highlights Potential U.S. Commercial Real Estate Investments by Sanctioned Russian Elites and Their Proxies (January 30, 2023)
New Revelations in Ukraine Lead to Tightening Global Sanctions (April 8, 2022)

As we approach the thirty day mark since the United States, and other Western countries began imposing a series of rigorous sanctions on the Russian economy and key components thereof, we are starting to see real evidence of their broad impact.  Unfortunately, that includes significant impacts that Western companies are being forced to bear.  In some cases, large multinationals that could arguably continue to operate in Russia or with Russian partners are voluntarily electing to walk away from the country, whether due to the complication involved in navigating a dynamic sanctions environment, ambiguity around beneficial ownership of high risk partners, reputational concerns, a calculation that it was the right thing to do, or all of the above. However, other Western companies less well-situated to simply walk away from Russian business entanglements are finding themselves left with little choice but to absorb millions of dollars in losses.

On March 14, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the seizure of foreign-owned aircraft in Russia. Many aircraft in Russia are owned by international firms and leased for use in Russia. Such seizures are a likely source of insurance claims by the planes’ owners and financers.
Most commercial air carriers do not…