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On March 7, 2024, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco delivered remarks at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime announcing a new Department of Justice (DOJ) pilot program that incentivizes whistleblowers to report corporate misconduct by offering monetary rewards.  Likening the program to “the days of ‘Wanted’ posters across the Old West,” DAG Monaco explained that individuals who help DOJ discover otherwise unknown, “significant” corporate or financial crime could receive a portion of the resulting forfeiture.  This program will encourage whistleblowers to report a broad range of criminal activity by bridging the divide between DOJ’s priorities and other whistleblower mechanisms such as the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision (which is only available for fraud against the government), and programs at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and other federal agencies (which only cover misconduct within their respective jurisdictions).  By placing a bounty on corporate actors, this DOJ pilot program—which will be developed by the Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS)—underscores the need for companies to take stock of their compliance programs and enhance their internal reporting infrastructure.    Continue Reading DOJ Offers Cash “Carrot” to Whistleblowers; Foreshadows “Stick” of More Corporate Enforcement

A recent decision in a non-intervened qui tam suit in the Northern District of Georgia provides an example of a defendant threading the needle to avoid dismissal of its counterclaims despite those counterclaims arguably implicating the conduct that the relator alleged violated the False Claims Act (FCA). It also stands as a rare instance where a company’s counterclaims against an FCA relator have survived early court scrutiny and, as such, provides FCA defendants with a potential strategy to combat opportunistic relators.Continue Reading Counterclaims Against Compliance-Officer-Turned-Relator Survive Motion to Dismiss

On October 30, 2023, President Biden released an Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  This landmark EO seeks to advance the safe and secure development and deployment of AI by implementing a society-wide effort across government, the private sector, academia, and civil society to harness “AI for good,” while mitigating its substantial risks.Continue Reading Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

On April 21, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) inked its second civil settlement resolving allegations of fraud involving loans issued pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Sandeep S. Walia, M.D., a Professional Medical Corporation (Walia PMC), and its owner, Dr. Walia, agreed to pay $70,000 in damages and penalties to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) tied to allegations that Dr. Walia falsely certified in a second PPP loan application that his medical practice had not previously received a PPP loan after it had already received one from a different lender.  Walia PMC also agreed to repay the second PPP loan for $430,000.  This latest settlement is a continued reflection of the heightened scrutiny of the PPP, and suggests that the FCA may quickly become a favored enforcement tool by the government in its continued pursuit of PPP-related fraud.
Continue Reading Avoiding Loan Forgiveness Is No Shield from False Claims Act Liability in Latest Paycheck Protection Program Fraud Settlement

On Monday, June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Criminal Division issued an updated version of the “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” guidance. The guidance was originally published by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in February 2017, and last revised in April 2019. The updated guidance emphasizes the need for companies to

On May 16, 2013, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published long awaited proposed regulations regarding efforts contractors must take to prevent the entry of counterfeit electronics into the DoD supply chain. As previously discussed on this blog, Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012 required DoD to revise its acquisition regulations

When pursuing government work, contractors frequently team together and combine resources in order to create the most appealing proposal. These arrangements are often memorialized in teaming agreements that set forth terms, including but not limited to, the purpose of the agreement, the relationship between the parties (e.g., prime versus subcontractor), and other general provisions. Importantly,

At 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) on October 18, 2012, Crowell & Moring attorneys Cathy Kunz, Richard Arnholt and Tiffany Wynn will conduct  a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Business Ethics  in Government Contracting: Legal Requirements & Best Practices for Compliance.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of the requirements in FAR 52.203-13

On Wednesday, Congressman Bill Owens (D-NY) introduced the Small Business Growth and Federal Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 3779). The bill is designed to ensure that government agencies provide more work for small business concern by authorizing blanket preferences and providing for monetary sanctions for the failure to meet annual goals. Owens is the bill’s lone sponsor.