On April 3, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced a settlement with a public relations firm to resolve allegations that the New Jersey company violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by receiving a $2 million second-draw loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to which the company was not
Fair Warning Protection or a “Free Pass to Fleece the Public Fisc”?: SCOTUS Takes Up the Safeco Objective Reasonableness Standard and Subjective Intent Under the FCA
Next Tuesday, April 18, 2023, the highest court in the land will hear arguments in what is poised to be the most influential False Claims Act (FCA) case since the landmark decision in Universal Health Servs. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016). On January 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear two consolidated appeals from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., 9 F.4th 455 (7th Cir. 2021) and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., 30 F.4th 649 (7th Cir. 2022). The Court’s decision will likely have far-reaching ramifications for FCA cases involving ambiguous contractual or regulatory requirements and may also provide benchmarks for assessing the key element of scienter across all FCA cases.
In Supervalu and Safeway, the Seventh Circuit joined several of its sister circuits in applying the scienter standard articulated by the Supreme Court in Safeco Insurance Company of America v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47 (2007) to the FCA, finding that a defendant’s conduct is not reckless when (1) acting under an objectively reasonable, albeit erroneous, interpretation of an ambiguous regulation or contract provision; and (2) no authoritative guidance existed to warn the defendant away from that interpretation.
Continue Reading Fair Warning Protection or a “Free Pass to Fleece the Public Fisc”?: SCOTUS Takes Up the Safeco Objective Reasonableness Standard and Subjective Intent Under the FCALincoln’s Law Turns 160
March 2, 2023, marked the 160-year anniversary of the enactment of the False Claims Act (FCA). Signed into law by the sixteenth president, the statute known as “Mr. Lincoln’s Law” was passed in response to the actions of contractors that sold rancid food, faulty rifles, and shoddy uniforms to the Union Army. Eight score after the law’s passage, the FCA has become the government’s primary enforcement tool in cases involving allegations of fraud, and today the Civil War era statute is applied in cases involving industries and federal programs that would have exceeded Lincoln’s wildest imagination.
Continue Reading Lincoln’s Law Turns 160Let’s Talk FCA: False Claims Act Enforcement Trends
In this episode, hosts Michael Shaheen and Jason Crawford discuss the Department of Justice’s recently announced False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics for fiscal year 2022. The podcast breaks down last year’s FCA activity—which included a record number of new matters—and considers what the trends could portend for fraud enforcement in the year to come.
What DOJ’s 2022 Recovery Stats Reveal About FCA Enforcement Trends
On February 7, 2023, the Department of Justice issued the False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics for fiscal year 2022. While the $2.2 billion recovered by the Department and qui tam relators was down from the prior year, 2022 saw a record number of new FCA matters initiated. Underscoring the flurry of FCA activity, there
The Top FCA Developments of 2019
The third year of False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement under the Trump administration was defined by a number of notable settlements, the implementation of several policy changes announced last year concerning how the Department of Justice (DOJ) will pursue (and in some instances, dismiss) cases under the FCA, and a Supreme Court decision addressing the
Let’s Talk FCA: False Claims Act Whistleblowers
In this episode, hosts Jason Crawford and Mana Lombardo speak with Trina Fairley Barlow, a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment and Government Contracts groups, and Christine Hawes, counsel in the Labor & Employment Group, to discuss the False Claims Act’s retaliation provision and considerations for investigating FCA allegations brought by whistleblowers. “Let’s Talk
Let’s Talk FCA: Forensic Investigations
In this episode, hosts Mana Lombardo and Jason Crawford talk with Caroline Lee, Certified Fraud Examiner and Senior Manager with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, about the role that forensic investigators play in FCA cases. “Let’s Talk FCA” is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.
Listen: Crowell.com
Let’s Talk FCA: Looking Ahead to the Supreme Court Term
In this episode, hosts Mana Lombardo and Jason Crawford talk with Sarah Hill, an associate in the firm’s Government Contracts Group, about False Claims Act cert petitions pending at the Supreme Court. “Let’s Talk FCA” is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.
Listen: Crowell.com | PodBean |
Let’s Talk FCA: Parallel Criminal and Civil False Claims Act Proceedings
In this episode, hosts Jason Crawford and Mana Lombardo talk with Rebecca Ricigliano and Steve Byers, both partners in the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group, about key considerations for navigating parallel criminal and civil False Claims Act proceedings. “Let’s Talk FCA” is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False