This week’s episode covers a new executive order sharpening the current U.S. foreign investment screening process, important updates to DOJ’s criminal enforcement policy, and new software supply chain security requirements from OMB, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Yuan Zhou. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief
On September 12, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the first-ever settlement with a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lender. The lender, Prosperity Bank, agreed to pay $18,673.50 to resolve allegations it improperly processed a PPP loan on behalf of an ineligible applicant. The announcement coincides with DOJ’s creation of three COVID-19 fraud “Strike Force” teams designed to enhanced DOJ’s efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related fraud.
Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, lenders who originated PPP loans were entitled to receive a fixed fee from the Small Business Administration (SBA) ranging from 1% to 5% of the loan amount. Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with branches throughout Texas and Oklahoma, was one of those lenders.
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
In the latest phase of a case proving that there is no amount of anticompetitive activity too small to escape prosecution, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice is continuing its efforts to thwart anticompetitive activity in public procurements, striking a plea deal with a Missouri individual in connection with rigging bids at online
As part of its annual Spring Update, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice touted the expansion and early success of its Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), both in coordinating efforts among local, state, and federal enforcers and in leveraging the resources and skills of those stakeholders to identify potential antitrust violations in government procurements. The DOJ stood up the PCSF in late 2019 with a team of United States Attorneys’ offices from 13 districts and investigative and law enforcement agents from five partner agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Defense, the GSA, and the U.S. Postal Service; it now boasts 22 U.S. Attorneys’ offices, as well as new “like-minded” partners from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security OIG.
Continue Reading Antitrust Division Praises Early Success and Heralds New Endeavors for Procurement Collusion Strike Force
This week’s episode covers a False Claims Act update from DOJ, DOD COVID-19 vaccination plan of interest to contractors, final rule on LPTA, a Commerce final rule on information and communications technology or services, and range of executive orders issued by President Biden, and is hosted by partner Peter Eyre and associate Rina Gashaw. Crowell
In a per curiam, unpublished decision in In re Fluor Intercontinental, Inc., issued on March 25, 2020, the Fourth Circuit has provided some valuable guidance concerning how companies may avoid waivers of the attorney-client privilege when making disclosures to the government after privileged internal investigations. While the decision is non-precedential even within the Fourth
On Tuesday, the ABA’s Antitrust and Public Contract Law Sections held a panel discussion with DOJ and other government enforcers to provide an update regarding the PCSF’s most recent activities. According to Mark Grundvig, Assistant Chief of Washington Criminal II at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and Marcus Mills, Special Agent of Major
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
Crowell & Moring has issued its seventh-annual “Litigation Forecast 2019: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year.”
The section focusing on government contracts, “Bid Protests Enter A Shifting Landscape,” provides an overview of how the process of protesting the awarding of a federal contract might dramatically change in