Assistant Attorney General Announces Stepped Up Use of False Claims Act in Criminal Health Care Fraud Investigations

DC Client Alert

By Richard J. Oparil

The head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division announced in a speech the "stepped up" use of the False Claims Act (FCA) in the prosecution of health care fraud. Speaking at the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Conference on September 17, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said that civil FCA qui tam cases will be "a vital part of the Criminal Division's future efforts" to bring criminal fraud prosecutions. Under new procedures, the Civil Division of the Justice Department will share qui tam complaints with criminal prosecutors as soon as those cases are filed. Prosecutors, Caldwell said, "are immediately reviewing the qui tam cases when we receive them to determine whether to open a parallel criminal investigation."