January 31, 2018 - Posts

Ex-Justice Department Lawyer Who Tried to Sell Secret Whistleblower Lawsuits Set for Sentencing

Jeffrey Wertkin (left) and his defense attorney outside federal courthouse

According to the Washington Post, the Department of Justice lawyer, Jeffery Wertkin, who represented the United States in qui tam cases filed by whistleblowers, is set for sentencing in front of a federal judge on March 7th.  As you may have read last year, Wertkin left the Justice Department and joined a defense firm only to immediately begin attempting to get hired by some of the defendants who had cases pending against them.  Since these cases are filed under seal and kept secret while the government investigates, Wertkin attempted to use his inside knowledge to benefit himself.  As detailed in an earlier post, his plan blew up in his face when he was arrested in a hotel lobby wearing a disguise (a wig and fake moustache) by an undercover FBI agent posing as someone who was there to “buy” information on one of the sealed lawsuits.

As the case develops, it has become alarmingly clear that Wertkin took a number of lawsuits that were under seal and tried to peddle them to the defendants or use them to get hired to defend the case. The ripple effect of his actions are not yet fully known to lawyers like us who specialize in representing whistleblowers who file these types of cases pursuant to the False Claims Act.  We will post more in the future as the case develops.

Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison is based in Nashville, Tennessee. We represent whistleblowers in matters all across the country.  We are always available for a free confidential case evaluation.

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