A look back at the week’s news and developments affecting whistleblowers.

South Carolina’s Largest Urgent Care Provider Settles False Claims Act Allegations for $22.5 Million

The Department of Justice announced this week that South Carolina’s largest urgent care provider network – and its management company, UCI Medical Affiliates of South Carolina, Inc. (“UCI”), will pay $22.5 million to resolve allegations of healthcare fraud in violation of the False Claims Act. The case began with a whistleblower complaint alleging that UCI falsely certified that certain urgent care visits were performed by providers who were credentialed to bill Medicaid, Medicare, and TRICARE for medical services. However, the services were performed by non-credentialed providers. Federal health insurance companies require medical providers to apply for and receive approval to bill any services to the insurer. To read the full DOJ press release, click here.

Inside Nissan’s Battle with Ghosn: A Whistleblower Speaks Out

Nissan Motor Co.’s former top lawyer, Ravinder Passi, who led an internal investigation into alleged financial misconduct by Carlos Ghosn, is speaking out for the first time about the arrest of ex-chairman Ghosn and what he views as a toxic corporate culture. Ghosn faced Japanese criminal indictments that he underreported his remuneration by more than $140 million and funneled millions of dollars into secret, off-shore entities. In late 2019, Ghosn escaped from Japan after being smuggled onto a private plane in a music equipment box. Once Passi wrote a detailed memo spelling out his worries about an internal investigation at Nissan surrounding Ghosn, he was swiftly removed from the investigation and shut out of board meetings. To read the full coverage from Bloomberg, click here.

Pharmacist Charged in $4 Million Health Care Fraud and Kickback Scheme

A New York man, John Sabet, was arrested for his role in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud and to pay kickback and bribes to customers for expensive prescription orders with more than $4 million in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. According to the indictment, Sabet conspired to pay kickbacks and bribes to customers to convince them to fill prescriptions at his pharmacies, and to pay customers cash in exchange for billing Medicare. To read the full DOJ press release, click here. 

To learn more about our Whistleblower & Qui Tam practice click here. Our firm is located in Nashville, Tennessee but we represent whistleblowers all around the country. Call us today at (615) 244-2202.