In February 2021, the qui tam allegations were resolved through an ability-to-pay civil settlement for $20.3 million. In 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office secured a major asset freeze that reached more than $30 million in cash and luxury items pending the resolution of a number of criminal prosecutions. Regency then sold those companies to other individuals, who used the companies to fraudulently bill Medicare for medically unnecessary DME that resulted from kickbacks or other inappropriate marketing practices. A qui tam relator filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida that alleged that Regency Inc., a company owned and operated by Kelly Wolfe, fraudulently established DME companies (by providing false information regarding the true owners’ identities, among other misrepresentations on Medicare applications). “Operation Brace Yourself,” a national takedown staged in April 2019, addressed a major fraud scheme directed at the sale of medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) to Medicare beneficiaries. United States and the State of Florida ex rel. Significant Affirmative Civil Enforcement Cases See below for MDFL significant civil case highlights. Department of Health and Human Services, the Defense Health Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Education. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. “These collected funds will assist victims in their recovery process and aid law enforcement as they continue to hold criminals accountable for their crimes.” “The commitment of my predecessors, continued leadership by our office’s civil division and asset recovery division chiefs, and great coordination with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners has resulted in the collection and recovery of millions of dollars from those who have sought to benefit from fraud and other illegal activities,” said U.S. The district anticipates that the vast majority of the more than $51 million forfeited in FY 2021 will be returned to crime victims. For instance, in FY 2021, more than $6.5 million forfeited in the MDFL in this and prior years was returned to victims of the criminal offenses upon which the forfeitures were based, and more than $2.4 million was shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes. The MDFL’s Civil Division recovered an additional $49,403,222.08 in these jointly handled cases.Īdditionally, the district’s Asset Recovery Division, led by Chief Anita Cream, working with partner agencies, forfeited $51,099,981 from criminal and civil asset forfeiture actions completed in fiscal year 2021. Attorney’s Offices and with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section to address fraud schemes and illegal practices extending beyond district boundaries. In addition to its efforts in local civil cases noted above, the district’s Civil Division also joins forces with other U.S. The MDFL’s Civil Division, led by Civil Chief Randy Harwell, recovered a total of $88,396,299.70 on behalf of federal agencies and programs in affirmative civil enforcement cases during the last fiscal year. Included in this amount is $60,443,168.31 recovered in its locally handled cases $21,450,090.69 in criminal cases and $38,993,077.62 in civil cases. Of that amount, $109,846,390.39 represents total collections in criminal and civil actions. Handberg announced today that the Middle District of Florida (MDFL) collected $160,946,371.39 related to criminal and civil matters in the fiscal year ending Septem(FY 2021), during the tenure of his predecessors, Maria Chapa Lopez and Karin Hoppmann.
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