Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Subsidiary of Ashland Inc., leading chemical company, settles charges of hiring discrimination with US Labor Department - United States Department of Labor
Subsidiary of Ashland Inc., leading chemical company, settles charges of hiring discrimination with US Labor Department - United States Department of Labor: RICHMOND, Va. – A subsidiary of one of the world’s leading specialty chemical companies has entered into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to resolve allegations of race-based hiring discrimination.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
NATIONAL CONSULTING COMPANY TO PAY $11 MILLION RESOLVING FALSE CLAIMS ALLEGATIONS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Deloitte Consulting LLP Agrees to Pay $11 Million for Alleged False Claims Related to General Services Administration Contract
“Contractors are expected to deal fairly with federal agencies when receiving taxpayer funds,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “As this settlement demonstrates, we will take action against those who knowingly fail to live up to the terms of their government contracts.”
In 2000, GSA awarded Deloitte a contract for the provision of information technology services. The contract required Deloitte to reduce the prices it charged the government if it offered lower prices to specific commercial customers during the course of the contract. This settlement resolves allegations that between 2006 and 2012, Deloitte failed to comply with the price reductions clause in its contract, resulting in government customers paying more for Deloitte’s services than comparable commercial customers.
“American taxpayers deserve fair deals and prices from GSA contractors,” said GSA Inspector General Carol Fortine Ochoa. “I appreciate the hard work and dedication that led to this significant recovery.”
This case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the GSA Office of Inspector General.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
CORNING INTERNATIONAL K.K. WILL PAY $66.5 MILLION FOR PRICE FIXING
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, May 16, 2016
Corning International Kabushiki Kaisha to Pay $66.5 Million for Fixing Prices of Automotive Parts
Corning International Kabushiki Kaisha (Corning International K.K.) has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $66.5 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the market for ceramic substrates sold in the United States and elsewhere, and used in catalytic converters supplied to automobile manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere, the Justice Department announced today.
According to the felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Corning International K.K., based in Tokyo, conspired to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the market for ceramic substrates, from at least as early as July 1999 until on or about July 2011. The products were installed in automotive emissions control systems and supplied to automobile manufacturers including Ford Motor Company, General Motors LLC, Honda Motor Company Ltd., and certain of their subsidiaries, affiliates, and suppliers in the United States and elsewhere. Corning International K.K. agreed to cooperate in the department’s ongoing investigation. The plea agreement will be subject to court approval.
“Corning International K.K. – and Nobuhiko Niwa, its former executive, who was indicted last week – spent more than a decade colluding on sales of an important component of emissions systems for use in cars made and sold in the United States and elsewhere,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “But they have now been held accountable for the competitive harm they caused.”
“Corning International K.K.'s conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices brought the company increased revenues at a cost to auto manufacturers, suppliers, and ultimately, consumers,” said Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division. “Attempts to thwart the free market system are damaging to our economy, and thereby its consumers, and will be actively investigated and prosecuted.”
Including Corning International K.K., 40 companies have been charged in connection with this investigation and have agreed to pay more than $2.7 billion in criminal fines. In addition, 59 individuals have been charged, including a former executive of Corning International K.K. On May 11, 2016, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan returned an indictment against Nobuhiko Niwa, a Japanese national, for his role in the conspiracy. Niwa was charged with participating in the conspiracy from at least as early as July 1999 until on or about July 2011.
This charge results from an ongoing investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Detroit Division with the assistance of the FBI Headquarters’ International Corruption Unit.
Monday, April 11, 2016
SHIPPING COMPANY WILL PAY $2.5 MILLION FOR OIL DISCHARGE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, April 8, 2016
Norwegian Shipping Company Sentenced in Alabama to Pay $2.5 Million for Illegally Discharging Oil into the Ocean
The Norwegian shipping company DSD Shipping (DSD) was sentenced to pay a total corporate penalty of $2.5 million as a result of its convictions in Mobile, Alabama, for obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), tampering with witnesses and conspiring to commit these offenses. The company was ordered to pay $500,000 of the penalty to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation to fund marine research and enhance coastal habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay.
In addition, DSD was placed on a three year term of probation and was ordered to implement an environmental compliance plan to ensure the company’s vessels obeyed domestic and international environmental regulations in the future. The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown for the Southern District of Alabama.
The operation of commercial marine vessels generates large quantities of waste oil, oil-contaminated waste water and garbage. International and U.S. law forbid the discharge of waste oil and garbage into the ocean and require that these vessels use pollution prevention equipment, known as an oily-water separator, to prevent the discharge of oil-contaminated waste water. Should any overboard discharges occur, they must be documented in either an oil record book or a garbage record book, logs that are regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The evidence demonstrated at trial that DSD operated the M/T Stavanger Blossom, a 56,000 gross ton crude oil tanker, from 2010 to 2014 without an operable oily-water separator as required by law. On Jan. 29, 2010, an internal corporate memorandum written by a vessel engineer warned DSD that the pollution prevention equipment did not work. The memo further warned that if the problem was not addressed, “some day, it might end up that someone is getting caught for polluting.” However, rather than repair or replace the oily-water separator, DSD operated the vessel illegally for the next 57 months before the conduct was identified by U.S. Coast Guard inspectors in November 2014. As the testimony at trial revealed, DSD illegally discharged approximately 20,000 gallons of oil-contaminated waste water and plastic bags containing 270 gallons of sludge into the ocean during the last two-and-a-half months of the vessel’s operation.
The evidence also established that DSD lied about these activities by maintaining fictitious record books aboard the vessel. These records omitted the illegal discharges of oil and garbage and falsely claimed that pollution prevention equipment was used when it was not. Further, when the U.S. Coast Guard examined the ship, DSD’s senior ship officers lied about the discharges and ordered their subordinates to do the same.
In court documents filed prior to sentencing, prosecutors informed the court that despite convictions for eight felony offenses, DSD continued to deny wrongdoing in Norwegian press accounts. Prosecutors also noted that previous deficiencies in the operation of pollution prevention equipment had been identified in other DSD vessels while they were in international ports.
Three senior engineering officers employed by DSD to operate the ship were also sentenced. Defendant Bo Gao, chief engineer of the vessel, and Xiaobing Chen, second engineer of the vessel, were both sentenced to six months imprisonment as a result of their conduct. Defendant Xin Zhong, fourth engineer of the vessel, was sentenced to two months imprisonment. All three also face the loss of their marine engineering license and exclusion from employment in the merchant marine. A fourth DSD employee, Daniel Paul Dancu, pleaded guilty in October 2015, and will be sentenced on April 11, 2016.
“We will continue to aggressively prosecute and hold accountable those shipping companies who flout the laws that protect our oceans and coastal waterways from harmful vessel pollution and waste,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden. “It is fitting that a portion of this penalty will go towards repairing and protecting the Gulf coastal environment that is threatened by these illegal discharges. This egregious abuse of the seas we share as a nation and an international community must stop.”
“We are very pleased with the fines and custody sentences imposed by the court in the case today,” announced U.S. Attorney Brown. “The fine and probation imposed against DSD, and the custody sentence imposed on the engineering officers reflect the seriousness of the offenses committed against the United States and the environment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes. It is incumbent upon all individuals and corporations to protect our environment and the resources along the Northern Gulf of Mexico.”
“The Coast Guard will not tolerate the pollution of our marine environment,” said Rear Admiral Dave Callahan for the Eighth Coast Guard District Commander. “The individuals committing environmental crimes are putting our natural resources at risk and they must be held accountable. I am thankful for the hard work and dedication that Coast Guard Sector Mobile, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Department of Justice, and the Environmental Protection Agency have put into the investigation and prosecution of this case.”
“The Coast Guard Investigative Service is deeply committed to protecting our nation’s waters and ensuring that those within the commercial shipping industry are good stewards of the marine environment,” said Director Michael Berkow for the Coast Guard Investigative Service. “Sadly, although entirely preventable, pollution from vessels remains all too common. We hope the sentences in this case deter others from committing similar conduct. We are grateful to our investigative partners for their assistance in the prosecution of this case.”
“When a company fails to comply with our nation’s environmental laws, it can have a devastating effect on both public health and wildlife,” said Special Agent in Charge Andy Castro of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Alabama. “The defendants knowingly discharged oily waste from a vessel into the open water and then tried to cover up their crimes by falsifying entries in the vessel’s log books. This successful prosecution is another example of the effective partnership between the Department of Justice, the Coast Guard and EPA to protect the environment and our natural resources.”
This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, U.S. Coast Guard District Eight, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, and the EPA’s Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Anderson, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, and Trial Attorney Shane N. Waller, with the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section, prosecuted the case.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
AG LYNCH'S STATEMENT ON BP DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL AGREEMENT
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT A
Monday, April 4, 2016
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Statement on Agreement with BP to Settle for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Following the order today by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to enter the consent decree settling United States of America v. BP Exploration & Production Inc., et al., Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch released the following statement:
“The approval of this agreement will open a final, hopeful chapter in the six-year story of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “Today’s action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken. I want to thank everyone who made this outcome possible, including my predecessor, Attorney General Eric Holder, and the federal agencies and states that developed the comprehensive restoration plan. The Department of Justice will continue to stand with the people of the Gulf as they seek to rebuild and protect the marine life, coastal systems, and beautiful beaches that have made the region a treasured natural resource.”
Sunday, April 3, 2016
SLEEP APNEA MASK COMPANY RESOLVES FALSE CLAIMS CASE FOR $34.8 MILLION
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Respironics to Pay $34.8 Million for Allegedly Causing False Claims to Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare Related to the Sale of Masks Designed to Treat Sleep Apnea
Respironics Inc., based in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $34.8 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations for paying kickbacks in the form of free call center services to durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers that bought its masks for patients with sleep apnea, the Department of Justice announced today.
“The payment of illegal remuneration in any form to induce patient referrals threatens public confidence in the health care system,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Americans deserve to know that when they are prescribed a device to treat a serious health care problem, the supplier’s judgment has not been compromised by illegal payments from equipment manufacturers.
The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the knowing and willful payment of any remuneration to induce the referral of services or items that are paid for by a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE. Claims submitted to these programs in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute are also false claims under the False Claims Act.
The United States alleged that Respironics violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by providing free services to DME suppliers to induce them to purchase Respironics masks that treat sleep apnea. Respironics allegedly provided DME companies with call center services to meet their patients’ resupply needs at no charge as long as the patients were using masks that Respironics manufactured; otherwise, the DME companies would have to pay a monthly fee based on the number of patients who used masks manufactured by a competitor of Respironics. The government alleged that the conduct began in April 2012 and continued until November 2015.
“This office has made a substantial commitment to combating fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina. “Our commitment has made this district one of the leaders on behalf of whistleblowers. We hope that those who commit fraud will recognize that it is our goal to make the consequences more than just the cost of doing business.”
Respironics will pay roughly $34.14 million to the federal government and roughly $660,000 to various state governments based on their participation in the Medicaid program.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit originally brought by Dr. Gibran Ameer, who has worked for different DME companies, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The Act permits private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. Under the civil settlement announced today, Dr. Ameer will receive $5.38 million out of the federal share of the recovery.
“Medical equipment manufacturers that boost profits by providing kickbacks to suppliers will be held accountable for their improper conduct,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “We will continue to investigate such business arrangements, which threaten the integrity of federal health care programs.”
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $27.4 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $17.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
This settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of South Carolina, and HHS Office of Counsel to the Inspector General and Office of Investigations and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The lawsuit is captioned United States et al. ex rel. Dr. Gibran Ameer v. Philips Electronics North America, et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-2077-PMD (D.S.C.). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
DOJ ANNOUNCES ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST FOOD MANUFACTURER FOR ALLEGEDLY DISTRIBUTING ADULTERATED FOOD PRODUCTS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, March 21, 2016
United States Files Enforcement Action Against Kansas Food Manufacturer and Company’s Managers to Stop Distribution of Adulterated Food Products
Native American Enterprises LLC (NAE), manufactures and distributes food, namely ready-to-eat (RTE) refried beans and sauces. The complaint alleges that the company’s RTE refried beans and sauces are adulterated in that they have been prepared, packed and/or held under insanitary conditions whereby the food may have become contaminated with filth or have been rendered injurious to health. According to the complaint, the insanitary conditions include the presence of Listeria Monocytogene (L. mono) in NAE’s facility and insanitary employee practices. The department filed the complaint at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Insanitary conditions at food processing facilities can present significant risks to consumers and food manufacturers must take steps to minimize those risks,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work aggressively with the FDA to combat and deter conduct that leads to the distribution of adulterated food to consumers.”
According to the complaint, FDA inspected NAE’s facility, located at 230 N. West Street in Wichita, in August 2015 and collected environmental samples and observed numerous insanitary practices, including the defendants’ failure to manufacture and package food under conditions necessary to minimize microorganism growth, take necessary precautions to protect against contamination and maintain buildings in good repair. Specifically, according to the complaint, FDA observed rain water leaking through the roof in the packaging room, directly above where NAE employees packaged RTE refried beans. In addition, FDA observed cracks and holes in the walls and floor junctures that allow water and debris to collect, prohibit adequate cleaning and could harbor Listeria, according to the complaint.
FDA inspected NAE’s facility twice in 2014. As alleged in the complaint, FDA collected environmental samples during RTE refried bean production during each of the 2014 inspections and found Listeria in the facility. In addition, as alleged in the complaint, FDA also observed a failure to maintain equipment in an acceptable condition through appropriate cleaning and sanitizing.
As alleged in the complaint, L. mono thrives in moist environments, such as food-manufacturing environments. Unless proper precautions are taken, L. mono may become established and grow, and it is difficult to eliminate once it becomes established in a food-manufacturing environment. It is capable of surviving and growing at refrigerated temperatures and in high-salt environments. The complaint alleges that L. mono is a significant public health risk in RTE refried beans and sauces.
The government is represented by Trial Attorney Heide L. Herrmann of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Metzger of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement Sonia W. Nath of the Food and Drug Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services.
A complaint is merely a set of allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government would need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
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