US recovers $3b in civil fraud cases

November 23, 2010|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department collected a record $3 billion in the last year in pursuing cases of fraud and false claims against the government.

Assistant Attorney General Tony West said health care fraud, an enforcement priority for the Obama administration, accounted for $2.5 billion in civil settlements and judgments in the last fiscal year, which ended in September.

The government collected $1.6 billion in settlements with pharmaceutical and medical device companies in cases alleging fraud against Medicare and other federal health insurance programs.

This total includes $669 million in Justice’s record settlement with Pfizer Inc., which was accused of marketing drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The $3 billion in settlements and judgments for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 represented a 25 percent increase over the year before.

“We will hold you accountable whether you are a corporation or an individual,’’ West told reporters at a briefing. “The numbers from this last fiscal year and for the last two years show that that accountability comes at a high price.’’

Most of the cases resulting in recovered funds were brought to the government by whistle-blowers, the Justice Department said.

Federal law allows whistle-blowers to press fraud claims on behalf of the government and then share in any money recovered.

The government recovered about $2.4 billion in the previous fiscal year.