Atlanta USAO participates in $169 million in recoveries in civil actions, including False Claims Act cases
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that in fiscal year 2019, it was directly and jointly responsible for over $169 million in collections. Of that amount, about $14.5 million was collected in civil actions and over $145 million was recovered via joint investigations worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice.
“Collecting restitution owed to victims of crime and recovering funds stolen from the federal government are among our highest priorities,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “We understand that deterring crime and fraudulent conduct requires that we create disincentives through aggressive collection efforts. Here in the Northern District of Georgia, crime doesn’t pay but persons who violate our laws do.”
The largest collection of over $108 million in criminal penalties and civil settlements was the result of a joint effort against the pharmaceutical manufacturer Avanir, which was alleged to have violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by paying doctors to become high prescribers of the drug Nuedexta to beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs. Avanir agreed to pay a monetary penalty in the amount of $7,800,000, and a forfeiture in the amount of $5,074,895. It also agreed to pay $95,972,017 to the United States to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act related to its marketing of Nuedexta.
Since opening its doors in 2015, the attorneys at Bracker & Marcus LLC—located in Atlanta, Georgia—have represented relators in six False Claims Act cases that were intervened and settled by the USAO for the Northern District of Georgia, resulting in nearly $13 million in recoveries for the taxpayers. Contact us if you have any information regarding companies violating the False Claims Act by fraudulently billing the Government.