On March 26, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that a California-headquartered healthcare provider, Seoul Medical Group Inc. (“Seoul Medical”), its former president and majority owner, and a Seoul Medical subsidiary were ordered to pay over $62 million for violating the False Claims Act.  According to the DOJ, Seoul Medical allegedly submitted false diagnosis codes to increase payments from the Medicare Advantage Program.  A radiology group that also worked with Seoul Medical agreed to pay $2,350,000 for allegedly conspiring with Seoul Medical.

In an opinion that may complicate the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) efforts to enforce the False Claims Act (“FCA”), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held in a unanimous opinion on February 18, 2025 that the DOJ must show that illicit kickbacks were the “but-for” cause that led medical providers to submit claims for reimbursement to federal health care programs.  United States v. Regeneron Pharms., Inc., No. 23-2086, slip op. (1st Cir. Feb. 18, 2025).  

A groundbreaking decision out of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, if affirmed and adopted by higher courts, could impact the ability of private citizens to file suit against those attempting to defraud the United States Government (the “Government”). On September 30, 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), holding that the FCA’s qui tam provision is unconstitutional. U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, 2024 WL 4349242 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2024). 

On August 27, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order filing and simultaneously settling charges against a Swiss energy trader (the “Company”), for allegedly attempting to manipulate the European gasoline market in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and CFTC regulations. The order imposes a $48 million civil monetary penalty against the Company, which the CFTC claimed improperly sold gasoline at below-market prices to benefit certain short positions it held in gasoline-linked futures contracts.

On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the consolidated cases United States v. SuperValu Inc. and United States v. Safeway, Inc. holding that the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) scienter element refers to a defendant’s knowledge and subjective beliefs—not what an objectively reasonable person would have known or believed.  No. 21-1326 (June 1, 2023).