The Justice Department continues to send the strong signal that it is looking to charge senior executives of companies. At a conference this week in London, senior Justice Department official Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh focused not only on the high priority the Department places on prosecution of corporate
DOJ Announces Record Year of Over $5 billion in False Claims Act Recoveries
2014 was a banner year for federal recoveries under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In a press release dated November 20, 2014, the DOJ announced that its total recoveries – including those from both settlements and judgments – amounted to $5.69 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30th. These results mark the first time that annual recoveries have exceeded $5 billion, and they continue a recent trend of aggressive FCA enforcement. The FCA is the primary civil statute through which the DOJ combats fraud on the federal Government. It includes qui tam provisions which provide monetary incentives for whistleblowers to file suit directly against wrongdoers. $3 billion of FY 2014’s $5.69 billion recoveries arose from qui tam actions, with the Government paying $435 million to reward the whistleblowers. The number of qui tam suits has exceeded 700 for each of the last two fiscal years, far exceeding the 300 – 400 per year in the period between FY 2000 and 2009.
Ralph Ferrara on Real-World Crisis Management
Proskauer litigator Ralph Ferrara spoke last week on real-world crisis management – “event horizons and black holes” – at PLI’s 46th Annual Securities Regulation Institute in New York. Recently named to the inaugural class of the Securities Docket’s Enforcement Hall of Fame, Mr. Ferrara presented a complex hypothetical and