Significant work goes into settling a False Claims Act action. Defendants may spend months negotiating with the government to reach an agreeable settlement — often even longer if the defendant pursues the arduous ability-to-pay financial analysis process. But what happens when you reach the end of this process and the relator objects to the agreed-upon settlement amount? The United States District Court for the Central District of California recently faced this question, ultimately denying the relator’s objection and allowing the settlement to proceed.
In 2015, Trilochan Singh filed a qui tam lawsuit against California nursing homes that allegedly engaged in a kickback scheme, and the United States intervened in June 2021 after a lengthy investigation. The government’s complaint alleged that defendant nursing homes entered into medical director agreements that were used to pay physicians in exchange for making patient referrals to the nursing homes. After two years of motion practice, the parties reached a settlement on an ability-to-pay basis.
The settlement included a consent judgment for over $45 million, payment schedules, and limitations on enforcement against the defendants. Relator Singh objected to the settlement agreement on the basis that it was not fair, adequate, and reasonable. Singh requested and was granted a fairness hearing under 31 U.S.C. 3730(c)(2)(B), which permits the government to settle an action notwithstanding objections after a court evaluates,...
A video circulating online, which EuroVerify estimates has been viewed over 10 million times on X alone, claims Bellingcat confirmed their purported "revelations" using satellite imagery that show...