On April 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a nationwide coordinated law enforcement action to combat health care-related COVID-19 fraud. In line with the announcement, the federal government has continued throughout this year to focus its enforcement on fraud in the COVID-19 space, particularly on misuse of Provider Relief funds and COVID-19 testing fraud.

In addition to DOJ, the Small Business Association (“SBA”) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) have also confirmed their concentration on PPP fraud and COVID-19 testing fraud. Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the SBA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has stated that “[t]he Paycheck Protection Program is intended to provide a lifeline to the nation’s small businesses and its employees. OIG will aggressively investigate allegations of wrongdoing in SBA’s pandemic response programs.” Similarly, Inspector General Christi A. Grimm of HHS-OIG stated “[t]he attempt to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic by targeting beneficiaries and stealing from federal health care programs is unconscionable. . . HHS-OIG is proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners at the federal and state levels to ensure that bad actors who perpetrate egregious and harmful crimes are held accountable.”

In a recent example of enforcement in this space, in early April, Physician Partners of America LLC (“PPOA”) (a Florida entity), its founder, and its former chief medical officer, agreed...

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