A former member of the U.S. armed services was sentenced today to 28 months in prison for his role in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy that operated from January 2002 through March 2004.

“We are extremely disappointed with the Scottish Executive's decision to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi. The interests of justice have not been served by this decision. There is simply no justification for releasing this convicted terrorist whose actions took the lives of 270 individuals, including 189 Americans. Megrahi did not show and has not shown compassion for innocent human life, and as we communicated to the Scottish authorities and the UK government, it continues to be our position that he should have been required to serve the entire sentence handed down for his crimes. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of those whose loved ones were killed in 1988 due to Megrahi's vicious actions.”

Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa has agreed to pay the United States $4.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. This settlement resolves allegations that Covenant submitted false claims to Medicare by having financial relationships with five physicians that violated the Stark Law.

Detroit area physical therapist Jay Jha, 45, pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $18.3 million.

Denver resident Lil Vargas-Arias pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Clinic owners and operators Jose Martinez and Denisse Martinez pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Suresh Chand pleaded guilty today to participating in multiple conspiracies to defraud the Medicare program and to launder the proceeds of the fraud.

“Today’s settlement reflects the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to protect the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

“It is critical that Medicare providers base their DME purchasing decisions on what is in the best interests of their patients,” stated Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

Three Miami-Dade County, Fla., residents have been indicted in connection with an alleged $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme operated out of X-Press Center, a Detroit-area clinic that purported to specialize in providing injection and infusion therapies.

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Holder said.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals, UDL Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical have entered into settlement agreements for a total of $124 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay appropriate rebates to state Medicaid programs for drugs paid for by those programs.

Solomon Nathaniel of Sterling Heights, Mich., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Twenty defendants have been charged in seven cases for allegedly participating in Medicare fraud schemes that resulted in more than $26 million in fraudulent bills to the Medicare program.

Medicare fraud charges have been filed against six individuals in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Houston.

The department today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Brookline, Mass., to ensure access to medical facilities and services for individuals with disabilities.

The United States alleges that the state of New York has failed to house thousands of individuals with mental illness who currently reside in large, institutional “adult homes” in the most integrated setting, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Troy, Mich., resident Syed Aziz pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Miami resident Daisy Martinez pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Noel Wayne Jhagroo, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the U.S. District Court in Houston. 

The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have intervened in a False Claims Act suit in the Western District of Virginia against the Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC.

The United States has entered into a settlement with a New Jersey hospital and filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against a New York hospital involving allegations that the hospitals defrauded Medicare.

Detroit resident Jaquita Lovelace and Miami resident Timothy Pierce have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in conspiracies to defraud the Medicare program.

The department said the transaction, as originally proposed, would substantially lessen competition in infectious waste collection and treatment services to hospitals and other critical healthcare facilities.

Two Florida executives of a Miami-Dade County-based telecommunications company, the president of Florida-based Telecom Consulting Services Corp., and two former Haitian government officials were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their alleged roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme.

Thirty people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims as part of the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.

“The Department of Justice will be vigilant in pursuing cases against medical device companies that break the law and defraud taxpayers,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

Miami resident Ingrid Mazorra pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Miami to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program.

Thirteen Detroit-area residents were arrested today by federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and FBI in connection with an alleged home health care scheme to defraud the Medicare program of more than $14.5 million.

Manual Deluna has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with his role in Memorial Medical Supply, a Houston durable medical equipment company.

"Today’s settlement resolves the department’s antitrust concerns and allows readers to continue to have a choice between two independent local daily newspapers–the Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail."

The United States has obtained a $10 million consent judgment against Los Angeles businessman Robert Bourseau and Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam for a Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud scheme arising from their former ownership of the Los Angeles City of Angels Medical Center.

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty today to submitting nearly $1 million in false claims to Medicare.

The Civil Rights Division has filed a motion for immediate relief to protect individuals confined in seven state-run psychiatric hospitals in Georgia from the imminent and serious threat of harm to their lives, health and safety.

Gevork Kartashyan, 45, and Eliza Shubaralyan, 42, were each sentenced to serve two years in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California.

Atricure Inc., a medical device manufacturer, has agreed to pay the United States $3.76 million to resolve civil claims in connection with the alleged promotion of its surgical ablation devices.

The Department has reached a settlement agreement with the Alameda County, Calif., Sheriff’s Office, under which it will provide sign language interpreters and other auxiliary aids and services to arrestees, detainees, suspects, victims, witnesses, complainants and visitors who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind at two jails.

Miami-Dade County resident Dulce Briceño was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for her role in a $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Eon Labs Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $3.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations relating to the company's drug Nitroglycerin Sustained Release (SR) capsules.

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, a Long Island, N.Y.-based hospital, has agreed to pay $2.92 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that the hospital defrauded Medicare.

Medical device manufacturer Guidant LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corporation, was charged today with criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to safety problems with some of its implantable defibrillators.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a Fresno woman late Friday after it found that she committed Medicare fraud by recruiting patients for the purpose of receiving unnecessary power wheelchairs.

Two former executives of Medical Manager Health Systems Inc., a subsidiary of WebMD Corporation from 2000 to 2005, were convicted today by a federal jury in Charleston, S.C., with participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently inflate the reported earnings of Medical Manager by more than $16.8 million between 1997 and 2003.

The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have filed a False Claims Act complaint in the Western District of Virginia against Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC.

Rush University Medical Center has agreed to pay $1,547,200 plus interest to resolve allegations that the facility violated the False Claims Act.

The department’s motion for preliminary injunction aims to prevent the segregation of children with developmental disabilities in dangerous conditions and to address accusations of imminent and serious threats to the safety of the facility’s more than 500 current residents.

Farmington Hills, Mich., physician Jose Castro-Ramirez was convicted today by a Detroit federal jury on all 13 charged counts in connection with his role in an $18.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, a New Jersey-based hospital, has agreed to pay $6.35 million to settle allegations that the hospital defrauded Medicare.

Rolondae Mitchell-Straughter and Ana Quinteros each pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with their roles in an "arthritis kit" Medicare fraud scheme.

Sterling Heights, Mich., resident Solomon Nathaniel was sentenced today to 62 months in prison for his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade;