Aventis Pharmaceutical Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC, has agreed to pay the United States $95.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting drug prices in order to reduce its Medicaid Drug Rebate obligations. The settlement resolves allegations that between 1995 and 2000, Aventis and its corporate predecessors knowingly misreported best prices for the steroid-based anti-inflammatory nasal sprays Azmacort, Nasacort and Nasacort AQ.

U. S. District Court Judge Richard Lazzara (Middle District of Florida) today sentenced the Korean corporation STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd., which operates the commercial cargo ship M/V Ocean Jade, to pay $2.2 million in penalties and serve four years of probation for conspiring to falsify and falsifying environmental compliance records.

Four Miami-area residents were sentenced today in connection with a $10 million Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion clinics. Alexis Dagnesses, 44; Gonzalo Nodarse, 38; Alexis Carrazana, 41; and Dr. Carlos Garrido, 69, all pleaded guilty in March 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has agreed to pay the United States $2 million to resolve federal civil fraud allegations that its hospital defrauded Medicaid. From 1993 to 2004, UMDNJ’s University Hospital submitted claims to Medicaid for outpatient physician services that were also being billed by doctors working in the hospital’s outpatient centers.

An indictment was filed today charging seven individuals -- three former shareholders of the Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm (J&G), the former Chief Executive Officer and a former tax partner from the BDO Seidman accounting firm (BDO), and two former bankers from a foreign bank with headquarters in New York (Bank A) -- with tax fraud conspiracy and related crimes arising out of tax shelters promoted by J&G, BDO, and the bank.

Five individuals pleaded guilty today in federal court in Detroit for their roles in a wide-ranging international stock fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mails, or "spamming."

Media executive John C. Malone will pay a $1.4 million civil penalty to settle charges that he violated premerger reporting and waiting requirements when he acquired Discovery Holding Co. voting securities. The Department’s Antitrust Division, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against Malone for violating the notification requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act of 1976. At the same time, the Department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, will settle the charges.

“As demonstrated by today’s charges and arrests, we will strike back against those whose fraudulent schemes not only undermine a program upon which 45 million aged and disabled Americans depend, but which also contribute directly to rising health care costs that all Americans must bear,” said Attorney General Holder.

A federal court has permanently enjoined Reinhold Sommerstedt, a Las Vegas-based promoter of a sham trust tax scam.

Eight Miami-Dade County, Fla., residents have been indicted in connection with an alleged $22 million Medicare fraud scheme operated out of Miami businesses purporting to specialize in home health care services. A temporary restraining order freezing assets of the indicted defendants and their companies was also filed.

Miami physician Roberto Rodriguez, 54, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion services.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a physician assistant late yesterday for his role in a $7.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.

A federal judge in Tampa, Fla., has permanently barred eight men – including five tax preparers and two Certified Public Accountants (CPA) – from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme involving bogus income tax credits.

A federal jury in New York has rejected the $24 million tax refund claim filed by Altria Group Inc. relating to its investment in lease-in, lease-out (LILO), and sale-in, lease-out (SILO) tax shelters. The verdict follows a three-week trial in the Southern District of New York before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell.

Endoscopic Technologies Inc. (Estech), a medical device manufacturer, has agreed to pay the United States $1.4 million to resolve civil claims in connection with the alleged promotion of its surgical ablation devices. Surgical ablation devices use focused energy to create controlled lesions or scar tissue on a patient’s heart or other organs.

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced more than $8.7 million in Recovery Act funds for three communities in California to use in fighting crime and drug trafficking as part of the Justice Department’s Southwest Border Strategy.

Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, a physician practicing internal medicine in Largo, Fla., has agreed to pay the United States $1.7 million to settle allegations that he defrauded the Medicare program. In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, United States ex rel. Michael Flanery v. Dr. Gabriel DeCandido, et al., the United States alleged that Dr. DeCandido violated the False Claims Act by billing the Medicare program for higher levels of service than he actually rendered to patients and by billing for services not provided.

Western Energy Company, the operator of the Rosebud Mine on federal coal leases outside of Billings, Mont., has paid the United States more than $12 million in mineral royalties and accrued interest as the result of a settlement agreement. Under the agreement that was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Western Energy has agreed to pay $12,239,538 in additional royalties and interest, 49 percent of which will be shared with the state of Montana because the production occurred on federal lands in that state.

The state of New York and New York City have agreed to pay $540 million to settle allegations that they knowingly submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for reimbursement for school-based health care services, primarily speech therapy and transportation, provided to Medicaid eligible children from 1990 to 2001. The settlement is a record federal recovery by the Justice Department for the Medicaid Program.

Robert Young, 56, a former captain in the U.S. Army, pleaded guilty today to participating in a scheme to steal fuel worth approximately $39.6 million from the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Consultores de Navegacion, a Spanish company that operates the M/T Nautilus, an ocean-going chemical tanker ship, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to pay a fine of more than $2 million and serve three years of probation for criminal violations related to the overboard discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste on the high seas.

Jeffrey P. Chernick, of Stanfordville, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to charges of filing a false tax return. Chernick, who owns a corporation which represents toy manufacturers in China and Hong Kong, appeared today before Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and accepted responsibility for concealing more than $8 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by H&P to government officials in Argentina and Venezuela in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Control Components Inc. (CCI), a Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based company, pleaded guilty today to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act in a decade-long scheme to secure contracts in approximately 36 countries by paying bribes to officials and employees of various foreign state-owned companies as well as foreign and domestic private companies.

Five companies have agreed to compensate the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania nearly $21.4 million in cash and valuable property to address natural resource damages resulting from decades of zinc smelting operations at the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund site in northeast Pennsylvania.

Miami physician Keith Russell, 65, and physician’s assistant Jorge Luis Pacheco, 50, were each sentenced to 97 months in prison, and physician’s assistant Eda Marietta Milanes, 43, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, for their roles in fraud schemes that involved billing Medicare for $10,903,509 worth of unnecessary HIV infusion treatments.

The Boeing Company will pay the United States $25 million to resolve allegations that the company performed defective work on the entire KC-10 Extender fleet. The KC-10 Extender is a mainstay of the Air Force’s aerial refueling fleet in the Iraq and Afghanistan war theaters.

Dynamics Research Corporation (DRC), a defense contractor based in Andover, Mass., has agreed to pay the United States $15 million plus interest to settle allegations that two of its former executives engaged in a fraudulent kickback scheme in connection with two technical services contracts with the Air Force.

A pipeline company and two of its former operating firms will jointly pay a civil penalty of $3.65 million to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act resulting from anhydrous ammonia spills in Nebraska and Kansas, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. The spills which occurred in 2004 resulted in significant fish kills in surrounding waterways.

Miami residents Jose and Arnaldo Rosario pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $15.3 million. Both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen.

Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the world’s largest supplier of premium beef and pork, has agreed to pay a $2,026,500 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated terms of a 2002 consent decree and a federally-issued pollution discharge permit at its meat processing facility in Dakota City, Neb.

Former UBS banker, Bradley Birkenfeld of Weymouth, Mass., has been sentenced to 40 months incarceration by Judge William J. Zloch in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. On June 19, 2008, Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States.

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.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson Imaging Devices Corporation (Epson) agreed to plead guilty and pay a $26 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Motorola Inc.

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.

James M. Davis, 60, the former chief financial officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), pleaded guilty today to fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors.

A federal court in Newark, N.J., denied Schering-Plough Corp. a $473 million refund in connection with two transactions in which Schering-Plough sought to avoid taxation on $690 million in profits it repatriated from offshore subsidiaries into the United States.

Donald Daniels, Martin William Washburn, Irina Rebegeneau and Tapani Koivunen have been charged in conjunction with a scheme to defraud the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government lending agency.

A Saddle River, N.J., man pleaded guilty today to failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank or Financial Accounts (F-BAR. Juergen Homann appeared today before Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark, N.J., and accepted responsibility for concealing more than $5 million in Swiss bank accounts.

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

Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, and Formosa Plastics Corp., Louisiana, will spend more than $10 million on pollution controls to address air, water, and hazardous waste violations at two petrochemical plants in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.

AGCO Corp., a U.S. corporation based in Duluth, Ga., has agreed to pay a $1.6 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to the former government of Iraq.

“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.

A federal judge today assessed the Southern Union Company $18 million for illegally storing mercury at a company-owned site in Pawtucket.

“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.

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.

“With the nation’s focus on health care, this settlement demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that federal health care dollars are spent appropriately,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

David Plummer, Spencer Plummer and Terry Green, operators of a fraudulent tax shelter that offered tax benefits in connection with the leasing of thoroughbred mares, pleaded guilty today to a criminal information charging them with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A Highland Falls, N.Y., woman pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to defraud and embezzle funds from the U.S. government by authorizing nearly $3 million in payments from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., to a bogus corporation she controlled.

A hospital group based in McAllen, Texas, has agreed to pay the United States $27.5 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute between 1999 and 2006, by paying illegal compensation to doctors in order to induce them to refer patients to hospitals within the group