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Author: RJ Zayed

RJ has tried over 50 cases to jury verdict in federal court as lead trial counsel in both civil and criminal cases, including patent infringement, trade secrets, contract, and civil and criminal fraud cases.

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COVID-19 / PPP Loans / Settlements

14 Jan, 2021

Borrowers and Banks Beware: The New Year Brings the Nation’s First False Claims Act Settlement for Paycheck Protection Program Fraud

On January 12, 2021, the Eastern District of California entered into a civil settlement with a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) borrower and its CEO to resolve allegations of fraud.  The settlement stemmed from a $350,000 PPP loan that SlideBelts Inc., an internet retail company, received even though it was a prohibited borrower as a debtor in bankruptcy.  This is the first civil settlement for PPP-related...

False Statement / Implied Certification / Relators

31 Jan, 2018

Two Recent Justice Department Memoranda May Have Significant Consequences for Pending and Future False Claims Act Enforcement

In recent weeks, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued two memoranda that might change the calculus of False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases.  The memoranda at a minimum provide organizations with new—or at least invigorated—defenses to qui tam actions and civil enforcement matters. First, on January 10, Michael Granston, Director of DOJ’s Civil Frauds section, issued a memorandum encouraging DOJ trial attorneys to consider dismissing...

Healthcare / Kickbacks

1 Sep, 2017

Consultant Guilty of Illegal Kickbacks By “Referring” Doctors’ Patients to Another Medical Provider in Exchange for Remuneration

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(1)(A) it is a felony for a physician to solicit or receive a kickback “in return for referring” a Medicaid or Medicare patient to another medical provider. But as a recent decision by the Eighth Circuit in United States v. Iqbal demonstrates, physicians are not the only ones capable of making illegal referrals under the statute—consultants can, too. Defendant Iqbal was a...

Implied Certification

16 Jun, 2016

Supreme Court Upholds Implied Certification Theory of Liability; Imposes Limitations on its Reach

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court today charted a middle course between competing interpretations of the scope of False Claims Act.  Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, Case No. 15-7 (June 16, 2016).  The Court upheld the viability of the so-called “implied-certification” theory under the FCA, but simultaneously clarified the contours of the theory and imposed significant limitations on its...