Civil Division

U.S. Reaches Settlement for Over $100M in Civil Lawsuit Against Owner and Operator of the Vessel That Destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge The Justice Department announced today that Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the Motor Vessel DALI, have agreed to pay $101,980,000 to resolve a civil claim brought by the United States for costs borne in responding to the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The settlement resolves the United States’ claims for civil damages for $103,078,056 under the Rivers and Harbors Act, Oil Pollution Act, and general maritime law. The settlement monies will go to the U.S. Treasury and to the budgets of several federal agencies directly affected by the allision or involved in the response. “Nearly seven months after one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory, which claimed six lives and caused untold damage, we have reached an important milestone with today’s settlement,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “Thanks to the hard work of the Justice Department attorneys since day one of this disaster, we were able to secure this early settlement of our claim, just over one month into litigation. This resolution ensures that the costs of the federal government’s cleanup efforts in the Fort McHenry Channel are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy and not the American taxpayer.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gZG_sqUN

Precision Toxicology Agrees to Pay $27M to Resolve Allegations of Unnecessary Drug Testing and Illegal Remuneration to Physicians Precision Toxicology, doing business as Precision Diagnostics, has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act and similar state statutes for billing Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for medically unnecessary urine drug tests, and for providing free items to physicians who agreed to refer expensive laboratory testing business to Precision. Precision, headquartered in San Diego, is one of the nation’s largest urine drug testing laboratories. “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that laboratory tests are ordered based on each patient’s medical needs and not just to increase laboratory profits,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will not tolerate practices that unnecessarily increase the costs of federal health care programs and result in the misuse of taxpayer funds.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/dgkwP3is

Oak Street Health Agrees to Pay $60M to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Liability for Paying Kickbacks to Insurance Agents in Medicare Advantage Patient Recruitment Scheme https://lnkd.in/gZKQ5XbS

Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Owner and Operator of the Vessel that Destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge Claim Seeks Over $100M in Costs Incurred to Reopen Access to the Port of Baltimore and Punitive Damages for the Owner and Operator’s Reckless Conduct Read more: https://lnkd.in/gNnTfBpq

The Justice Department celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month! #HispanicHeritageMonth #MesDeLaHerenciaHispana https://lnkd.in/eKxYm9EX

#ThisWeekatJustice, the Department: ▶️ Attorney General Merrick B. Garland delivered an address to the Justice Department workforce ▶️ Charged leaders of a transnational terrorist group with soliciting #HateCrimes & conspiring to provide materials to terrorists ▶️ Commemorated the 23rd Anniversary of September 11 ▶️ Issued new guidance regarding #VoterRegistration ▶️ Held a #ViolentCrime Reduction Sterring Committee meeting – announcing continued decline in violent crime ▶️ Convened an interagency meeting with Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian & Hindu community stakeholders Keep up with the latest news from the Justice Department at justice.gov/news For closed captions: https://lnkd.in/gwsz_4tQ

#ThisWeekatJustice, the Department: ▶️ Announced terrorism charges against the senior leaders of Hamas ▶️ Convened the Election Threats Task Force to announce major #LawEnforcement actions to secure our elections ▶️ Announced Civil Rights investigation into correctional staff sexual abuse at two California prisons ▶️ Arrested a dual U.S. and Iranian Citizen for unlawfully exporting U.S. technology to Iran ▶️ Seized aircraft used by Nicolás Maduro Moros in violation of U.S. Export Control and Sanctions Laws Keep up with the latest news from the Justice Department at justice.gov/news

Pharmaceutical Company Pays $25M to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Liability for Price-Fixing of Generic Drug A generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc. USA (Glenmark), located in Mahwah, New Jersey, has agreed to pay $25 million, based on its ability to pay, to resolve its alleged liability under the False Claims Act for conspiring to fix the price of a generic drug. The government alleged that, between 2013 and 2015, Glenmark paid and received compensation prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers for a generic drug manufactured by Glenmark, pravastatin, which is widely used to treat high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. “Illegal collaboration on the price or supply of drugs increases costs both to federal health care programs and beneficiaries,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will use every tool at its disposal to prevent such conduct and to protect these taxpayer-funded programs from abuse.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gsh3ifcE

Jamaican National Extradited for Scheme to Defraud American Citizen A Jamaican national was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance today in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, following his role in a long-running scheme to defraud a California woman. Dwayne Anderson, 35, of Hannover, Jamaica, will face federal wire fraud charges. He was arrested, pursuant to the U.S. request for extradition, on July 11, by Jamaican authorities. He has remained in custody in Jamaica since that time. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gm3Wrftu

#ThisWeekatJustice, the Department: ▶️ Sued RealPage for Algorithmic Pricing Scheme that Harms Millions of American Renters ▶️ Announced a major #HumanSmuggling update from Joint Task Force Alpha with ties to a 2022 mass casualty event in Texas ▶️ Launched a #CivilRights investigation into conditions at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center ▶️ Announced that Former Congressman George Santos has pleaded guilty to #Fraud and identity theft ▶️ Ten additional states joined Justice Department’s suit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster for monopolizing markets across the live concert industry ▶️ Deputy AG Monaco and DHS Secretary Canegallo joined #WomenInLawEnforcement at the Washington Nationals game Keep up with the latest news from the Justice Department at justice.gov/news For closed captions: https://lnkd.in/gcAKrZQh