Renée Brooker was a long-time Civil Frauds Assistant Director at the United States Department of Justice, the Office that supervises all False Claims Act cases in all 94 United Stated District Courts. In this leadership role, she was responsible for billions of dollars in recoveries and held companies accountable.
She now represents whistleblowers in all 94 United States District Courts. Ms. Brooker’s inside knowledge about what the Justice Department is looking for in a whistleblower case, how to present a whistleblower case to the Justice Department, and how the process at the Justice Department works, is incredibly helpful to her clients.
As as experienced qui tam lawyer, Ms. Brooker has enforced anti-fraud laws and represented whistleblowers in virtually every major industry: health care, pharmaceutical, insurance, defense contracting, government procurement, small business, financial services, labor, tobacco, automotive and higher education. Her expertise includes these anti-fraud laws:
The United States Department of Justice Bank Fraud Whistleblower Reward Program called the Financial Institutions Anti-Fraud Enforcement Act (FIAFEA) for violations of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA)—an enforcement tool used to deter fraud by financial institutions, including bank fraud and mail and wire fraud
The United States Treasury Department Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Law for Bank Secrecy Act violations or for making illegally-gained proceeds (“dirty money“) appear legal (“clean“)
Ms. Brooker is also a former member of the Justice Department-appointed Independent Corporate Compliance Monitor and Auditor for Volkswagen under its several-year Plea Agreement and Consent Decree with the United States Department of Justice.
The United States Department of Justice resolved a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit against Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., a major operator of inpatient behavioral health facilities. The settlement resulted in Acadia paying nearly $20 million to the federal government and the states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada. This legal action stemmed from allegations that Acadia submitted false claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and Medicaid by admitting ineligible patients, extending services unnecessarily, or failing to provide adequate treatment while still billing these programs. Additionally, the facilities allegedly did not offer sufficient care for those requiring intensive or personalized care plans and failed to implement proper staffing protocols to prevent harm. Eva Gunasekera and Renée Brooker represented one of the whistleblowers who was once an employee of Acadia. The Government paid the whistleblowers 19% of its nearly $20 million recovery.
The Ninth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a relator, giving new life to their False Claims Act lawsuit and overturning the prior decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington to dismiss the case. The relator, UPPI LLC, an association of highly specialized small business nuclear pharmacies, has accused healthcare company Cardinal Health and several “small business front companies” of engaging in a deceptive “rent-a-vet” scheme. This scheme involves exploiting government preferences for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) in contracting.
The District Court initially dismissed the case for failure to plead falsity and materiality. However, the Ninth Circuit found that the relator’s First Amended Complaint (FAC) presented viable theories of liability, including “promissory fraud” where defendants make false promises to perform as SDVOSB subcontractors without any intention of fulfilling the contract.
Represented two directors of nursing whistleblowers in a False Claims Act qui tam case against a national home healthcare provider. The case settled allegations that the home healthcare provider received Medicare dollars for patients for home health care services that were not provided or not medically necessary; and for paying kickbacks to doctors for patient referrals. The home healthcare company sold its assets to a third party and paid $2.1 million to the government. Our clients received a 17% whistleblower reward.
Represented two pharmacist whistleblowers in a False Claims Act qui tam case against an online pharmacy that settled allegations that it prematurely dispensed insulin pen refills to patients, causing Medicare and Medicaid programs to pay more than they should have paid for unprescribed and unusable insulin. The online pharmacy paid $5.7 million and our clients received a 21% whistleblower reward. Further, the online pharmacy admitted to these allegations in the settlement.
The United States Department of Justice announced a False Claims Act settlement with a health care provider in Georgia. Under the terms of the settlement, the health care provider paid $130,000 to the United States and the state of Georgia. As a result of this settlement, an individual physician affiliated with this health care provider will be excluded for ten years from participation in all federal healthcare programs. Tycko & Zavareei LLP in partnership with Finch McCranie, LLP represented the whistleblower, who received $26,000 for reporting the conduct to the government.
Allegations: Defendant North Georgia HealthCare Center Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Center and taxpayer-supported health care provider, prescribed addictive opioids to patients who did not need them.
False Claims Act qui tam case against a Federally Qualified Health Center and taxpayer-supported health care provider that settled allegations that it prescribed addictive opioids to patients who did not need them. The health care provider paid $130,000 and our client received a 20% whistleblower reward. Further, the individual physician who prescribed the opioids was excluded for 10 years from participation in all federal healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
$1.2 Billion False Claims Act settlement paid by an American multinational financial services company for improper mortgage lending practices. The bank admitted that it certified that loans were eligible for FHA mortgage insurance when they were not and that it did not disclose thousands of faulty mortgage loans to HUD.
$421.2 Million False Claims Act settlement paid by drug manufacturers that allegedly engaged in a scheme to report false and inflated prices for numerous pharmaceutical products knowing that the Medicare and Medicaid programs relied on those reported prices to set payment rates. The actual sales prices for the products were far less than what the pharma companies reported. The whistleblowers (relators) were not insiders of the drug companies but still received over $88 million for bringing these allegations to the attention of the Justice Department.
$261 Million False Claims Act settlement against a mental health care company for a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting false claims for mental health services that were medically unnecessary or not provided at all. The company also paid kickbacks to patient brokers and owners and operators of halfway houses and assisted living facilities in exchange for delivering patients to the mental health care company’s facilities. The whistleblowers (relators) were also awarded $52.2 Million for bringing these allegations to the attention of the Justice Department.
$95.5 Million False Claims Act settlement paid by for-profit college for illegally recruiting students, paying admissions officers based purely on the number of students they enrolled, deceptive and misleading recruiting practices, consumer fraud and falsely certifying that it was complying with the federal student financial aid program requirements. The whistleblowers (relators) were paid over $11 million for bringing these allegations to the attention of the Justice Department.
$75 Million False Claims Act settlement paid by for-profit hospice company for allegedly knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare for services to hospice patients who were not terminally ill and who were required to forgo curative care to receive the hospice benefit. The allegations also included that the defendants rewarded employees with bonuses for the number of patients they could switch to the hospice benefit.
Over $50 Million False Claims Act settlement against a national home builder for allegations that it required purchasers to fraudulently pay “interest discount points” at closing, provided cash “gifts” to home purchasers through certain charities, obscured which of its branches made defaulting mortgage loans to avoid showing its excessive default rates, and ignored “stated income” requirements.
Over $34 Million False Claims Act settlement against mental health center for fraudulent Medicare claims for services that were never provided and for medically unnecessary services. The whistleblowers (relators) were paid over $5.1 Million for bringing these allegations to the attention of the Justice Department.
$26.3 Million False Claims Act settlement against a private lender for violating underwriting rules of the Small Business Administration (SBA). The whistleblowers were competitors of the lender and will receive over $4.3 Million for bringing these allegations to the attention of the Justice Department.
Over $26 Million False Claims Act settlements for allegations that certain States submitted false information to the United States Department of Education regarding the state agencies’ eligibility to receive federal funds under the Migrant Education Program, which was intended to provide educational services to address the special needs of migrant children.
$10 Million False Claims Act settlement paid by a provider of tutoring services for obtaining money from the United States Department of Education for services it did not provide.
$1.5 Million False Claims Act settlement paid by an individual physician for paying kickbacks for referrals of patients.