Lebau & Neuworth Champions $13 Million Recovery under False Claims Act

Recently, Lebau & Neuworth attorney Stephen Lebau and a dedicated client helped achieve a $13 million settlement on behalf of several whistleblowers in a case involving fraud committed by a for-profit school.

With the first filed case, Roman v. All State Career, Inc. and Education Affiliates, Inc., Civil Case No. JKB-10-1730 (D.Md.), Lebau and his client brought widespread allegations to the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice. A five-year federal investigation resulted, culminating in the settlement announced by the Department of Justice. In part, the DOJ noted:

“Education Affiliates (EA), a for-profit education company based in White Marsh, Maryland, has agreed to pay $13 million to the United States to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to the Department of Education for federal student aid for students enrolled in its programs. EA operates 50 campuses in the United States under various trade names, including All State Career, Fortis Institute, Fortis College, Tri-State Business Institute Inc., Technical Career Institute Inc., Capps College Inc., Driveco CDL Learning Center, Denver School of Nursing and Saint Paul’s School of Nursing, which provide post-secondary education training programs in several professions in the states of Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Ohio and Texas.  …

“The government alleged that employees at EA’s All State Career campus in Baltimore altered admissions test results so as to admit unqualified students, created false or fraudulent high school diplomas and falsified students’ federal aid applications, and that multiple EA schools referred prospective students to “diploma mills” to obtain invalid online high school diplomas.”

Read the entire DOJ press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/profit-education-company-pay-13-million-resolve-several-cases-alleging-submission-false.

Lebau and his client submitted detailed and compelling information to federal investigators to achieve the successful outcome.

The False Claims Act and whistleblower litigation is a powerful weapon to fight fraud and waste involving taxpayer money. Call Lebau & Neuworth at 410-296-3030 if you suspect any such fraud, and let us be your champion to stop fraud and waste.