Major University Settles Education Fraud Case
January 13, 2026. The law firms of Vezina Law, PLC, Morgan Verkamp, LLC, Todd & Weld, LLP, and Jeff Newman Law are pleased to announce the successful settlement of the False Claims Act matter captioned United States ex rel. Michelle Mackillop v. Grand Canyon Education, Inc., et al. The False Claims Act allows private persons with knowledge of fraud perpetrated against the United States to file a lawsuit to redress that fraud to the benefit of the United States. The matter, brought by qui tam relator Michelle Mackillop, was pending in the United States District Court for the District ofArizona, and alleged that Grand Canyon University (GCU), one of the largest universities in the United States, and Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (GCE), a publicly traded third-party education service provider, violated material conditions of payment relating to federal student aid programs administered by the United States Department of Education. The relator alleged the defendants’ compensation plans violated the Incentive Compensation Ban (ICB) applicable to all Title IV financial aid programs administered by the Department. GCU and GCE paid $28 million dollars, without admitting liability, to settle the allegations that they compensated their enrollment personnel in a manner that took into account the number of students they enrolled to attend GCU.
The ICB prohibits the compensation of employees involved in the pre-enrollment recruitment of, or securing of federal financial aid for, university students based on the number of students the employee enrolls. The ICB is designed to prevent schools from recruiting and enrolling students who may use federal financial aid, such as Stafford Loans, Pell Grants, or military assistance, based on financial incentives offered to recruiters, rather than the educational needs of individual students. Colleges receiving these federal funds must act in the best interest of their students, ensuring that enrollment decisions are based on educational fit—not financial incentives. When students are recruited based on the financial benefit paid to recruiters, the risk that students who are unable or unwilling to complete a degree program increases, which ultimately increases the risk of loan default and other financial harm to both the student and the United States. In light of these important goals, the Department of Education has issued guidance regarding the ICB, reinforcing the principle that student welfare must come before institutional profit.
Ms. Mackillop, a former GCU recruiter, originally filed the lawsuit in 2018 in the United
States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where it was litigated through the summary judgment phase, at which point it was transferred to Arizona. The United States did not intervene inthe matter, and Ms. Mackillop, represented by the above-named firms, litigated the matter to a successful resolution, securing a settlement of all claims shortly before trial was to commence.
As the person who filed and successfully pursued the case, Ms. Mackillop was awarded a 29% share of the United States’ $28,000,000.00 recovery.
Her counsel can be reached as follows:
J. Marc Vezina, Vezina Law, PLC: jmv@vezinalaw.com. 1-504-813-6100.
Chandra Napora, Morgan Verkamp, LLC: chandra.napora@morganverkamp.com. 1-513-651-4400.
Christopher R. O’Hara. Todd & Weld, LLP: cohara@toddweld.com. 1-617-720-2626.
Jeffrey Newman. Jeff Newman Law: jeff@jeffnewmanlaw.com. 1-617-823-3217.
Jeff Newman Law Announces Settlement in Case for Overbilling Medicaid by Walgreen Company Which Will Pay Over $2.858 Million to Settle
Jeff Newman Law, representing whistleblowers, is pleased to announce that the United States has settled a False Claims Act case brought by two of its clients. Under the terms of the settlement, Walgreens Co. (Walgreens) will pay over $2.858 million to resolve allegations that it violated the federal, Massachusetts, and Georgia False Claims Acts by submitting inflated prices for certain generic medications to the Massachusetts and Georgia Medicaid programs.
The case was filed in April 2019, and based upon the information presented, the government alleged that between 2008 and 2023, Walgreen’s pharmacies submitted higher than usual and customary price to the MassHealth and Georgia Medicaid programs for certain generic medications.
Our firm worked on the case with co-counsel Paul Lawrence Esq. of Waters & Kraus of Dallas, TX. We express our appreciation to the significant efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Sharobem of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, MA, as well as members of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
For more information contact Attorney Jeff Newman at 617-823-3217.
Jeff Newman Law Announces $21.3 Million Settlement With the Grand Health Care System and 12 Affiliated Skilled Nursing Facilities for Allegedly Providing and Billing for Fraudulent Rehab Therapy Services
On July 10, 2024, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a $21.3 million settlement with Strauss Ventures LLC, doing business as The Grand HealthCare System, and 12 affiliated skilled nursing facilities. This settlement resolves a qui tam lawsuit filed by two whistleblowers, former employees of the defendant, who retained Jeff Newman Law on the case. The case was filed in 2019 pursuant to the False Claims Act, which allows private persons to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Under the settlement the whistleblowers will receive approximately $4,047,000 of the settlement proceeds. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Rosenberger and Retig v. Strauss Ventures, LLC, et al., No. 1:19-cv-1311 (N.D.N.Y.) For more information, see our press release.
United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ex rel. Martino-Fleming v. South Bay Mental Health Center, Inc.; Community Intervention Services, Inc.; H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC; H.I.G. Capital, LLC; Peter J. Scanlon; and Kevin P. Sheehan- $25 Million (twenty-five million dollars)
Medicaid Billing Fraud
Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented Christine Martino-Fleming, who worked for South Bay Mental Health Center (“South Bay’), on operator of mental health clinics throughout Massachusetts. In her whistleblower complaint, Ms. Martino-Fleming alleged that the ultimate owners of South Bay, private equity firm H.I.G. Growth Partners, LLC, and H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), as well as two H.I.G. executives, caused South Bay to submit fraudulent bills to MassHealth (the Massachusetts Medicaid program) and its contractors for services provided by therapists and other professionals who were not licensed or were not properly supervised. H.I.G. and the two executives, Peter Scanlon and Kevin Sheehan, agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the fraud allegations. South Bay previously settled its portion of the case for $4 million, so that the total amount collected from the case is $29 million. The whistleblower award for this settlement is $6.75 million. Jeffrey Newman co-counseled the case with attorneys from Waters & Kraus, LLP and Hamilton Wingo, LLP. For more information, see our press release.
United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. RehabCare Group, Inc.- $125 Million (one hundred and twenty-five million dollars)
Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud
Jeffrey Newman brought this case on behalf of Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey, two whistleblowers who worked for RehabCare, which was the nation’s largest provider of rehabilitation therapy services in nursing homes. Ms. Halpin and Ms. Fahey alleged that RehabCare directed its therapists to bill for therapy that was not reasonable and necessary and that RehabCare then caused its nursing home customers to submit false claims to Medicare for the therapy. After the government investigated our allegations, it intervened in the case and then reached a $125 million settlement, from which our clients received a relator’s share of over $23 million. For more information, see our press release.
United States ex rel. Bliss v. Biocompatibles, Inc., and Angiodynamics, Inc.- $48.5 million (forty-eight and a half million dollars)
Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Ryan Bliss in a False Claims Act qui tam case against U.K. medical device maker Biocompatibles and its United States distributor, Angiodynamics. Bliss, who was a Senior Product Manager for Biocompatibles, alleged that the two companies marketed a product called LC Bead (or Gelspheres) as a chemotherapy drug delivery device, even though they knew that the United States Food and Drug Administration had refused to approve the device for that use. The companies also allegedly instructed physicians to bill for the device under a separate approved use, even when the physicians used it for its unapproved use. Biocompatibles paid a total of $36 million to resolve criminal and civil charges against it, and Angiodynamics paid $12.5 million to resolve Mr. Bliss’s False Claims Act suit. For more information, see our press releases about the Biocompatibles resolution and the Angiodynamics settlement.
United States ex rel. Meehan v. MedStar Ambulance Inc.- $12.7 million (twelve million, seven hundred thousand dollars)
Fraudulent Medicare Billing For Ambulance Services
On behalf of whistleblower Dale Meehan, a former billing manager at Medstar Ambulance, Jeffrey Newman brought this False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit alleging that Medstar and its subsidiaries fraudulently billed Medicare by submitting claims for ambulance transports that were not medically necessary or were for higher levels of ambulance services than were required or provided. Medstar, four of its subsidiaries, and two of its owners paid a total of $12.7 million to resolve the allegations that Ms. Meehan brought forward. The relator’s share was over $3.5 million. For more information, see our press release.
United States ex rel. Robins v. Roman & Sunstone LLC, et al.- $1.26 million (one million, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars)
Customs Fraud
Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Alan Robins, the former controller of jewelry importer Roman & Sunstone (R&S), in this action alleging that R&S underpaid customs duties on sterling silver earrings it imported from China. R&S imported display cards of the earrings for resale at department stores. While the display cards often included multiple pairs of earrings, R&S allegedly concealed the number and value of the earrings by describing on import records the number of display cards imported, rather than the number of individual earrings. The case resulted in settlements totaling over $1.26 million with R&S, its affiliates, and its prior owner. The relator’s share was over $220,000. For more information, see the DOJ press releases here and here.
United States ex rel. Wright et al. v. Saber Healthcare Holdings, LLC- $10 million (ten million dollars)
Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud
On behalf of three whistleblowers who worked as rehabilitation therapists and managers at nursing home chain Saber Healthcare, Jeffrey Newman brought suit under the False Claims Act alleging that Saber knowingly caused certain of its skilled nursing facilities to submit false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services that were not reasonable, necessary, or skilled. Saber paid $10 million to resolve the allegations, and our three whistleblower clients received a relator share of $1.75 million. For more information, see our press release.
United States ex rel. Cartier v. CareWell Urgent Care Centers- $2.1 million (two million, one thousand dollars)
Urgent Care Fraud
On behalf of Aileen Cartier, who worked as a Nurse Practitioner for CareWell Urgent Care Centers, Jeffrey Newman filed a False Claims Act suit alleging that CareWell directed its clinicians to conduct more thorough examinations than necessary so that it could upcode claims to a “Level 4” billing code and obtain higher reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid. CareWell paid $2.1 million to resolve the allegations.
For more information, see our press release and the complaint we filed on behalf of Ms. Cartier.
United States ex rel. Boerger v. Applied Research Associates Inc.- $1.1 million (one million, 1 thousand dollars)
Military Contracting Fraud
Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented whistleblower Brent Boerger, a former engineer at defense contractor Applied Research Associates (ARA), in a False Claims Act qui tam case alleging that ARA billed the Army for work unrelated to the contract the Army had awarded it. ARA paid $1.1 million to resolve the case, and Mr. Boerger received a share of that amount. For more information, see our blog and the complaint we filed on behalf of Mr. Boerger.
United States ex rel. Saffarian and Theile v. Encore Rehabilitation Services, LLC- $4 million (four million dollars)
Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud
Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented two of the whistleblowers who participated in a Department of Justice False Claims Act settlement with Encore Rehabilitation Services (Encore), a contract provider of rehabilitation services at skilled nursing facilities in over 30 states. According to the allegations, which Encore paid $4,033,346 to resolve, Encore had policies and practices at three Michigan skilled nursing facilities that resulted in the provision of unreasonable, unnecessary, or unskilled rehabilitation therapy or the recording of therapy minutes as individual therapy when concurrent or group therapy was actually provided. For more information, see our press release.
United States ex rel. Schultz v. Liberty Home Pharmacy and Polymedica Corp.- $35 million (thirty-five million dollars)
Pharmacy Medicare Fraud
Polymedica paid $35 million to resolve allegations by our client, whistleblower Claire Schultz, that two of Polymedica’s pharmacy subsidiaries violated the False Claims Act by dispensing and billing Medicare for diabetic and nebulizer products without first obtaining a signed doctor’s order or prescription for the products. Attorney Jeffrey Newman represented the whistleblower.
For more information, see the DOJ press release about the settlement.
United States ex rel. Halpin and Fahey v. Wingate Healthcare, Inc.- $3.9 Million (three million, nine hundred thousand dollars)
Nursing Home Rehabilitation Therapy Medicare Fraud
In connection with their case against RehabCare (see above), Jeffrey Newman also represented Janet Halpin and Shawn Fahey in their suit against Wingate Healthcare, Inc. (Wingate), which operated 16 skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts and New York. Wingate paid $3.9 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy that was not reasonable and necessary. From the settlement, our clients received a relator’s share of $741,000, plus interest and counsel fees. For more information, see our press release.
