Page 2 - White Collar

S2 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 | White-Collar Crime
| NYLJ.COM

The Strike Force Approach

BY BRIDGET M. ROHDE

Combatting Health Care Fraud
T
he U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ),
To Health and Human Services Ofice of
Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and other
federal and state agencies are aggressively
prosecuting health care fraud and related

offenses through a strike force approach
that has its roots in DOJ’s historic efforts to
combat traditional organized crime (or “La
Cosa Nostra”). As DOJ has advised in recent
press releases, this approach has been highly
impactful in the health care space:
Since its inception in March 2007, the
Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now oper-
ating in nine cities across the country,
has charged more than 1,700 defendants
who collectively have billed the Medi-
care program for more than $5.5 billion.

In addition, HHS’s Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, working in con-
junction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps
to increase accountability and decrease
the presence of fraudulent providers.1

Below, we look at the historic organized
crime strike force program, the evolution of
the Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF) and
MFSF’s current approach and seemingly ever-
increasing productivity.

Historic Organized Crime Strike Forces
In the 1960s, to address the long-ignored
presence of organized crime and its numerous

rackets, DOJ developed an organized crime
strike force program in which teams of pros-
ecutors in cities across the country focused
on the families of La Cosa Nostra operating
in their local geographic jurisdictions. These
prosecutors worked in partnership with inves-
tigators from a variety of federal agencies,
and, sometimes local law enforcement as well.
Investigations were long-term efforts, as the
teams of prosecutors and agents gathered
intelligence through conidential sources,
electronic surveillance and other investiga-
tive techniques,and methodically built broad,
deep and impactful cases.

BRIDGET M. ROHDE, a member of Mintz Levin in IA
New York, is a former chief of the Criminal Division TOL
of the U.S. Attorney’s Oice for the Eastern District FO
of New York.

Inside
White-Collar Crime

SS
S4
The Rise of the Civil
S6 Conspiracy and the ‘Indeinite S8 The Role of Kovel Accountants
Money Laundering Prosecution Payments’ Doctrine
In White-Collar Criminal Cases
BY JEFFREY ALBERTS
BY SEAN HECKER,
BY DAVID GANNAWAY
Kris Fischer, Editor-In-Chief
ANDREW M. LEVINE
Angela Turturro, Sections Editor

AND STEVEN S. MICHAELS
Miguel Romero, Designer
SS

© 2014 ALM MEDIA PROPERTIES, LLC.
THE NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL ®
IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK
COVER ILLUSTRATION: iSTOCK/NYLJ
OF ALM MEDIA PROPERTIES, LLC.