By David Carney, Cory Kirchert, and Adriaen Morse, Partners, SECIL Law PLLC | Washington, D.C.
The DOJ recently announced that in FY25 it collected more than $6.8 billion in FCA settlements and judgments, raising the government’s civil FCA recoveries since enactment to $85 billion. Of the $6.8 billion collected in FY25, $5.3 billion came through qui tam suits. Some companies mitigated their FCA exposure by making qualifying self-disclosures to the government. (See full DOJ press release and fact sheet.)
The continued aggressive pursuit of FCA claims, along with the reliance on whistleblowers, is a clarion call to government contractors and others receiving federal funds to ensure that they maintain effective compliance programs (especially through periodic reviews), take steps to mitigate actual misconduct, manage internal reports to address the risk of external reporting, and consider making self-disclosures upon identification of actual misconduct. Effective counsel is critical to successfully navigating these waters.
Health care fraud remains a DOJ focus, as it accounted for approximately 84% of the $6.8 billion in FY25 collections. The DOJ announced increased attention on managed care, prescription drug, and medically unnecessary care cases. It also highlighted settlements of $98 million and $60 million arising from unsupported, invalid, or false diagnosis coding, $425 million for alleged inflation of drug prices that Medicare paid, $176 million, $59.7 million, and $47 million for kickbacks to health care providers, and $45 million and $10.25 million for substandard or medically unnecessary care. In addition, the DOJ obtained a nearly $1 billion jury verdict concerning a defendant’s dispensing drugs without valid prescriptions.
The DOJ also highlighted its efforts to enforce the FCA in the context of procurement of goods and services, with a particular targeting of companies selling to the military. The DOJ called out three cases involving false cost and pricing data—its second-largest procurement fraud settlement of $428 million, a $62 million settlement, and a $29.7 million settlement. In addition, it settled nine cases, and recovered more than $52 million, arising from cybersecurity obligations in government contracts.
The DOJ is adding resources to “combat fraud that evades tariffs and customs duties … [and] deprives the government of vital revenues.” Specifically, it has been enforcing matters involving misclassification of products and falsification of country of original or transshipment, particularly cases involving the People’s Republic of China. The DOJ highlighted four settlements of $12.4 million, $8.1 million, $6.8 million, and $4.9 million.
The DOJ continues to benefit from relators in FCA qui tam cases. In FY25, relators filed 1,297 FCA actions. This represents an approximately 30% increase in qui tam filings from FY24. The DOJ recovered approximately 78% of its $6.8 billion in FY25 settlements and judgments through cases brought by relators in FY25 and earlier. According to some research, upwards of 80% of people who blow the whistle externally by contacting regulators or filing qui tam suits first reported their concerns internally. In light of current enforcement trends and opportunities, effective management of these internal reports to mitigate the consequences of external action is of critical importance.
The DOJ reiterated its commitment to rewarding companies that self-report under the various voluntary self-disclosure programs. During the second half of the Biden Administration, the DOJ expanded opportunities for and clarified benefits of voluntary self-disclosures. In the first year of the Trump Administration, the DOJ is leaning into these programs providing clearer and meaningful benefits to companies that self-report misconduct. Counsel can help companies develop the record to support, and consider the calculus of, a voluntary self-disclosure calculus.
About the Authors
David Carney, Cory Kirchert, and Adriaen Morse are Partners at SECIL Law PLLC, a Washington, D.C.–based boutique focused on white-collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, securities disputes, and complex civil litigation. Collectively, they bring deep experience to the firm and regularly advise companies and individuals facing False Claims Act exposure, whistleblower risk, and high-stakes regulatory scrutiny.
David, Cory, and Adriaen can be reached at DCarney@secillaw.com, ckirchert@secillaw.com, and amorse@secillaw.com respectively.
