Civil Division Affirmative Enforcement
Affirmative Civil Enforcement ("ACE") is a priority of the Department of Justice. In a memorandum issued in February 1995, the United States Attorney General listed ACE as a "best practice," strongly recommending that United States Attorney's offices dedicate resources to ACE.
Affirmative Civil Enforcement is the United States Department of Justice's program by which civil lawsuits are filed by the United States:
- to recover money lost due to fraud and other misconduct against the United States government;
- to impose civil penalties for violations of the nation's health, safety and economic welfare laws; and,
- to use the federal Fraud Injunction Statute to stop on-going mail, wire or bank frauds and freeze ill-gotten gains derived from those frauds.
Examples of ACE Enforcement Activities
- Prosecution of contractors who commit fraud against the Department of Defense by providing substandard or counterfeit parts, or who overcharge for the products or services they provide;
- Prosecution of companies and individuals to recover the government's costs incurred in cleaning up contaminated land, rivers, lakes and streams;
- Prosecution of health care providers and professionals who unlawfully benefit from the Medicare, Medicaid and CHAMPUS programs through fraudulent activities such as billing for services not rendered, overbilling, inflating cost reports, and providing substandard quality of care to patients;
- Recovery of grants and loans made by federal agencies such as the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to individuals who have made misrepresentations in order to qualify for these federal benefits to which they would not otherwise be entitled;
- Prosecution of individuals and organizations that violate antidiscrimination laws through the unlawful denial of equal housing, education and employment opportunities as a result of discrimination on account of race, religion, gender or national origin.
ACE programs throughout the nation have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars. Some examples include: $325 million from a pharmaceutical manufacturer for defrauding Medicare by excessive billing for laboratory tests; $35 million from a major university for fraudulent billing practices in connection with its use of surgical residents; $30.5 million recovered from a company for defrauding Medicare through false statements to Medicare about heart catheters; $82 million from a defense contractor for overcharging for computer services to support government contracts; $75 million from a defense contractor for mischarging; and, almost $10 million from two districts in three cases of fraud against the GSA, where the companies failed to disclose complete information on their cost and pricing structures.
ACE in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
This district aggressively pursues civil claims on behalf of the United States government and has a well developed ACE program. In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, there are more than twenty Assistant U.S. Attorneys ("AUSAs") whose responsibilities include the prosecution of civil cases on behalf of the United States government. This office's ACE program includes an ACE program coordinator responsible for civil fraud prosecutions, an ACE program coordinator who is responsible for prosecution of civil rights cases, four AUSAs with responsibility for health care fraud enforcement, a full-time certified public accountant/auditor, a trained fraud investigator, and a paralegal specialist -- all of whom have extensive experience in the prosecution of civil claims on behalf of the United States government.
This office is interested in pursuing the ACE aspect of any case in which there has been a false or fraudulent claim or fraudulent statement made to the United States. We work with every federal law enforcement agency in the pursuit of these cases, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Inspector General of federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and others.
We pursue these cases primarily under the Civil False Claims Act, which provides the United States with a cause of action against any person who (1) presents or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for money or property against the United States; (2) makes or causes to be made a false statement to get a false claim paid or approved; (3) or conspires to defraud the government by getting a false claim paid. Liability under the Act is triple the amount of damages suffered by the United States, plus a civil penalty of $5,000 to $10,000 for each violation. The government may also recover the costs of the civil action.
To report fraud and abuse against the Federal government, please contact us:
Affirmative Civil Enforcement Coordinator
United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
615 Chestnut Street, Suite 1250
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106-4476
(215) 861-8200
Benjamin Franklin Photo by B. Krist for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation