Anti-Fraud Work: Representative Getnick Law Matters

• Getnick Law and co-counsel filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of approximately 40 health insurers against GlaxoSmithKline, LLC for selling drugs that were manufactured under conditions that egregiously violated federal manufacturing standards. The insurers, which represented 60% of the U.S. market for non-governmental health insurance, alleged that GSK’s violations made it illegal to sell the drugs in the United States, but that GSK hid the violations from the insurers and general public. The insurers claimed that GSK defrauded them when they paid $2.7 billion for the drugs. We defeated GSK’s motions for dismissal and summary judgment, and successfully settled the case on the eve of trial.
• Getnick Law, together with co-counsel, and on behalf of a consortium of insurance companies, filed a civil RICO action that exposed the activities of a group of attorneys estimated to have cost the insurance industry up to $200 million dollars in fraudulent billings. Getnick Law’s work led to a parallel criminal RICO prosecution by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California that resulted in convictions, restitution orders, and civil settlements. The case was reported on in Forbes.
• Getnick Law represented a consortium of health insurance companies in a case arising from alleged overbilling for clinical tests provided to health plan subscribers. Working with co-counsel, we achieved a multi-million dollar settlement with Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp), after Labcorp allegedly included in routine laboratory screens millions of unnecessary tests that had not been ordered by doctors.

A Fortune 250 computer company retained Getnick Law to investigate trafficking in stolen mainframe computers and computer parts. After Getnick Law successfully identified the traffickers, which led to a civil settlement and criminal indictment, The New York Times described the case as “a real life ‘Mission: Impossible’ in the heart of Silicon Valley.”

Getnick Law brought to this case a unique model of teamwork between business and government, with attorneys, investigators, forensic accountants, and the client company working together with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ultimately, an elaborate scheme was unraveled through which millions of dollars worth of stolen equipment was sold to witting and unwitting buyers throughout the United States and overseas.

Civil RICO litigation initiated by Getnick Law resulted in a swift settlement against the defendants including financial recovery, cooperation in ongoing civil and criminal proceedings, dissolution of the offending company, and a lifetime bar from employment in the computer and its related industries. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, prosecuted a criminal RICO indictment against the principal defendants, three of whom pleaded guilty.

• The private developer of a $26 million hotel construction project retained Getnick Law following the murder of the project’s construction manager in its pre-construction phase. We uncovered and documented bid-rigging and commercial bribery activity leading to the compliance monitoring of subcontracted work in progress, laying the groundwork for a prosecution by the New York County District Attorney’s Office for falsifying business records and tampering with evidence.
• The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) Office of Inspector General retained Getnick Law to conduct litigation against contractors engaged in fraudulent activity against the SCA. This included a parallel civil RICO lawsuit against an asbestos abatement company alleged to have defrauded the SCA, resulting in a multi-million dollar consent judgment.
• Getnick Law’s representation of private clients in the construction industry includes business integrity and compliance counseling and has been complemented by construction monitoring engagements conducted on behalf of New York City.

Getnick Law was retained by the president of a California-based corporation to investigate the embezzlement of funds by the corporation’s Controller. An investigation, and ultimate litigation, were conducted in coordination with the FBI and the local U.S. Attorney’s Office. Our efforts led to the criminal conviction of the Controller and a $40 million civil RICO judgment in favor of the corporation.

Getnick Law, together with co-counsel, conducted two complex civil RICO litigations stemming from banking and investment fraud and related money laundering.

The first case, growing out of a Ponzi scheme, was the first civil RICO class action filed in the United States and resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement for the investor victim class. Parallel criminal cases were prosecuted in the Southern District of New York and New York State Supreme Court, resulting in the main perpetrator’s conviction and imprisonment.

The second case resulted from a complex banking and investment fraud and money laundering scheme perpetrated by a former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and others. The former official and his key co-conspirators were convicted in the Southern District of New York. Judgments exceeding $2 million dollars were obtained against key defendants in the civil case.