Financial Fraud’s Worst Nightmare Might Be Whistleblower Joseph Piacentile

The False Claims Act encourages individuals to blow the whistle on fraud and corruption. Indeed, those who do so are entitled to receive up to 30 percent of the amount recovered – plus attorney’s fees. In some ways, therefore, it’s a bit of a surprise that most whistleblowers only turn up in one case and then, win or lose, move on. Well, say hello to Dr. Joseph Piacentile. According to a fascinating article in the American Lawyer by Amy Kolz, Dr. Piacentile has initiated multiple FCA cases since the mid-1990s that have led the government to recover over $1 billion – and that have put about $17 million into his own pocket. 

Dr. Piacentile is so active, he has regular lawyers who represent him -   David Stone (pictured), who had been a partner at the powerhouse firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, and Robert Magnanini, of Stone & Magnanini. With the Obama administration’s heavy focus on rooting out health care fraud, and the emphasis on that in the new health care reform act, one can expect that Dr. Piacentile, and his attorneys, will be quite busy going forward. So will defendants.
 
You can find our prior posts on health care fraud by typing that phrase in the Search Box on this page. The American Lawyer article is available at http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202457711736&pLitigation_Spring_p__The_Professional&hbxlogin=1.