Kick-Backs In Federal Cases In California
More and more, prosecutors across the nation, particularly in Los Angeles, are prosecuting cases where kickbacks are being given. For example, in healthcare fraud and other activities, the federal government is involved, and money is at play.
If someone is getting a kickback, the feds believe there's some illegal activity going on. You can't – especially if somebody works for the federal government – they can't be taking a kickback to give business to another party. That situation is rife with fraud, and I'm sure the federal government loses millions of dollars annually due to these kick-back activities.
Another activity that we see prosecuted more and more is healthcare-related fraud involving kickbacks—where doctors are given patients, and kickbacks are given to people who are providing those patients.
There are all sorts of different angles going on where kick-backs are involved. The truth is, any business across the country has some form of kick-back or another for the company to be given to somebody.
So, the bottom line is this: Is it illegal? Is the activity legal? Is the activity promoting some sort of illegal activity by way of a kickback?
First, you have to prove if you're the government that a kick-back is being given. After that, you must show that whoever you want to charge with a kickback activity is receiving a kickback. Finally, they have to prove that the kickback somehow affects interstate commerce in some illegal manner.
That's where the rub is. What is illegal? What is not fair? And usually, they're going to target people who are basically manufacturing some sort of business involving the government and then getting some money from it. That's where I'm seeing a lot of these kick-back cases coming from, especially in healthcare fraud situations.
Developing a Defense Strategy for the Best Possible Outcome
So, if you're charged with a federal case in Los Angeles, or anywhere in the United States for that matter, call us. We'll sit down and talk about it. We'll see if your involvement is illegal or if the federal government is overreaching – and I do know a lot of overreaching by the federal government in some of these kick-back cases.
Other times, they've got it right on the money. You have to take other maneuvers to do damage control, protect your reputation, protect your freedom, keep yourself out of federal prison, and that's where a great federal criminal defense attorney comes along who understands how these kick-back cases are dealt with and what can be done to defend them and what can be done to mitigate them.
