A principal in the False Claims Act and Civil Litigation departments, Veronica Nannis is a seasoned litigator who fights fraud. She proudly represents whistleblowers, including the one who led the United States government to the largest Stark-based healthcare settlement in history – a record $345 million – against a major hospital system.
For more than 17 years, clients have turned to Veronica to protect them while exposing fraud. Veronica leads a team that files suit under the False Claims Act in federal courts all over the country, focusing on health care fraud and various illegal kickback schemes. She relentlessly pursues fraud cases and protects her clients above all else.
False Claims Act cases (aka qui tams) can be filed in a variety of states. Veronica has had qui tams in a dozen different states and works with a range of different US Attorney’s offices, numerous states Attorneys General and the Department of Justice to prosecute fraud all over the country.
Her whistleblower clients are individuals with whom she forges a strong relationship. These are employees or former employees with insider knowledge of fraud. In healthcare cases, these insiders are often sales representatives, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, home health aides, auditors, billing specialists or compliance officers. Despite reporting fraud internally, most employees cannot stop fraud on their own. Moreover, they are usually penalized for speaking up, fired, or otherwise retaliated against.
Veronica’s clients are put in compromising positions. Faced with the choice of knowingly participating in fraud (putting reputations and licenses at risk, or even facing criminal consequences), burying their heads in the sand, or reporting the fraud, a brave few choose to report. That is when they need an experienced FCA attorney who will prosecute fraud while protecting the whistleblower.
Fraud schemes run the gamut, but some of the typical healthcare schemes include:
- Paying kickbacks, referral fees or quid pro quo arrangements in violation of the Stark Law or Anti-Kickback Statute;
- Up-coding or wrongful coding to increase reimbursement;
- Falsifying records, symptoms, tests, services or diagnoses to secure or increase government payer reimbursement;
- Providing services to ineligible Medicare or Medicaid patients;
- Providing unnecessary and unreasonable medical services (medical necessity fraud);
- Upping RUG rates or HHRG scores to inflate Medicare payments;
- Billing for services that were not provided; and
- False and off-label marketing and promotion.
Another area of interest for Veronica is fraud cases related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether CAREs Act fraud, Covid testing fraud, or other fraud, these schemes occurred around the country and continue to wreak havoc. The government is investigating and prioritizing these cases. The first COVID-related civil fraud settlement was announced in January 2021. Dozens more are under way now. JGL is leading some of these important public health fraud cases.
Lastly, Veronica also fights fraud through class action cases.
On April 29, 2019, the federal court in Maryland named Veronica to the Consumer Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (“PSC”) in the multi-district class action: In re Marriott Int’l Customer Data Security Breach Litig., D. Md. MDL No. 19-md-2879. This is the largest data breach class action ever brought in the country, effecting more than 300 million Marriott and Starwood customers. The Court selected Veronica to serve as Consumer Plaintiffs’ Co-Liaison Counsel from hundreds of attorneys nationwide who sought leadership positions in this record-breaking litigation. The case is on-going.
