The federal government announced that it has reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Maximus Inc. that requires the company to pay $30.5 million. Maximus has also agreed to enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the Dept. of Health and Human Services.
The payment and agreements resolve an investigation of Maximus’ activities under a contract with the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Maximus helped CFSA submit claims to Medicaid for services provided by the District to children in its foster care program. A whistleblower suit, filed under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act, alleged that the company’s employees caused CFSA to submit claims to the Medicaid program for services for each child who had been placed in the care of CFSA whether or not services had in fact been provided to those children.
The U.S. government had previously recovered $12.15 million from CFSA, bringing the total collected to $42.65 million.
The whistleblower, a former division manager at Maximus, will receive $4.93 million as his share of the settlement.
The Justice Department’s press release on the settlement is dated July 23, 2007.