DOJ (Re-)Expands Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to Philadelphia and Charges 19 Defendants in Medicaid Home Care Schemes
On August 4, 2026, DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”) announced a significant expansion of its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force into Philadelphia. The expansion will reunite the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; in 2018, the same teams launched what was then known as the Philadelphia-Newark Regional Strike Force, before reducing its operations to Newark-only in more recent years. Nationally, since its inception in 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force program has been responsible for prosecuting more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion.
DOJ Loosens the Whistleblower Program’s Bar on “Other Program” Claimants in Latest Revision
On July 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revised its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, expanding the pool of individuals who may qualify for an award. Most notably, DOJ eliminated the prior rule that automatically disqualified whistleblowers who could have been eligible for an award under another U.S. government whistleblower program, such as those administered by the SEC or CFTC. Instead, a whistleblower is now disqualified only if he or she actually receives an award from another program for reporting the same or substantially the same misconduct, while DOJ retains discretion to reduce or deny duplicative awards.
The revised guidance also includes several administrative updates, including confirmation that the program is now administered by the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section (formerly the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section) and that submissions will be made through a dedicated online intake portal. The covered subject-matter areas remain unchanged from the May 2025 expansion and continue to include, among other areas, financial institution crimes, bribery, healthcare fraud, trade and customs fraud, procurement fraud, immigration offenses, and sanctions-related misconduct.
For companies, the revisions further strengthen incentives for whistleblowers to report directly to DOJ, including in matters that may also be eligible for other agency whistleblower programs. At the same time, DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy continues to provide a pathway to a declination for companies that promptly self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate misconduct, reinforcing the importance of effective internal reporting mechanisms and careful consideration of self-disclosure decisions in the face of potential whistleblower reports. Click here to read the full post.
DOJ Grants First Healthcare Declination Under New Corporate Enforcement Policy While Indicting Founder
On July 29, 2026, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that, consistent with Part I of DOJ’s Department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (“CEP”), it declined to prosecute Campus Eye Management Holdings LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Campus Eye Management LLC (collectively, “Campus Eye”), a management services organization that provided billing and other services to an optometry practice and ambulatory surgery center. DOJ had been investigating Campus Eye for alleged healthcare fraud, including illegal kickbacks. This is the first declination involving a healthcare company under the new, Department-wide CEP. And it is only the second healthcare fraud declination under any voluntary self-disclosure policy in DOJ history—the first being the HealthSun Health Plans, Inc. matter handled by the same team (i.e., the Health Care Fraud Unit) when they were part of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, prior to creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“NFED”) earlier this year. Click here to read the full blog post.
DOJ Expands Trade Fraud Enforcement After $1 Billion Milestone
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security announced on July 14, 2026, that the Trade Fraud Task Force had surpassed $1 billion in criminal and civil recoveries, penalties, forfeitures, and publicly charged losses less than one year after its launch. The announcement confirms a fundamental shift in the federal government’s approach to customs and trade enforcement, reflecting increased emphasis on rigorous criminal prosecution and civil enforcement under the False Claims Act.
Sidley Secures Presidential Pardons for Two Clients
Sidley successfully assisted clients Joshua Davis and Aaron Rudolf in obtaining presidential pardons, providing extraordinary relief in connection with prior convictions under the Clean Air Act.
The firm represented Mr. Davis in securing his pardon following a single Clean Air Act violation. Sidley also represented Mr. Rudolf as co-counsel in obtaining his pardon for the same offense.
The pardons follow broader advocacy by Sidley on the scope and fairness of criminal enforcement under the Clean Air Act. In September 2025, Justin Savage testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the rise in these criminal prosecutions, the need for clear statutory authority and fair enforcement, and Mr. Davis’ and Mr. Rudolf’s cases.
