Middle District of Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office Collects More Than $47.8 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions in Fiscal Year 2025

Tampa ― U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced today that the Middle District of Florida (MDFL) collected $47,802,832.17 related to local criminal and civil matters in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025 (FY 2025). Of this amount, $35,353,280.69 was collected in criminal cases and $12,449,551.48 was collected in civil actions.    

The MDFL’s Civil Division, led by Civil Chief Randy Harwell, recovered a total of $163,931,176.51 on behalf of federal agencies and programs in affirmative civil enforcement cases during the last fiscal year. This amount has two components. In addition to civil recoveries in local cases noted above, the District’s Civil Division also joins forces with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section to address fraud schemes and illegal practices extending beyond district boundaries. The MDFL’s Civil Division recovered an additional $151,481,625.03 in FY 2025 in these jointly handled cases.

“The Middle District of Florida has a proud record of achievement in the recovery of losses suffered by crime victims and federal programs damaged by white collar fraud schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Kehoe. “The substantial criminal and civil penalties collected in the past fiscal year is tangible evidence of our commitment to this vitally important part of our district’s mission.”

U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Department’s litigation divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The MDFL’s Asset Recovery Division, led by Acting Chief Nicole Andrejko, recovered a total of $35,393,845.89. This amount has two components―criminal monetary penalties and forfeiture. First, in addition to the $35,353,280.69 in criminal monetary penalties collected in cases prosecuted by the District, the Asset Recovery Division worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $40,565.20 in criminal monetary penalties in cases pursued jointly by these offices. 

Additionally, the District’s Asset Recovery Division, working with partner agencies, forfeited $28,968,242 from criminal and civil asset forfeiture actions in FY 2025. For instance, in FY 2025, $22,441,475 forfeited in the MDFL was returned to victims of the criminal offenses, and more than $2,203,808 was shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

Significant Affirmative Civil Enforcement Cases

United States ex rel. Novak v. Walgreens Boots Alliance

Case no. 1:15-cv-5452 (N.D. Ill.)

Four independent qui tam whistleblowers filed lawsuits under the False Claims Act in various districts around the country, including one in the Middle District of Florida captioned United States ex rel. K&V Group v. Walgreens Boots Alliance, et al., case no. 8:19-cv-2736-MSS-CPT (M.D. Fla.). Each whistleblower alleged that Walgreens had engaged in a nationwide scheme to defraud federal and state healthcare programs by dispensing dangerous opioid medications pursuant to facially illegitimate prescriptions. Working jointly with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section and Federal Programs Branch, as well as with a number of other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country, the Middle District of Florida investigated these claims and corroborated the allegation that Walgreens had ignored “red flags” associated with opioid prescriptions on a nationwide basis, and falsely billed government programs for having dispensed those medications. The United States transferred the qui tam cases to the Northern District of Illinois where Walgreens is headquartered and filed a complaint in January 2025. In April 2025, the United States announced a settlement of these allegations in return for $350 million, in what is the largest civil Controlled Substances Act settlement in MDFL history.

Press release:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/walgreens-agrees-pay-350m-illegally-filling-unlawful-opioid-prescriptions-and-submitting   

United States ex rel. Kane v. Semler Scientific, Inc.

Case no. 3:16-cv-1516 (M.D. Fla.)

A whistleblower filed a complaint in the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida alleging that Semler Scientific, a manufacturer of a device used for non-invasive vascular testing services, conspired with a distributor of the device (C.R. Bard, Inc.), to defraud Medicare through a scheme that falsely billed federal healthcare programs for testing services used in assessing certain arterial diseases. Working jointly with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section, the MDFL Civil Division corroborated the allegation that these defendants caused false billings to the Medicare program for services that did not meet the program’s reimbursement requirements. On September 26, 2025, the United States announced settlements with Semler Scientific and Bard to resolve these claims for $29.75 million and $7.2 million, respectively.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/semler-scientific-inc-and-bard-peripheral-vascular-inc-pay-nearly-37m-resolve-false-claims

United States ex rel. Stuckmeyer et al. v. LiveCare Health

Case no. 8:22-cv-1880 (M.D. Fla.)

In August 2022, a whistleblower filed a lawsuit under the False Claims Act in the Middle District of Florida alleging that LiveCare had entered into an agreement with a marketing company that violated the federal anti-kickback statute. In July 2023, LiveCare made a voluntary disclosure of an agreement that paid a marketing company a flat rate for lead generation services. LiveCare cooperated with the government’s investigation and in December 2024, agreed to pay the United States $4.9 million to resolve the claims in full.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/livecare-inc-agrees-pay-49-million-resolve-false-claims-act-allegations

United States v. Mahir Taneja

Case No. 8:21-cv-2102 (M.D. Fla.)

The United States filed a civil suit in the Middle District of Florida in January 2021 alleging that a Tampa investor, Mahir Taneja, had conspired with Larry Smith and Smith’s pharmacy, Oldsmar Pharmacy, LLC, as well as with a marketing company, Centurion, Inc., to defraud the TriCare health program through a kickback scheme associated with compounded pain creams. Smith resolved the civil claims against him through an ability to pay agreement that paid the government $600,000. After four years of litigation, the United States announced a settlement that paid $2 million in resolution of its claims with Taneja.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/tampa-man-agrees-pay-us-government-2-million-his-role-medical-kickback-scheme

Brandon Eye Associates, LLC and Pinellas Eye Care, P.A.

Working jointly with the DOJ Civil Frauds Section, the Middle District of Florida’s Civil Division investigated allegations that two Tampa Bay area ophthalmology practices, Brandon Eye Associates and Pinellas Eye Care, had defrauded the Medicare and Medicaid programs by submitting false claims for reimbursement of ultrasound procedures that were medically unnecessary, premised upon false diagnoses, and arose from unlawful kickback arrangements. The allegations were corroborated, and ultimately the government’s claims under the False Claims Act were resolved in two separate agreements, with Brandon Eye and Pinellas Eye Care for $1.3 million and $615,000, respectively.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/florida-ophthalmology-practice-agrees-pay-615000-resolve-allegations-fraudulent-claims

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/florida-ophthalmology-practice-agrees-pay-13m-resolve-allegations-fraudulent-claims

New Horizons Computer Learning Center.

The Middle District of Florida’s Civil Division participated in a national investigation into allegations that franchises of a federally subsidized provider of computer technology training had defrauded the Veterans Administration’s subsidy program in various ways, notably by paying improper incentives to recruiters for the program and by defying program rules governing the numbers of veterans who could participate in the program on a subsidized basis at any given time. The government’s claims against the Jacksonville franchise of New Horizons were resolved pre-suit for $500,000.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/new-horizons-computer-learning-center-jacksonville-and-owner-resolve-gi-bill