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Defendant’s Reasonable Interpretation of Ambiguous Regulation Negates FCA Liability

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.01.15

The D.C. Circuit overturned a jury verdict against MWI Corp., represented by C&M, in a long-running civil FCA suit in which the government asserted claims for approximately $225 million in trebled damages (plus additional civil penalties), alleging that false claims and statements were submitted to the Export-Import Bank in connection with eight loans to Nigeria for the purchase of MWI's water pumps. The court held that there was no evidence that the government "had officially warned MWI away from its otherwise facially reasonable interpretation of [an] undefined and ambiguous [regulatory] term" and ruled that, in such a situation, the FCA's knowledge/scienter element cannot be established.


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Client Alert | 4 min read | 04.09.26

DOJ Establishes National Fraud Enforcement Division

On April 7, 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum establishing the National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED) within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This new division will be dedicated to the centralized, coordinated investigation and prosecution of fraud against taxpayer dollars and taxpayer-funded programs. AAG Blanche acknowledged that, while DOJ has a “storied history of combatting fraud,” DOJ has “never adopted a comprehensive and coordinated approach to investigating and prosecuting fraud against taxpayer dollars and tax-payer funded programs.” The NFED was created to close that gap with its core mission being to “zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.”...

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