9th Cir.;
16-10160

The court of appeals affirmed a district court order. The court held that relators' filing of a qui tam action did not give them standing to intervene in the government's criminal forfeiture action.

Medical assistants Nancy Smith and Wendy Johnson filed a qui tam action against their former employer, podiatrist Neil Van Dyck, alleging his submission of fraudulent Medicare claims. After a lengthy investigation, the government declined to intervene in the qui tam action. Meanwhile, criminal charges were filed against Van Dyck based on fraudulent claims submitted to private insurers. He pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and agreed to forfeit funds from his retirement account as part of his plea agreement. The district court issued a personal forfeiture money judgment against Van Dyck for $1.23 million, the estimated amount of fraudulent claims paid to Van Dyck by the victim insurers.