Closing Date: 26th April, 2024
Description:
The Office of the New York State Attorney General's (OAG) Medicaid
Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) seeks an attorney with experience prosecuting
and/or investigating complex financial wrongdoing to serve as a Special
Assistant Attorney General in its Hauppauge office in Suffolk County.
MFCU attorneys lead collaborative, team-based investigations with the
Unit's forensic accountants/auditors, detectives, and analysts to
identify and prosecute financial fraud in the healthcare industry and
abuse and neglect of residents in healthcare facilities, present
evidence to grand juries, and conduct evidentiary hearings and trials in
New York State courts.
The Medicaid program
provides health coverage to millions of New Yorkers, including
low-income persons, children, elderly adults, and people with
developmental disabilities. MFCU is the nation's premier law enforcement
agency charged with ensuring the financial integrity of New York
State's $100 billion Medicaid program by investigating healthcare
providers, such as pharmaceutical companies, doctors, hospitals, and
nursing homes, who engage in Medicaid billing schemes that cause harm to
Medicaid recipients and the loss of millions of dollars to the State of
New York. MFCU also works to protect elderly and disabled New Yorkers
by investigating reports of abuse and neglect in nursing homes and other
residential health care facilities in the state.
Possessing
both civil and criminal enforcement powers, MFCU uses various state
laws to bring civil actions and criminal proceedings, including asset
forfeiture actions. Many of the Unit's investigations are conducted in
coordination with other federal, state, or local government and
prosecutorial agencies, and have resulted in large-scale criminal
convictions and the recovery of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.
Several
recent matters that highlight MFCU's important work include the OAG's
report concerning neglect of nursing home residents across New York
State during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent filing of four major
lawsuits against nursing homes, including Centers Health Care, Cold
Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, The Villages of
Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, and Fulton Commons Care
Center, Inc.
Additional recent significant
cases include the: indictment of a Long Island physician for defrauding
Medicaid and subjecting patients to invasive and unnecessary testing,
conviction of former fugitive dentist for Medicaid Fraud, and the
prosecution and conviction of persons involved in a homicide and cover
up at a nursing home in Suffolk County.
Qualifications:
- A minimum of four (4) years of practice experience, including grand jury, trial, and/or substantial complex business litigation practice that must include criminal practice experience and preferably includes the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes;
- Prior experience drafting and overseeing the execution of search and eavesdropping warrants is desirable;
- Excellent analytical, legal research, writing, and organizational skills;
- Sound judgment with the ability to articulate the critical issues in a case accurately and concisely;
- Strong communication and teamwork skills and the ability to work independently and as a member of a team, including fostering productive and collaborative relationships with staff at all levels of the organization;
- Technology proficiency that preferably includes a knowledge of and comfort using Microsoft Office applications; and a
- Familiarity with case management software and eDiscovery platforms is a plus, though not required.
Applicants
must reside in (or intend to soon become a resident of) New York State
and be admitted to practice law in New York State. In addition, the
Public Officers Law requires that OAG attorneys be citizens of the
United States. A two (2) year commitment upon being hired is a condition
of employment.