Ken is a seasoned litigator, tireless advocate and trusted advisor to his clients. His practice focuses on qui tam defense and False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, white collar criminal defense, securities actions, internal investigations, and healthcare regulatory and compliance counseling. He is known for his sound judgment and he brings a wealth of government experience to his engagements, with particular expertise in complex fraud cases and financial crimes.
Since co-founding AEL in 2020, Ken has successfully guided scores of entities and individuals through high-stakes government investigations, enforcement actions, and parallel criminal and civil proceedings. In recognition of these efforts, Ken has been ranked by Chambers USA as a leading attorney in the Healthcare and White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations categories where his clients have described him as being “an excellent lawyer,” “incredibly responsive” and “very good at understanding a client’s needs.” As clients stated:
“KEN STANDS OUT AS A TRULY REMARKABLE ATTORNEY” WHO “CAN HANDLE INCREDIBLY COMPLEX MATTERS WITH EASE AND GRACE.”
Ken takes great pride in providing incisive, efficient and cost-effective counsel to his clients, who are often going through one of the most harrowing experiences of their lives. He is readily available to his clients and responds to their questions and concerns as quickly as possible.
“WHEN OUR CLIENTS HAVE A QUESTION OR NEED ADVICE, THEY CAN ALWAYS REACH US AND DO NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH SEVERAL LAYERS TO GET TO US. THAT ASPECT OF OUR SERVICES IS IN SOME WAY THE BACKBONE OF AEL, AND WE WILL MAKE SURE IT CONTINUES.”
Based on AEL’s now-established reputation as an elite boutique in New York city, several institutions – including publicly-traded companies – have entrusted Ken and the AEL team to perform highly-sensitive internal investigations into healthcare and securities matters, and to provide detailed findings and recommendations to boards of directors. Ken is also regularly engaged by companies as pool counsel to represent their employees in connection with government investigations.
Before co-founding AEL, Ken served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for ten years in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), where he rose to Chief of Healthcare Fraud, Civil Division. During his time as an AUSA, Ken litigated and resolved some of the EDNY’s most significant fraud matters, successfully tried several civil and criminal cases and argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As Chief of Healthcare Fraud, Ken supervised more than twenty AUSAs handling healthcare fraud matters and worked closely with federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Food & Drug Administration. Ken also handled many cases in close partnership with the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG).
Representative Matters
Ken represents entities and individual clients in complex fraud cases and, along with his partners, is an expert in parallel criminal and civil cases involving, among other things, violations of the federal and state FCA, the Antikickback Statute (AKS), and securities laws. Ken and the firm have developed a well-deserved reputation of excellence for operating at the intersection of healthcare and government enforcement. Below are examples of Ken’s representative matters:
Dismissals and Other Notable Resolutions
- Deferred prosecution and dismissal of federal criminal indictment alleging healthcare fraud against physician and negotiated civil-only global resolution of the charges. AEL also resolved the underlying qui tam complaint. Read more about the case here.
- Dismissal of a felony healthcare fraud indictment against physician, who pled guilty to a superseding information charging him with a non-intent misdemeanor offense related to misbranded drugs. Doctor received a sentence of 1 year probation. Read more about the case here.
- Secured a favorable plea agreement and below-Guidelines sentence for the former CFO of a publicly-traded pharmaceutical company charged with insider trading. Subsequently, secured a dismissal of a related civil case by the SEC and a Second Circuit appellate victory in a class action securities fraud suit against the client, his former company and its former officers and directors. Read more about the case here.
- Secured a favorable plea agreement and a significantly below-Guidelines sentence for a NYC-based pain management physician for his role in an alleged fraud scheme in the SDNY. Read more about the case here.
- Successfully resolved a multi-year investigation involving a prominent New York-based obstetrician/gynecologist with a highly favorable civil-only resolution with the NYAG. Read more about the case here.
- Successfully steered a federal felony investigation regarding potential criminal violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to a misdemeanor resolution and a probationary sentence with no fine. Read more about the case here.
- Obtained declination and closure of felony investigation into a wholesaler of commercial goods, which the government alleged had violated certain environmental regulations. In the same matter, successfully obtained the return of more than $600,000 of cash seized from the client’s premises.
- Obtained a civil-only settlement and declination of criminal investigation in a parallel FCA “upcoding” investigation of large nursing home chain. Investigation involved more than a dozen nursing homes and affiliated entities in connection with a parallel investigation into alleged improper billing of rehabilitation therapy services and attendant FCA violations.
- Achieved a civil-only resolution for a New York-based contracting and development company after long-running, multi-district (EDNY and SDNY) parallel criminal and civil investigations relating to the client’s work on certain projects.
- Obtained declination and closure of a criminal investigation into alleged Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud by a prominent physician at a local hospital.
- Resolved two long-standing FCA investigations by the NYAG against an allergist/immunologist and a vascular surgeon as overpayments with no admissions of wrongdoing and no multipliers on claims submitted.
- Obtained declination and closure of a joint criminal and civil investigation by the NYAG into a pharmacy for alleged inventory fraud in connection with the distribution of HIV drugs.
- Steered parallel criminal and civil fraud and FCA investigation involving a chiropractor to a global civil-only resolution.
- Successfully conducted several sensitive, internal investigation for entities, including publicly-traded companies, involving, among other things, allegations of misconduct, fraud, insider trading and diversion of controlled substances
Notable Ongoing Representations
- Representing former high-ranking government employee in connection with a criminal investigation by the EDNY.
- Serving as counsel for individual in a charged criminal case in DNJ alleging violations of the AKS in connection with a series of durable medical equipment companies.
- Representing hospital system in connection with a declined qui tam action in the DNJ relating to allegations that certain joint venture agreements violated the AKS.
- Representing a not-for-profit agency healthcare agency in connection with joint criminal and civil investigations by the EDNY and SDNY.
- Defending two individuals in charged mail fraud cases in the EDNY relating to their alleged involvement in a long-running operation relating to psychic mailings.
- Representing individual in criminal investigation out of the EDNY alleging misappropriation of company funds.
- Serving as lead counsel for several nursing homes in an investigation under the FCA involving allegations of improper disenrollment from managed care plans and attendant billing of Medicare Part A.
- Serving as co-counsel for a clinical laboratory in an FCA investigation by the EDNY regarding compliance with Medicare rules and regulations and potential AKS violations.
- Representing a health care company in connection with an investigation under the FCA alleging an improper billing relationship with a genetic lab that violated the AKS.
- Presently guiding dozens of healthcare providers through audits and overpayment requests by CMS, ZPICs, UPICS, Medicaid MCOs and private carriers, often beating back million dollar plus demands and/or negotiating major reductions from the initial demands.
- Representing a telehealth company and its principal in connection with a grand jury subpoena from the EDNY.
- Representing cardiologist in an investigation under the FCA alleging improper billing for certain stress tests and billing for services under the incorrect National Provider Identification number.
- Successfully navigated multiple physicians through FCA actions, federal HIPAA subpoenas, grand jury subpoenas, and civil investigative demands (CIDs).
Prior Government Service and Leadership
From 2008 to 2018, Ken proudly served as an AUSA in the EDNY and, from 2014 to 2018, served as Chief of Healthcare Fraud, Civil Division, where he oversaw a diverse practice group that included cases against pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, hospital systems, home health agencies, physician practice groups, medical device companies, billing entities and individual physicians. In investigating and prosecuting these actions, Ken also worked in close partnership with federal agents from several government agencies, as well as attorneys from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit within the New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG). Prior to serving as the Chief of Healthcare Fraud, Ken handled some of the country’s most significant mortgage fraud cases against, among other entities, Countrywide Financial and Bank of America, each of which resulted in settlements of more than one billion dollars. During his time as an AUSA, Ken also had the opportunity to try several cases to verdict, including cases involving mail and wire fraud, violations of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA), constitutional violations, prisoners’ rights, and the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). Ken also argued a variety of civil and criminal appeals in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As a result of these efforts, Ken was twice awarded the prestigious United States Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Henry L. Stimson Medal.
Ken has been qualified as an expert and has testified in matters involving the AKS and Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA). He also regularly speaks on healthcare issues, having spoken at conferences and symposiums more than three dozen times on issues such as Medicare and Medicaid fraud, drug diversion, qui tam actions under the FCA, matters under the AKS and government enforcement priorities. He has written articles and expert analysis for leading legal publications on healthcare and FCA issues.
Ken began his legal career as a commercial litigator at a prominent litigation boutique in Chicago. Thereafter, he was a law clerk to the Honorable Theodore H. Katz in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), before joining the United States Attorney’s Office in 2008.