by Ben Vernia | February 18th, 2019
On January 28, after a lengthy government shutdown, the Department of Justice announced that on January 17, a Texas-based manufacturer had agreed to pay $1 million to resolve civil allegations, originally brought by a whistleblower, that the company lied in an application for a federal loan. According to DOJ’s press release:
Omega Protein Corp. and Omega Protein, Inc. (collectively “Omega”) have agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that Omega obtained a loan from the United States by falsely certifying compliance with federal environmental laws, the Department of Justice announced today. The matter was unsealed on Jan. 17, 2019.
Omega is based in Houston, Texas, and is a leading domestic producer of Omega-3 rich fish oil, protein-rich specialty fishmeal, and organic fish solubles for livestock and aquaculture feed manufacturers.
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The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Omega violated the False Claims Act in March 2010 when it certified to the Department of Commerce that it was complying with federal environmental laws to obtain a $10 million loan. At the time Omega submitted the certification, it was knowingly violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). In 2013, Omega Protein, Inc. pled guilty to violations of the CWA between May 2008 and December 2010, by unlawfully discharging pollutants into U.S. waters and, between April 2009 and September 2010, by unlawfully discharging a harmful quantity of oil into U.S. waters. The criminal matter was United States v. Omega Protein Inc. No. 2:13-cr-00043-RAJ-TEM (E.D. Va.).
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The government also announced that the whistleblower, a former Omega employee, will receive $200,000 (a 20% relator’s share).
