A large portion of the money came from health care probes.
The Washington Post: Justice Dept. Recovers Record $5 Billion Under False Claims Act
The Justice Department's civil division recovered a record $5 billion in the past fiscal year from companies that defrauded taxpayers, with much of the abuse occurring in the health care and mortgage industries (Finn, 12/4).
Modern Healthcare: Feds Collect Record $4.9 Billion Under False Claims Act
Led by the record-breaking legal settlement with drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, federal collections through the civil False Claims Act exceeded all previous years, topping $4.9 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The one-year tally by the Justice Department included settlements with mortgage lenders and military contractors, but the biggest single chunk -- more than $3 billion -- came from health care companies accused of defrauding Medicare and other government health care programs. Fiscal 2012 marked the first time that health care tallies topped $3 billion (Carlson, 12/4).
Meanwhile, federal authorities are watching for a surge in pain drugs from Canada --