Charged Under 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b What Happens Next

An Anti-Kickback indictment arrives with a distinctive shape. The conduct alleged is usually a business relationship that ran for years, the documents are contracts and payment records rather than claims alone, and there are frequently co-defendants who sat on the other side of the arrangement. Decisions about privilege, about separate counsel, and about whether to speak with the government arise almost immediately.

This page sets out the sequence after a charge under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b and what each stage requires. It does not state deadlines or periods, because those depend on the district, the calendar, and the orders entered in a particular case, and should be confirmed with counsel who holds the docket. To discuss where a specific matter stands, call (888) 437-7747.

On this page

Indictment, Summons, and Arraignment

Defendants in these cases are usually summoned rather than arrested. At the first appearance the charges are read, representation is confirmed, and release is addressed. A not guilty plea at arraignment preserves every option while the defense reads the government’s case. This is also the first moment the indictment becomes public, which matters for a practice or company whose payors, lenders, and referral partners will read it, and that consequence is worth planning for before the date arrives.

Release Conditions and Business Continuity

Release conditions in kickback matters are commonly financial and operational. Restrictions on contact with employees and business partners who are witnesses can be awkward where those people are colleagues or counterparties, and conditions touching participation in covered programs can affect a business more than the prosecution itself. Conditions are negotiable at the outset and modifiable later, but the initial order becomes a baseline, so the practical consequences are better raised before it is entered than afterward.

Discovery in a Kickback Case

Discovery here looks different from a billing prosecution. It centers on contracts and their drafts, valuation analyses, board and management approvals, invoices and time records, payment ledgers, and the email and messaging traffic in which an arrangement was negotiated. Claims data appears mainly to link referrals to payments. Cooperating witness material matters greatly, because insiders usually supply the narrative that explains what the documents mean. Defense work is to build a chronology of the arrangement from primary records and to test that narrative against it.

Motions, Privilege, and Severance

Motion practice often addresses the sufficiency of the indictment, the scope of searches of servers and email accounts, and the admissibility of summary charts linking payments to referrals. Two issues are distinctive. Privilege is contested where compliance and legal review touched the arrangement, and any decision to rely on advice affects what must be disclosed. Severance matters because co-defendants on opposite sides of a contract frequently had different knowledge, and a joint trial can attribute one participant’s statements to another.

Resolution, Trial, and the Parallel Civil Case

Most federal cases resolve short of trial, but a kickback prosecution can present a real trial issue where purpose is genuinely disputed and the documents support a legitimate rationale. A parallel civil False Claims Act action, sometimes unsealed only after the indictment, changes the calculation, because admissions in one proceeding travel to the other and payments in one may bear on the other. Sequencing the criminal, civil, and administrative tracks is part of deciding how the case ends.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens at the first appearance and arraignment?

The court confirms identity and counsel, the charges are read, release is addressed, and a not guilty plea is entered so that nothing is conceded before the file has been reviewed. In a summons case the hearing is usually short. It is also the first occasion on which the government describes its theory in open court, which is useful information, and the first day the indictment is public, which is why a communications plan for staff, payors, and partners belongs in the preparation.

My business partner is a co-defendant. Can we use the same lawyer?

Generally no. The statute reaches both sides of an arrangement, so parties to the same contract usually have divergent interests, and one may resolve by describing the other. Joint representation in that posture creates conflicts that courts scrutinize closely. The ordinary approach is separate counsel for each individual and entity, with a written joint defense agreement where interests genuinely align, so that information can be shared without waiving protection that each party needs to keep.

What if compliance staff or a lawyer reviewed the arrangement?

That review can be valuable evidence on state of mind, and using it has consequences. Relying on advice generally waives privilege over related communications, and the scope of that waiver is often broader than expected, reaching drafts, internal notes, and adjacent advice. Because the decision shapes discovery, motions, and trial, it is evaluated once the relevant files are collected rather than near a trial date. Preserving those materials from the outset keeps the option available.

Will the criminal case pause a civil False Claims Act action?

Sometimes. Courts can stay civil discovery while a criminal case proceeds, and the government often seeks that outcome, but a stay is not automatic and its scope varies. A relator may resist it. Meanwhile the administrative track can continue independently. Because positions taken in any one proceeding can be used in the others, coordination across all of them is part of the defense rather than a separate exercise handled by different advisers in isolation.

Can I keep operating the business while the case is pending?

Often, subject to release conditions and to whatever action payors, programs, and licensing bodies take on their own authority. Those decisions are made outside the criminal court and on their own timetables. Practical continuity planning belongs in the first weeks: who signs what, how staff and referral partners are informed, how records are preserved, and how the business avoids creating new evidence while the arrangement at issue is being examined.

Is a proffer with the government worth considering?

Sometimes, and never without preparation. In multi-party kickback cases the sequence in which participants speak can matter a great deal, and the information one party provides may shape how the others are charged. A proffer can also hand the government proof of intent it did not otherwise hold. A reverse proffer, in which the government presents its case to the defense, carries less risk and is often worth requesting first. Neither step should follow from a letter alone.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

After a kickback indictment the early decisions are about information: who holds privilege, who needs separate counsel, and what the primary documents actually show about why an arrangement existed. Those choices shape the case long before a trial date is set.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle criminal defense matters across those jurisdictions, which matters in federal practice because a single investigation frequently reaches conduct, witnesses, and records in more than one state. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about federal prosecutions under the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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Being charged is one stage of the case. Our page on anti kickback statute charges sets out the offence from start to finish.