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Maurice Bellan

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Maurice A. Bellan is the Managing Partner of the Washington, DC office and a member of the Global Dispute Resolution and North America Litigation and Government Enforcement Steering Committees. He is a former trial attorney at the US Department of Justice and is experienced in a broad range of fraud and anti-corruption matters. Maurice was recently named by Savoy magazine as one of the most influential African-American lawyers in the United States. Maurice regularly counsels clients in industries heavily regulated by US federal programs or engaged in any activity that is sponsored by the federal government. He leads the Firm's False Claims Act (FCA) and government contracts practice and his work routinely involves FCA compliance, investigations and litigation, bid proposal review and advice, suspension and debarment investigations and negotiations, protection of intellectual property in government contracting and defense against stark and anti-kickback allegations. Maurice also handles multi-national anticorruption investigations involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and has also shepherded clients through enforcement actions pursued by several branches of government including the DOJ, DoD, GSA, FinCEN, EPA, FDA, HHS and various US congressional committees. Maurice is a trial lawyer and has tried cases and argued appeals in several states, federal district and appellate courts across the United States including the US Tax Court and the US Court of Federal Claims. His litigation matters have involved trade secrets, securities transactions, breach of contracts and constitutional questions involving a variety of federal statutory regulations.

An analysis of Attorney General Bondi’s memorandum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) In brief A recent memorandum from Attorney General Pam Bondi signals a potential shift in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) FCPA enforcement priorities. According to the memorandum, FCPA enforcement should prioritize foreign bribery linked to Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), potentially altering the landscape of white-collar corporate enforcement. While traditional FCPA cases will likely continue, the new directive grants local…

In brief On 11 May 2023, GCI Communications Corp. (GCI) agreed to pay more than USD 40 million to the US government to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by knowingly inflating its prices in a competitive bidding program regulated by the FCC. The investigation began when a former GCI employee, Robert Taylor, filed a qui tam action against the company under the False Claims Act (FCA) after…

In brief On 30 August 2022, the DC Circuit ruled in United States v. Honeywell International, Inc. that the pro tanto rule applies to damages in cases under the False Claims Act (FCA). This means that, at least in the DC Circuit, damages in FCA cases will be subject to dollar-for-dollar reduction by other settlement offsets in cases involving multiple jointly and severally liable defendants. The ruling clarifies the settlement offset rule applied to FCA cases and…

In brief On 8 July 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement of cybersecurity fraud charges against Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. (Aerojet) following an action under the False Claims Act (FCA). Aerojet agreed to pay USD 9 million to the US government to settle allegations that it misrepresented its compliance with cybersecurity requirements when entering into federal government contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense. The case started when Aerojet’s former employee, Brian Markus, filed…