Siemens employee blows whistle for DoD raid

The federal raid by agents from the Department of Defense (DoD) on Siemens Healthcare's facility in Malvern, Pa., appears to stem from a whistleblower lawsuit reagarding the company's pricing of medical imaging equipment in contracts with the federal government.

The lawsuit was filed under the Federal False Claims Act by William A. Thomas, an executive with Siemens who also worked for a company that bought equipment from it as well as a company it acquired, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The suit accuses the healthcare division of Siemens of giving corporate customers of its medical imaging equipment bigger discounts than it gave the federal government while assuring the government that it was getting the best discounts Siemens offered, the Journal reported.

The case was initially a civil suit filed in 2004 in U.S. District Court in the Virgin Islands and has subsequently been amended.

In early April, Siemens won a $267 million contract to supply radiology systems, subsystems and components on behalf of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies.

On Wednesday, Lance Longwell, director of public relations at Siemens, acknowledged that the "search was in connection with an investigation of a Siemens contract with the Department of Defense."

However, in regards to the unfolding specifics of the case, Longwell said that it is not Siemens policy to comment on pending litigation, according to an email response received this morning.