John T. Crutchlow represents whistleblowers in state and federal False Claims Act cases, and in cases under the federal financial fraud whistleblower programs, including the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower program, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) whistleblower programs.
Prior to joining Youman & Caputo, John spent over a decade handling complex civil fraud cases for the federal government. During that time, he was an Assistant United States Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he focused on cases arising under the False Claims Act, and a Trial Attorney for the SEC’s Enforcement Division. John draws on his extensive experience, both inside and outside the government, to help maximize the potential of every case that he handles.
John represents whistleblowers (relators) in qui tam actions under the False Claims Act when they have information about fraud on federal programs, including health care fraud, misconduct in the pharmaceutical or device industries, Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law violations, Medicare Advantage fraud, customs and tariff fraud, fraud in federal contracting and procurement, including frauds involving federal contractors’ cybersecurity obligations, and fraud on federal grant programs.
John also represents financial fraud whistleblowers under the SEC and CFTC, and FinCEN programs when they have information about violations of the securities laws (including frauds involving Ponzi schemes, corporate accounting, market manipulation, insider trading, crypto assets, and other fraud on investors), fraud in the commodities and derivatives markets, violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (including Anti-Money Laundering requirements), and sanctions avoidance.
He has been an Adjunct Professor of Criminal and Civil Health Care Fraud at both the Villanova Charles Widger School of Law and the Drexel University Kline School of Law and has taught Continuing Legal Education courses on whistleblower law and practice.
John brings a unique depth of knowledge to representing whistleblowers and civil litigants gained from his extensive experience within the SEC and the DOJ. As a Trial Attorney in the Enforcement Division of the SEC, John litigated cases in federal court against defendants accused of violating the securities laws. He was a member of two SEC trial teams that won verdicts from federal juries in 2022.
From 2011 until 2021, John was an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he successfully led numerous False Claims Act investigations, including cases involving health care fraud, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Stark Law. These cases collectively returned tens of millions of dollars to federal programs, and many of them were initiated by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. In 2018, John was appointed to be the team leader of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s first Affirmative Civil Enforcement Strike Force, a dedicated unit of civil prosecutors that focused on False Claims Act cases and other civil enforcement efforts.
John has been repeatedly recognized for his work. He played a leading role on a team that received an Honor Award for Advancing Excellence and Innovation in Investigations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), for successfully investigating a complex $100 million medical device fraud scheme. He also received a Director’s Award for Superior Performance from the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, and a Commendation awarded by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division for his work enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He began his career as a litigation associate at Duane Morris LLP, a large international law firm based in Philadelphia. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and a graduate of Villanova University.
