Vermont Telephone Challenges Rehearing Petition in AWS-3 Fraud Fight
Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless, faced with a straightforward U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision, are trying to rewrite that decision and the underlying False Claims Act itself, Vermont National Telephone (VNT) said Friday in a response…
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to the defendant-appellee designated entities' petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc (docket 21-7039). They're challenging a D.C. Circuit panel's decision to reverse a dismissal of fraud claims by VNT for the 2015 AWS-3 auction (see 2206160075). The D.C. Circuit and the False Claims Act are clear that an FCC licensing proceeding where it can't levy monetary penalties isn't an administrative civil money penalty proceeding, VNT said. If Congress wanted every administrative proceeding to implicate the government action bar, it would have said so, VNT said. Counsel for the appellee didn't comment Monday.