On July 29, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its first declination of a healthcare company under its new 2026 Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP). DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division declined to prosecute Campus Eye Management Holdings, LLC and Campus Eye Management LLC (collectively, Campus Eye), while simultaneously indicting the company's founder and former CEO, E. Bruce DiDonato, on healthcare fraud and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) charges.
The Campus Eye declination provides an important early roadmap for companies seeking to navigate DOJ's new enforcement framework. In granting the declination, DOJ credited Campus Eye with prompt self-disclosure, full cooperation, and aggressive remediation. The pairing of the corporate declination with an indictment of Campus Eye’s founder and former CEO demonstrates DOJ’s intent to pair corporate declinations with prosecutions of individual company executives.
Background
Campus Eye is a management services organization that provides billing, administrative, and other support services to an optometry practice and ambulatory surgery center in New Jersey. DOJ alleged that, from approximately 2015 through March 2023, DiDonato, who had founded the practice and surgery center, orchestrated two related schemes:
- Conspiring with others to bill Medicare and other insurers for duplicative and medically unnecessary diagnostic eye tests; and
- Paying kickbacks and bribes to physicians in exchange for referrals of surgical patients whose testing would then be billed to federal healthcare programs.
The charges against DiDonato reflect DOJ's longstanding focus on referral-based compensation arrangements coupled with medically unnecessary services. The indictment also reflects DOJ’s continuing use of AKS theories of criminal liability.
Why DOJ Declined to Prosecute Campus Eye
While DiDonato’s indictment reflected traditional DOJ enforcement activity, Campus Eye’s declination under the new CEP was the more noteworthy development. DOJ highlighted six factors in support of its declination decision:
- The company's timely and voluntary self-disclosure of misconduct;
- Full and proactive cooperation, including providing information regarding individuals involved and assisting with historical claims and insurer data analysis;
- Commitment to continue cooperating in any ongoing investigations and prosecutions;
- Timely and appropriate remediation, including revising billing, payment, and compensation policies and significantly enhancing compliance controls;
- The absence of aggravating circumstances warranting a criminal resolution; and
- The company's agreement to disgorge ill-gotten gains.
DOJ also highlighted Campus Eye's compliance enhancements, policy revisions, personnel changes, training, and monitoring efforts, as well as restitution of $1 million.
Why This Declination Matters
The Campus Eye declination marks the first healthcare company declination under the DOJ’s new CEP. While the factors cited by DOJ are similar to the ones in the Department’s prior corporate enforcement policies, the resolution is notable for at least two reasons.
- First Declination by DOJ’s New Fraud Enforcement Division
Offering incentives to encourage companies to voluntarily self-disclose misconduct is nothing new. But when DOJ announced the CEP, some questioned whether prosecutors would actually grant declinations in significant fraud investigations. Campus Eye marks the first declination by the new Fraud Enforcement Division, created this past Spring. The Campus Eye declination demonstrates that the pathway described in the CEP is not merely a policy on paper.
- 2. Executive Accountability Remains Central
The resolution reflects DOJ's stated goal that voluntary self-disclosures and corporate cooperation should help prosecutors identify and pursue culpable executives. Consistent with that objective, DOJ declined prosecution of Campus Eye after gaining its cooperation in prosecuting its founder and former CEO.
Practical Takeaways for Companies
The Campus Eye declination provides valuable guidance for companies seeking to maximize the benefits available under the CEP.
- Invest in Compliance Ahead of Time
DOJ's CEP rewards companies that can demonstrate effective compliance functions and a commitment to remediation. Regular risk assessments, whistleblower reporting mechanisms, auditing and monitoring activities, and documented compliance oversight can materially improve a company’s position if misconduct is later discovered.
- Build Internal Investigation Processes Before a Crisis Occurs
Companies should establish protocols to respond quickly to potential allegations of wrongdoing. Specifically, companies should put in place procedures to engage outside counsel, conduct privileged investigations, preserve documents, interview relevant personnel, and assess potential criminal exposure. The ability to generate reliable facts quickly can be critical when considering whether voluntary disclosure is warranted.
- Act Quickly When Potential Misconduct Is Identified
Companies should ensure that compliance, legal, and investigative functions, partnering with outside counsel, can rapidly assess allegations and escalate potentially criminal conduct to decision-makers. Delays in investigating or reporting may jeopardize eligibility to receive a declination.
- Focus on Individual Executive Accountability
DOJ increasingly expects corporate cooperation to include identifying individual executives involved in misconduct. Companies evaluating voluntary self-disclosure should anticipate that meaningful cooperation will likely require providing facts concerning conduct by individual employees, executives, or business partners, and committing to cooperation in future prosecutions.
- Remediate Broadly
Campus Eye demonstrated to DOJ that it had taken a broad approach to remediation: policy revisions, improved compliance infrastructure, dedicated compliance personnel, enhanced training, monitoring, and risk assessment. Companies should be prepared to implement tangible corrective actions rather than rely on promises of future improvements.
- Evaluate Compensation and Referral Arrangements Continuously
Healthcare companies should vigilantly review physician compensation arrangements, management services relationships, referral practices, and billing protocols through both AKS and fraud-and-abuse lenses.
Looking Ahead
The practical lesson of the Campus Eye declination is that corporate compliance programs should be designed not only to prevent misconduct, but also to enable rapid detection, investigation, escalation, and remediation when issues arise. Those proactive steps may ultimately determine whether a company benefits from a declination, a negotiated resolution, or a criminal prosecution.
