Opinion ID: 214683
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reporting Duties Owed by Ford

Text: The indictment specifically alleged that Ford owed duties to the Tennessee Senate and the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to disclose his financial interests in Omnicare and Doral. At oral argument, the United States argued for the first time that Ford also owed a contractual duty to disclose his financial interests to TennCare as a result of his status as a subcontractor of Omnicare. Omnicare was a subcontractor of TennCare and owed TennCare a contractual duty to not pay a Tennessee state officer for services or allow Tennessee state officers to benefit from the contract. The United States imputes this contractual obligation owed by Omnicare to Ford, and likens this situation to the one presented to this Court in Gibson. We find Gibson distinguishable in this context. There, the defendant owed a duty to Peabody, which was directly contracted with a federal agency. Furthermore, the agreement between the defendant and Peabody referenced the federal agency and explained how section 1001 was applicable to the defendant. In contrast, here, Ford did not owe a duty to an entity directly contracted with a federal agency. There was an intermediaryOmnicareseparating Ford from TennCare. Additionally, and importantly, the indictment did not allege that the agreement between Omnicare and Ford referenced a federal agency or section 1001. Although Omnicare had a contractual duty to not pay Tennessee officials and to prevent benefits from flowing to them, Ford was not bound by that duty. Therefore, Ford did not owe TennCare a contractual duty to report his financial interests with Omnicare. The only reporting duties owed by Ford in this case were owed to the senate and election registry.