Former medical assistant Julie Hajek Stewart filed the Kellum whistleblower lawsuit seven years ago, alleging that the two unlicensed employees treated hundreds, if not thousands, of patients at the Kellum practice. The lawsuit claimed the pair were graduates of foreign medical institutions, but were not licensed to practice in Texas or any other state.

The Justice Department joined the whistleblower lawsuit in 2008 and accused the practice and principals of submitting fraudulent claims for physician services performed by the unlicensed doctors on Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare patients.

The defendants in the case did not admit any wrongdoing by agreeing to settle the lawsuit.

Stewart stands to receive $250,000, or 17 percent, of the settlement for bringing the qui tam whistleblower lawsuit.

Qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuits allow private citizens to sue companies that are defrauding the government, or state or local government entities under the False Claims Act. Whistleblowers are protected under the law and receive an award if their allegations are found true and a settlement is reached. The whistleblower may proceed with the qui tam case even if the government doesn't join.

Anyone who knows their employer is defrauding the government is encouraged to step forward and report the violations by seeking legal counsel from attorneys that specialize in qui tam lawsuits.