Detroit Medical Center agreed to pay a $30 million penalty to settle allegations that it engaged in improper relationships with referring physicians, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

DMC allegedly violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute. According to the feds, DMC made lease deals and independent contractor relationships that were not properly recorded or conflicted with fair market value, the Associated Press reports.

The settlement comes on the heels of DMC's sale to Vanguard Health Systems, a private Nashville, Tenn.-based health system. Reports say the sale is expected to be complete either today or Friday, and will be the single largest investment in Detroit's history. Vanguard also signed DMC's settlement.

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