The False Claims Act (“FCA”) was enacted by the U.S. Congress during the Civil War to respond to widespread fraud in the procurement of weapons and materials for the Union Army.  The “qui tam” provision of this Act authorized citizens to sue on behalf of the government and be paid a percentage of the recovery. In a qui tam action, the citizen filing suit is called a “relator”. Today, the FCA is a tool to recover monies acquired through fraud by those who receive Federal funds, either directly or indirectly. Under the FCA, those who knowingly submit, or cause another  [ Read More ]

How did I Discover the Fraud? Did someone make a false statement to the government for purposes of getting a claim paid, or for purposes of avoiding paying money back to the government? If so, who made the false statement, to whom, when, where, why, and how? What government programs or funds are involved? What is the process that must be followed to obtain the funds? What regulations or documents exist that describe the process? What part of the process did the defendant perform in a knowingly false manner? Much of what makes people angry about government is not actually  [ Read More ]

Who can File? When a whistleblower files a qui tam false claims lawsuit they are referred to as the “relator.”  While these are often employees or former employees who have witnessed their company committing fraud, the relator can actually be anyone who has knowledge of the government paying a false claim.  This could even be a customer, patient, subcontractor or competitor. Whistleblowers who have knowledge of Tax Fraud should read our section on Tax Fraud False Claims as those cases are somewhat different. How it Works The False Claims Act works with amazing efficiency by encouraging private citizens to police  [ Read More ]

When Congress first created the False Claims Act it included “qui tam” provisions which permit private citizens to file lawsuits in place of the government against companies or individuals who commit fraud on the government.  “Qui tam” is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase, “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur,” which roughly means “he who brings an action for the king as well as for himself.” Any person or entity that has evidence or information that fraud has been committed against a government program or contract is entitled to bring a qui tam  [ Read More ]