False Claims Act Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary as Powerful Weapon for Whistleblowers

The Federal False Claims Amendments Act (FCA), which was signed into law on October 27, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan, just celebrated its 35th anniversary.

The FCA creates liability for fraud against the government. Specifically, the FCA allows the government to recover fraudulently earned funds from any person who knowingly submits, or causes another person to submit, a false claim to the government to get a false claim paid by the government. Violations of the FCA come with a civil penalty of between $11,181 and $22,363 for each false claim, and three times the amount of the government’s actual damages.

The attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth have handled numerous FCA cases on behalf of whistleblowers, with allegations of fraud including overcharging Medicare for services performed, charging Medicare for services that were never performed or performed by unqualified practitioners, fraudulently obtaining Title IV education funds, and fraud committed in obtaining military contracts.

The FCA incentivizes individuals with knowledge about fraud to come forward by including a whistleblower – or “qui tam” – provision that provides whistleblowers with a financial reward for successful FCA lawsuits. The FCA allows for whistleblower rewards between 15% and 25% of the amount recovered as a result of successful lawsuits.

That amount can be significant when millions of dollars are recovered due to false claim. For example, the Department of Justice (D.O.J.) obtained more than $2.2 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020,

Whistleblowers are also protected by the FCA because “qui tam” cases are filed confidentially in camera and under seal. That means the complaint and its contents must be kept confidential until the seal is lifted and the complaint is not served on the defendant. This protects both the whistleblower and the integrity of the D.O.J. investigation of the allegations.

If you have information about potential false claims, including Medicare fraud, the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help. We are experienced with FCA claims, so contact us 888-456-2529 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.