{"id":1746,"date":"2018-04-02T20:17:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T20:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/az-labor-employment-law\/?page_id=1746"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:46:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:46:46","slug":"false-claims-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/az-labor-employment-law\/blog\/false-claims-act\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is The False Claims act?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The False Claims Act (FCA<\/a>)\u2014sometimes referred to as the Lincoln Law, Qui Tam Statute, or Whistleblower Act\u2014is a federal law that grants a whistleblower the ability to file a lawsuit on behalf of the United States Government in regard to fraudulent activity committed against the federal government. The law is the basis for qui tam lawsuits, and accounts for approximately $3 billion in whistleblower settlements and court judgements each year. Of that total, whistleblowers are typically awarded 15% – 30% of the damages.<\/p>\n The FCA specifically addresses four types of fraud against the United States Government:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking that these provisions are a little vague, you\u2019re right\u2014the FCA\u2019s mandate is intentionally broad. The goal is to provide the legal basis for any whistleblower lawsuits outside of tax fraud (which falls under the IRS<\/a>) and securities fraud (the SEC\u2019s<\/a> jurisdiction). While this allows for a diverse array of qui tam lawsuits, there are four categories that tend to be the most common:<\/p>\n Healthcare fraud is easily the most common topic for qui tam lawsuits. The government pays hundreds of billions of dollars in claims every year through Medicaid, Medicare, and other healthcare assistance programs, and the massive size of the programs make them easy targets for fraudsters. Following are a handful of fraudulent actions by doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and other healthcare providers, that may result in a qui tam lawsuit:<\/p>\n The United States has the highest national defense budget on the planet, and a large part of the military\u2019s annual expenditures goes to defense contractors. Fraudulent defense contracts are especially problematic overseas where there is minimal government oversight. Some common defense contractor qui tam lawsuits under the FCA include:<\/p>\n While securities fraud generally falls under the purview of the SEC rather than the DOJ, there are a handful of situations that may warrant a qui tam lawsuit. Following are several examples of defrauding the government in banking, accounting, and lending\/borrowing:<\/p>\n The government invests millions of dollars each year into research projects that are intended to benefit the public. The value of these federal grants pales in comparison to healthcare, financial, and defense contractor claims, but grants still represent a fair amount of qui tam lawsuits. Whistleblower cases regarding grants usually involve researchers who use government funds inappropriately, whether it\u2019s to fund for-profit business ventures or separate research projects. Grant fraud can also include submitting a fraudulent or falsified grant proposal, or inflating project-related costs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nTypes of fraud classified under the False Claims Act<\/h2>\n
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Healthcare fraud<\/h2>\n
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Defense contractor fraud<\/h2>\n
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Financial industry fraud<\/h2>\n
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Grant fraud<\/h2>\n