False Claims

As the size of the government has grown and the complexity of its business affairs expanded, false claims against the government are being perpetrated in an endless number of fields, including health care, transportation, defense contracting, pharmaceutical sales, Medicare, Medicaid, construction, and a host of others.

The False Claims Act allows people to file qui tam lawsuits against people or companies that either directly or indirectly file false claims against the government or against a U.S. government officer, employee, or member of the armed forces. The whistleblowers law also applies to those who make false claims to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the government, and it covers certain conspiracies to violate the False Claim Act.

The United States Department of Justice recognizes the important role played by whistleblowers in the fight against false claims against the government and has stepped up its enforcement efforts throughout the United States. Well-informed whistleblowers, their counsel, and the United States Department of Justice working together have, in recent years, recovered billions of dollars in taxpayer money obtained by false claims. And the numbers keep growing – there are over 1,000 currently pending False Claims Act cases under consideration by the United States Department of Justice. The government relies on whistleblowers reporting false claims.