ATLANTA,GA
DULUTH, GA
In our multi-part explanation of the federal False Claims Act previously posted, we have summarized the most recent verdicts and settlements of qui tam whistleblower cases (as of December 2006).
We will continue to update you on additional verdicts and settlements of significance.
We have tried to explain what readers may want to know about how the whistleblower statute works, in our article explaining the False Claims Act. Here is the current language of this law that creates rewards for qui tam whistleblowers:
FALSE CLAIMS ACT
TITLE 31. MONEY AND FINANCE
SUBTITLE III. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 37. CLAIMS
SUBCHAPTER III. CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
3729. False claims
(more…)This is part 4 of my article on the False Claims Act. This part discusses the huge increase in federal dollars recovered in the past few years:
IV. Recent Recoveries and Other Developments In Qui Tam Litigation
A. An Explosion of Federal Dollars Recovered Since 1986, Under the False Claims Act
(more…)This is part 3 of my article on how the False Claims Act works:
III. Brief Overview of How the Modern False Claims Act Works
A. Conduct Prohibited
The federal False Claims Act imposes civil liability under several different theories:
(more…)I wrote this article for a seminar to explain the False Claims Act to those who may not know about it. I hope it may be useful to those who are interested in the Act. I have divided it into several sections–this is the first section, summarizing how the False Claims Act came to be in the time of Abraham Lincoln, and how it has evolved since then:
I. Introduction
(more…)Fraud is perhaps so pervasive and, therefore, costly to the Government due to a lack of deterrence. GAO concluded in its 1981 study that most fraud goes undetected due to the failure of Governmental agencies to effectively ensure accountability on the part of program recipients and Government contractors. The study states:
Financial fraud is a frequent topic of whistleblower cases and of this whistleblower lawyer blog, especially with TARP and the Wall Street “bailout” dominating headlines.
Senators Chuck Shumer and Richard Shelby have proposed a bipartisan bill to bolster federal resources to combat securities fraud and accounting fraud, the Supplemental Anti-Fraud Enforcement (“SAFE”) Markets Act.
Here are excerpts from the Senators’ announcement:
“Our white collar crime divisions are under-staffed, under-funded, and overwhelmed,” Schumer said. “When a wave of violent crime sweeps through a city,
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As our government hemorrhages its taxpayers’ funds to “bail out” firms that made poor decisions–such as American International Group (AIG), Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and American Express–a just-issued report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raises a disturbing question: have many of the same firms already been avoiding paying their “fair share” of U.S. taxes by using offshore tax “havens”?
If so, whistleblowers will be performing a civic duty by reporting any tax evasion and noncompliance through the IRS Whistleblower Program.
(more…)Continuing the “bailout,” the Treasury Department has just announced the release of $14.77 billion in TARP funds to what it refers to as 43 “local” banks (listed below).
“Local” may be a misnomer, as the list includes $10 billion to Bank of America Corp., and more than $3 billion to American Express Company.
Let’s hope that Congress and the Treasury Department make good on the promise to protect these taxpayer funds through effective oversight, meaningful restrictions, and whistleblower protections, and that Sen. Grassley’s prediction that the qui tam whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act will be used vigorously to redress any fraud or abuse with TARP funds comes true.
Below are today’s announced recipients of the funds:
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As hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds flow to TARP bailout recipients, the government must make doubly sure to stop or minimize fraud and abuse in every federal program.
One area that cries out for attention is the underpayment of royalties owed to the government under oil and gas leases. The qui tam whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act provide a basis for taxpayers to recover damages–and the whistleblower to receive a share of the recovery–when obligations to the government are underpaid.
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Much criticism has flowed from how the first $350 billion in TARP “bailout” funds are being used. Thus far, the need for additional restrictions to prevent and penalize fraud and abuse of TARP money remains unmet.
In response, yesterday House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank proposed legislation establishing greater limits on use of TARP funds, among other things.
The “TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009” (HR 384) would require quarterly reports from recipients on their use of TARP funds, restrict the use of
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The TARP bailout funding continues, as the Treasury Department announced today that it will buy $5 billion in senior preferred equity with an 8% dividend from GMAC LLC.
Senator Charles Grassley has emphasized that TARP and other “bailout” funds must be protected through whistleblower protections and whistleblower laws such as the False Claims Act. The GMAC announcement today will present ample opportunities to test those premises on which Congress approved the bailout funding.
The Treasury announcement is reprinted below:
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Fraudulent tax shelters continue to be a target not only of IRS Whistleblower claims, but also of enforcement actions.
We have followed closely the KPMG tax shelter fraud case in this whistleblower lawyer blog. The trial of four defendants ended this week, with two former KPMG partners and one attorney convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion for their roles in the bogus tax shelters. Another lawyer defendant was acquitted.
Prosecutors alleged that KPMG officials offered wealthy clients illegal offshore tax shelters, and paid outside attorneys to give the bogus shelters the appearance of legitimacy. According to the government, the investments had no real risk, and generated “paper losses that allowed the accounting firm’s clients to offset income.
(more…)Some recent significant recoveries under the False Claims Act–the nation’s primary tool for fighting fraud and false claims–are summarized below. This summary is part of a paper I submitted in connection with serving on the faculty (with some excellent attorneys) of the “Southeastern Health Care Fraud Institute” on December 18, 2008.
Health care attorneys will gather at the Institute to discuss developments under the qui tam provisions of the nation’s major whistleblower statute, the False Claims Act, as well as other issues relating to fraud in the health care industry.
Recent Significant False Claims Act Recoveries
(as reported by www.taf.org)
The country’s ongoing economic distress has produced layoffs in many industries, and pharma appears to be feeling the pain as well.
Recent layoffs reported in the drug industry include Sanofi (650 sales reps);Novartis (550 U.S. salespersons);Merck (8,000); Wyeth (2,440); GSK (1,000); Schering-Plough (5,500);and Boehringer Ingelheim (200).
On the same grey November day when President Bush visited Wall Street’s Federal Hall to address the ever-morphing “bailout,” I was in lower Manhattan meeting with IRS officials about an IRS Whistleblower matter. The tax evasion scheme we discussed was yet another that has cost taxpayers dearly.
As NYPD officers scurried about to help protect the President that day, I wondered who and what would protect our taxpayer funds–the hundreds of billions the government was now about to dole out–from fraud and abuse.
Fraud is rampant, as proven by the evidence brought to light by so many of our whistleblower clients under the qui tam statute, the False Claims Act, and now under the new IRS Whistleblower Program.
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