A qui tam whistleblower and his lawyer are very happy as a result of a $102 million jury verdict–to be shared by the whistleblower–in a False Claims Act trial that ended on May 14.<\/p>\n
The defendants in this whistleblower case included Bill Harbert International Construction Inc.; Harbert Construction Services; Bilhar International Establishment; Harbert Corp.; and Harbert International. The case alleged bid-rigging on three U.S. government-funded construction contracts in Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n
The jury found that defendants violated the False Claims Act and awarded $34 million in damages, which are “trebled” under the False Claims Act.<\/p>\n
The Department of Justice lawyer, Carolyn Mark, is a veteran prosecutor. She handled one of my first cases under the False Claims Act in the late 1980s–another bid-rigging case against electrical contractors, one of whom I was defending (in my former life, before I represented whistleblowers). I sent Carolyn a note of congratulations today.<\/p>\n
AUSA Keith Morgan also deserves kudos, as does Robert Bell, who represented whistleblower Richard Miller. <\/p>\n