The head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) branch that oversees False Claims Act (FCA) investigations affirmed the Trump Administration’s commitment to pursue civil fraud cases as part of its focus on achieving governmental efficiency and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse. Speaking at a national conference last week, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston confirmed that DOJ plans to continue enforcing the False Claims Act “aggressively” under the new Administration. In particular, he highlighted the statute as a “powerful” enforcement mechanism against entities that try to evade new import tariffs.
The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., is one of the primary tools used by the government to recover funds paid out as a result of fraud. The statute imposes civil liability on any person who knowingly presents a false claim for payment of government funds or makes a false statement that is material to a claim for payment of government funds. In what’s known as a “reverse false claim,” it imposes liability on anyone who uses false statements or records to avoid or decrease payments owed to the government, such as federal customs duties. In such situations, the statute empowers the government to recover treble damages plus penalties for each violation. The statute also enables whistleblowers (or “relators”) to file qui tam actions on behalf of the government and receive a share of any money recovered in the litigation.
False Claims Act investigations...
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