On October 25 and 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two settlements that stemmed from qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act.
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act enable private citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the government if they know of an individual or company defrauding the government. Qui tam whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 15 and 30% of the government’s recovery, if one occurs.
On October 25, the DOJ announced that The Rensselaerville Institute (TRI) will pay $86,676 to resolve allegations that it received an inflated Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The PPP was established with the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to aid small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating lenders processed PPP loan applications and funded approved loans, “which was fully guaranteed by the [Small Business Administration (SBA)].”
In the settlement agreement, TRI acknowledged that “in early April 2020, its now-former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) provided another now-former TRI official with data and calculations showing that TRI’s ‘average monthly payroll,’ when multiplied in accordance with the PPP loan eligibility formula, totaled less than $500,000.” However, one of the officials still went ahead and applied for a $500,000 PPP loan. The DOJ press release states: “Shortly thereafter, the CFO wrote various TRI board...
A federal jury has convicted a San Francisco man of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme involving fraudulent insurance claims on already-wrecked vehicles, pros...