The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced its False Claims Act (FCA) Recoveries for 2022, with the second-highest number of settlements in history. While the number of settlements increased, the total amount of dollar recoveries declined. Each year, the DOJ publishes statistics about its recoveries under the FCA and the number of new FCA matters filed during the prior year. These FCA statistics provide helpful information and offer a window into the DOJ’s enforcement activity and reliance on private whistleblowers (often called “relators”) who bring FCA cases forward and help the DOJ recover significant sums of money.
In 2022, the government and whistleblowers were party to 351 settlements and judgments. Despite the record-setting number, the total amount of recoveries sunk to just $2.2 billion in an underwhelming year of recoveries for the government. A large portion of the recovery for 2022 came from only one large settlement, a deal for nearly $845 million with pharmaceutical company Biogen, Inc. to resolve allegations that the company offered and paid illegal physician kickbacks.
Over the last year, the DOJ continued its recent trend of bringing more cases outside qui tam claims—often using data analysis to identify matters. Since 2020, the government has increased the number of FCA cases brought. And in 2022, both the government and whistleblowers brought an increased number of new matters, from 212 to 296 and 598 to 652, respectively. Despite the increase...
This story is the second in an ongoing series on the Cost of Fraud, as Open the Books tallies the hidden fees on American tax returns. Click here to read the first story on fraudulent autism billi...