The Department of Justice said it recovered a record-breaking $2.9 billion to resolve federal False Claims Act allegations in fiscal year 2024, a slight increase from the historic $2.7 billion recovered in fiscal year 2023.

The DOJ said Wednesday that the government and whistleblowers were party to 558 settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. That’s the second-highest total after last year’s record of 566 recoveries.

The False Claims Act imposes triple damages and penalties on those who knowingly and falsely claim money from the United States or knowingly fail to pay money owed to the United States.

“The department’s enforcement of the False Claims Act this past year demonstrates its continued commitment to pursuing those who seek to defraud the American taxpayers,” Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Mizer said.

The whistleblower provisions, Mizer said, ensures the taxpayer funds are used correctly.

Among the 2024 cases highlighted in the report:

• Strauss Ventures, doing business as the Grand Health Care System, and 12 affiliated skilled nursing facilities agreed to pay $21.3 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly billed federal healthcare programs for therapy services that were “unreasonable, unnecessary or unskilled, or that simply did not occur as billed.” As part of the settlement, the company admitted it had implemented quotas relating to beneficiaries’ length of stay and to the percentages of beneficiaries billed at the...

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