January 20, 2023 - The False Claims Act ("FCA") imposes criminal and civil penalties for falsely billing the government, over-representing the amount of a delivered product, or understating an obligation to the government. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A) (2022). Specifically, the FCA imposes liability on any person or entity who knowingly presents a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government.
Simply put, an FCA defendant is liable for submitting a false claim to the government for payment if it acts "knowingly," defined as acting with actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, or reckless disregard. For liability to "attach," the false claim must be material to the government's decisions to pay. In other words, if the government would not have likely paid the claim had it known of the fraudulent conduct.
Under the FCA, a private individual, known as a "whistleblower," may bring a qui tam lawsuit against alleged fraudsters on behalf of the government. In a qui tam action, the private party who initiates the suit is called a "relator" and the government is considered the "plaintiff" because the government is the party in interest. A qui tam lawsuit is filed under seal, so that only the relator and the plaintiff-government know about it.
Once the suit is filed, the Department of Justice has 60 days to investigate and decide whether to intervene to take over the proceeding. If the DOJ does intervene, it has the authority to dismiss...
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