On June 7, 2022, Governor Jared Polis signed into law the Colorado False Claims Act (CFCA) at Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 24-31-101 et seq. The CFCA is largely based on the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), but is not an exact replica. Per Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office will be tasked with enforcing the CFCA, the new law provides "increased enforcement mechanisms to provide new and more robust avenues to target criminal actors who seek to illegally divert government funds."
The timing of the CFCA passage is significant. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local governments received large infusions of federal stimulus and recovery funding. In the government's eyes, where there is an increase in available public money, there is a heightened risk of criminal or fraudulent conduct which the State of Colorado could combat with the CFCA. Companies and persons operating in Colorado should be aware of the new law and understand its key differences from its federal counterpart, three of which we discuss below.
The CFCA's definition of a "claim" is similar to the FCA's, but adds two exclusions. The CFCA excludes requests or demands for money or property the state or a political subdivision has paid to: (i) an individual as part of a government assistance program in an amount less than $10,000 in a calendar year; and (ii) a person under the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act," articles 4, 5, and 6 of...
University of Rochester Medical Center and a former pathologist resolved a retaliation suit alleging URMC violated the False Claims Act by firing her for calling attention to federal grant fraud. ...