United States Government False Claims Act Cases
The Federal False Claims Act, or Whistleblower Law, 31 U.S.C. § 3729-3733 was originally enacted at the urging of President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Union soldiers on the battlefield were opening crates of desperately needed weapons only to discover that instead of weapons they were filled with sawdust. Fraud on the government was rampant. Lincoln believed that the solution was to give private citizens an incentive to prosecute fraud on the government.
Qui tam is the term for the mechanism in the federal False Claims Act that allows individuals with evidence of fraud against the government to sue the person or organization responsible for the fraud. Qui tam is an abbreviation of "qui tam pro domino rege quam pro sic ipso in hoc parte sequitur" which means "he who as well for the king as for himself sues in this matter."
A qui tam action is one brought under the False Claims Act by an individual called a relator on behalf of the federal government. Only one lawsuit can be brought for each fraudulent act. The government has the right to either intervene and join the action or decline intervention. If the government declines to intervene, the relator prosecutes the case on behalf of the government. Under the False Claims Act, successful relators are entitled to between 15% to 30% of the funds they help recover for the government. In order to prevail, a relator must prove that the organization or person being sued knowingly submitted a false claim for payment or approval to the federal government.
The Maglio Christopher & Toale Law Firm represents whistleblowers in Federal False Claims Act Cases. If you believe that you may have information that a organization or person is defrauding the United States government, do not hesitate to contact us.