A qui tam whistleblower and his lawyer are very happy as a result of a $102 million jury verdict–to be shared by the whistleblower–in a False Claims Act trial that ended on May 14.
The defendants in this whistleblower case included Bill Harbert International Construction Inc.; Harbert Construction Services; Bilhar International Establishment; Harbert Corp.; and Harbert International. The case alleged bid-rigging on three U.S. government-funded construction contracts in Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s.
The jury found that defendants violated the False Claims Act and awarded $34 million in damages, which are “trebled” under the False Claims Act.
The Department of Justice lawyer, Carolyn Mark, is a veteran prosecutor. She handled one of my first cases under the False Claims Act in the late 1980s–another bid-rigging case against electrical contractors, one of whom I was defending (in my former life, before I represented whistleblowers). I sent Carolyn a note of congratulations today.
AUSA Keith Morgan also deserves kudos, as does Robert Bell, who represented whistleblower Richard Miller.
Two of my favorite D.C. federal judges presided over the case. Initially, the late Judge William Bryant had it, and it was later transferred to Judge Royce Lamberth.
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