Very important amendments to the nation’s major whistleblower law, the False Claims Act, cleared the House Judiciary Committee today. The False Claims Act Corrections Act of 2007 is intended to restore the False Claims Act to its originally intended usefulness. It will eliminate many “loopholes” that dishonest government contractors have…
This past week, more than 450 of the country’s best employment lawyers who represent individuals gathered in Atlanta for the National Employment Lawyers Association’s Annual Conference. I had the pleasure of appearing with a group of excellent attorneys on a panel of that discussed “Strategic Thinking in Whistleblower Cases,” moderated…
A wave of new “whistleblower” laws continues, inspired by the successes of the federal False Claims Act. These new laws include (1) state versions of the federal False Claims Act, and (2) the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program. At the same time, in 2008 Congress is considering legislation to strengthen…
Today saw a major development that could affect every whistleblower, whistleblower attorney, and whistleblower case involving the False Claims Act, the nation’s primary whistleblower law. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today approved new legislation to restore the False Claims Act to its originally intended strength, by eliminating a series of…
The Justice Department has announced that Besler & Company, Inc., a New Jersey health care consulting firm, and its principal Philip Besler, have agreed to settle allegations of fraud against the federal Medicare program, which were initiated by two qui tam whistleblower cases. The settlement is for $2.875 million, plus…
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a much-needed bill that will restore to its intended effectiveness the government’s primary law for combating fraud. Our whistleblower lawyer blog has written previously about the “False Claims Act Correction Act.” The Act is one of the most significant developments…
The trend of new state False Claims Acts with qui tam whistleblower provisions continues, as Louisiana considers whether to adopt its own version of the federal False Claims Act. The growing number of state False Claims Acts has been a frequent topic of this whistleblower lawyer blog. In 2007, New…
Whistleblowers and their attorneys filing suit under the False Claims Act helped federal authorities recover $2.2 billion in Medicare and Medicaid fraud cases in fiscal year 2006, according to a government report just released. The whistleblowers or “relators” received $140 million of the proceeds for their efforts, under the qui…
If an organization or individual is receiving a federal subsidy of any kind and makes false statements to the Federal Government with respect to such subsidies, such false statements could subject the receiver of the subsidy to liability under the Federal False Claims Act. In short, if a recipient of…
Two days ago on 1/28/08 President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2008. This legislation includes a provision protecting defense contractor employees who blow the whistle on contracting fraud. 10 U.S.C. § 2409 has specifically been amended via Section 846 to protect employees…