Whistleblower suits that reveal Medicaid fraud in Texas have grabbed the attention of the Texas Legislature–which apparently recognizes how powerful state False Claims Acts can be. Today’s Houston Chronicle reports that Texas is working through a “backlog” of Medicaid fraud cases, the top 20 of which could bring another $700…
We are excited to see the new IRS Whistleblower Office’s procedures being developed. We obtained a copy of a recent letter from IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson, describing how the new Whistleblower procedures are taking shape, to Senator Charles Grassley. Senator Grassley has been instrumental in pushing for effective whistleblower…
We are encouraged that the IRS is taking action in response to the fraudulent practice of “back-dating” of stock options. Potential whistleblowers may wish to see the IRS’ description of its program to deal with an aspect of this problem. Here is an excerpt from the IRS’ announcement of how…
We saw more good news when the IRS announced the first director of the new IRS Whistleblower Office–Stephen A. Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock was formerly in charge of the Office of Professional Responsibility. He also had led anti-fraud and abuse programs at the Defense Department. The IRS’s press release is reprinted…
We saw yesterday’s quarterly audit report on Iraq fraud, published by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), Stuart Bowen Jr. The message is sobering: “The security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort,” in the words of…
We have been working with the IRS to bring information about large tax cheating to the IRS’s attention, so that clients can participate in the new IRS Whistleblower rewards. The IRS officials sound excited to have this new tool at their disposal, and we are happy to help our whistleblower…
We all remember how Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita left the Gulf Coast devastated. As government agencies began to provide disaster relief with public dollars, dishonest contractors saw a huge opportunity for fraud against the government. Too many FEMA contracts have been the targets of dishonest contractors. The “watchdogs” of…
We hear from many lawyers and clients that they are not aware of the new IRS Whistleblower Rewards Program. The new provisions took effect on December 20, 2006, and yet so far they are locate on the web. We hope it is helpful to you to find the new IRS…
I looked into the experiences that states have had with their own False Claims Acts, because almost every state is considering passing its own. I have tried to provide a brief summary that I hope is useful to you. To encourage states to enact their own False Claims statutes with…
This is the final section of my article. It discusses the most significant recent qui tam cases under the False Claims Act (as of December 2006). B. Recent Significant Recoveries Under the False Claims Act: 1. Health Care Industry a. Tenet Healthcare Corporation: $900 million In June 2006, Justice Department…