After I helped draft Georgia’s new False Claims Act enacted last year, the “Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act,” I have been asked many questions about this new whistleblower law. Like the federal False Claims Act, its “qui tam” provisions allow private citizens to report fraud against public funds and receive a share of the recovery.
What many people may not know is that Georgia’s two False Claims Acts now apply to all spending by the state, and all spending by local governments.
The 2012 Act can be used by a wide array of “local government” bodies, and by citizens who know about fraud against those entities. The Act defines “local government” broadly to include “any Georgia county, municipal corporation, consolidated government, authority, board of education or other local public board, body, or commission, town, school district, board of cooperative educational services, local public benefit corporation, hospital authority, taxing authority, or other political subdivision of the state or of such local government, including MARTA.”
To answer many questions, we have uploaded here our summary of these laws, titled “The False Claims Act and the New Georgia ‘TaxProtectionection False Claims Act,'” which you may download here.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions about the False Claims Act or the new Georgia Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act.
Our whistleblower lawyers represent people who expose fraud against the government or against investors, by pursuing claims under the False Claims Act, (the “qui tam” law), the IRS Whistleblower Program, and the SEC Whistleblower and CFTC Whistleblower Programs.
Unlike most firms representing whistleblowers, our lawyers have substantial experience in trying complex civil and criminal cases. Based on that broad civil and criminal background, we have also presented programs on protecting whistleblowers from criminal and civil liability.
For a free consultation about a potential whistleblower claim, please feel free to call us at 800-228-9159, or email us by clicking here.