Whistleblower, False Claims Act & Qui Tam Information

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by The Law Offices of Jason S. Coomer, PLLC

Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Is Increasing And Can Be The Basis Of Qui Tam Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits and Government Contractor False Certification Lawsuits by Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyer and Government Procurement False Certification Whistleblower Lawsuits Jason S. Coomer

Government contractor procurement fraud and false certification fraud have increased as some government contractors and subcontractors have decided that they can make large profits by defrauding the government. These Fraudulent Contractors provide defective goods, cross charge, make false certifications of services provided, charge for services not provided, charge for goods not provided, violate the Truth-in-Negotiations Act ("TINA"), and make improper cost allocations.  Whistleblowers that have independent knowledge of procurement fraud committed against the government by government contractors and subcontractors can blow the whistle on the procurement fraud and if they are the first to provide notice of the fraud can recover a large financial reward for helping the government identify and stop procurement fraud.

If you are aware of defense contractor procurement fraud, highway contractor procurement fraud, health care company procurement fraud, or other government contractor or subcontractor procurement fraud, please feel free to contact Texas Government Contractor Procurement Fraud lawyer, Jason Coomer, via e-mail  or online submission form for a free review of a government contractor procurement fraud qui tam claim.

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Defense contractor procurement fraud is a common way that government contractors defraud the United States Government and taxpayers out of large amounts of money.  Many whistle blowers have been successful in blowing the whistle on defense contractor procurement fraud and revealed procurement fraud schemes that put our troops in danger and steal money from the United States.  Under Federal False Claims Act litigation billions of dollars have been regained from these procurement fraud defense contractors.  Some common ways defense contractors commit procurement fraud and cheat the government are false certification of product quality, product substitution, cross charging, false certification of services provided, charging for Services or Goods not provided, and Violations of the Truth-in-Negotiations Act ("TINA"), and Improper Cost Allocation.

False Certification of Product Quality commonly occurs after a product has been approved for mass production.  The original prototypes of a product are typically created with high quality materials and parts including strong metals, seals, plastics, and components.  However, after the original prototypes have been tested and approved, some defense contractors use inferior parts and materials to lower costs that make weapons, ships, vehicles, computers, electronics, and other military goods less reliable, weaker, and more prone to not work when needed.  The defense contractor that provides a false certification of a product's quality has committed a false certification that may subject the defense contractor to a Government Contractor Procurement Fraud False Certification of Product Quality Whistleblower Reward Lawsuit.

The Defense of Department often requires its contractors to build weapons systems in accordance with very detailed product specifications because quality and reliability are critical with weapons systems and other military equipment. Failure to comply with these specifications and falsely certifying that these specifications were met can cause death and place our troops in danger.  As such it is extremely important that  appropriate quality assurance steps are taken in building or producing weapons systems and other military equipment and that a defense contractor's certification of compliance with these specifications can be trusted.

Similar to Government Contractor Procurement Fraud False Certification of Product Quality Qui Tam Claims are Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Product Substitution False Claims.  These claims occur when a Defense Contractor that is under a government contract that specifies that the defense contractor build products using a certain grade, quality of parts, or materials & parts from American companies, fails to comply with the contract. These Defense Contractors often decide it is more profitable to use or substitute inferior parts or parts not made by American companies.  Defense Contractors that use inferior parts or parts not made by American Companies as required by their government contract may be subject to a Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Product Substitution False Claim Act Whistleblower Lawsuit.

Cross-Charging occurs when a Defense Contractor has a fixed-price contract, where the company receives a fixed price for a certain number of weapons no matter how much it costs to produce them and another that is a "cost-plus" contract, where the government pays the company for the cost of making the weapons, plus a percentage of its costs as a profit.  In this circumstance the Defense Contractor has an economic incentive to charge the time it spends working on the fixed-price contract (where it gets paid the same no matter how much time it takes) to the cost-plus contract (where it gets paid for its costs plus profit). This may be accomplished by instructing employees to write down on their time cards that they worked on the cost-plus contract when they actually worked on the fixed-price contract.  A Defense Contractor that charges fixed price work on a cost-plus contract is creating false claims or false certifications that may subject them to a Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Cross-Charging False Claims Act Lawsuit.

Improper cost allocation false claims are a more subtle version of the cross-charging scheme. In this type of false claim, a defense contractor with government contracts and private commercial contracts fails to spread or allocate their costs fairly among the different jobs. These types of false claims are typically more difficult to detect as the defense contract usually tries to hide the misallocation in indirect costs or bury the misallocations in hard to interpret records.  These improper allocation false claims are more common in large contracts where the product has military uses and private uses such as with large aircraft companies.  Defense Contractors that deliberately allocate a disproportionate share of indirect or overhead costs to the government for the purpose on increasing there profits may cause themselves to be subject to Improper Allocation False Claims Law Suits, if the correct whistle blower reports the fraud.

When the government wants to purchase highly specialized weapons, military services, or other military equipment, it often is limited to one potential defense contractor because of the specialized need.  This limited supply often creates monopoly power in the "sole-source supplier".  This creates a problem in making sure that the sole-source supplier does not over charge the government for the good or services that it is supplying to the government.  The Truth In Negotiation Act (TINA) requires the Defense Contractor to truthfully disclose all relevant information about its costs to the government in sole-source contract negotiations. Defense Contractors that submit false cost and pricing data to the Defense Department or failure of a sole-source Defense Contractor to provide accurate cost information to intentionally inflate costs to increase profits can cause liability for a violation of the Truth In Negotiation Act and result in a Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Truth In Negotiation Act Violation False Claims Act Law Suit.

For more information on War Profiteering Whistleblower Qui Tam Lawsuits, Defense Contractor False Certification Lawsuits, and other Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawsuits, please go to the following web page on War Profiteering Whistleblower Qui Tam Lawsuit, Defense Contractor False Certification Lawsuit, and other Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawsuit Information.  

Government Contracting, Acquisitions, and Regulations

Federal Government Contracting can be extremely complicated, but lucrative.   Civil False Claims Act creates financial incentives for private citizens that have knowledge of government contractor fraud to blow the whistle on these fraudulent contractors. Whistleblowers under the act not only receive protection from the government for their A key provision of the act was known as qui tam.

WIFCON.com serves "the federal acquisition community by providing quick access to acquisition information such as contracting laws and pending legislation, current and proposed regulations, guidance, courts and boards of contract appeals, bid protest decisions, contracting newsletters, and selected analysis of federal acquisition issues."  For more information on Federal Government Contracting, please go to the following web site, WIFCON.com.- Where in Federal Contracting?

Federal Business Opportunities is also an excellent web site for information on Federal Government Contractors and Contracting.  For more information on Federal Government Contracting, please go to the following web site, Federal Business Opportunities.

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The increased government spending over the past decade created an environment where many corporations, dishonest government contractors, fraudulent government sub-contractors, and other dishonest people have begun committing procurement fraud including systematic procurement fraud against the government including the Department of Defense.  This government contractor procurement fraud has defrauded the government out of large amounts of money.  As such, the government is offering large financial rewards for government contractor procurement fraud whistleblowers that are aware of fraudulent billing of the government.  These government contractor procurement fraud whistleblowers can often work with government contractor procurement fraud whistleblowers lawyers and the Department of Justice to expose fraudulent government contractors and criminals that are committing procurement fraud.


Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawsuits and Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Actions

The United States Department of Justice is working with procurement fraud whistleblowers to root out government contractor fraud committed in connection with the procurement of goods and services used by our military and civilian agencies, including fraud that affects our men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since January 2009, procurement fraud cases, including the non-war related procurement fraud recoveries have accounted for over $1.01 billion in recoveries - more than the Department's recoveries in 2007 and 2008 combined. The Department's recoveries since 2009 include more than $718 million attributable to Department of Defense contracts.

Ensuring that our military and procurement systems are protected from fraud is vitally important. Using the False Claims Act, the Department is aggressively pursuing fraud in connection with the wars in Southwest Asia. During fiscal year 2010, the Civil Division recovered $10.6 million in these cases. To date, settlements and judgments in procurement fraud cases involving the wars in Southwest Asia total $152.2 million. Of this amount, $129.7 million has been recovered since January 2009.

The Department has intervened in a case against Public Warehousing Company, a multi-billion dollar defense contractor that is alleged to have engaged in war profiteering on three prime vendor contracts (for which it was paid $9.8 billion) with the Defense Logistics Agency to supply food to U.S. troops in Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq. At home, the Department is leading an investigation into companies, as well as individual executives, who manufacture and sell defective Zylon fabric used as the key ballistic material in bulletproof vests sold to the United States for use by federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. The investigation has revealed that these vests degraded quickly over time due to heat and humidity and were unfit for ballistic use. Thus far, the Department has obtained more than $59 million in this effort, and the investigation continues today.

In addition to investigating and initiating cases that target procurement fraud, the Division also aggressively pursues counterclaims when fraudulent conduct surfaces in defensive matters. The Division handles defensive procurement cases when they are filed in the United States Court of Federal Claims. The Division has had substantial success in recent years in obtaining judgments and settlements stemming from fraud in such cases, which often involve inflated contractor damages claims. For example, in Daewoo Engineering v. United States, the Department of Justice collected approximately $51 million in 2010 in settlement of fraud claims arising from a contract dispute concerning the construction of a road in Palau. The Division also recently settled for $9 million fraud claims in Securitas v. United States, a case concerning security guard contracts for services at United States military installations in Germany.


The Defense Procurement Fraud Clearinghouse

The Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment (DPFD) Clearinghouse, was established in 1993 and has been assigned to the Bureau of of Justice. This provision required the U.S. Attorney General to establish a single point of contact for contractors or subcontractors of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to promptly confirm whether potential employees have been convicted of fraud or any other felony arising out of a contract with the Department of Defense. The clearinghouse serves as this point of contact and is the repository for all DPFD-related records.

Legislation: The Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment (DPFD) Clearing house was established by Section 815, Subsection 10, of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year (FY) 1993 [Public Law 102-484, United States Code, Section 2408 (c)].

Clearinghouse Data Submissions: Defense-related fraud and felony cases are tried in federal court and prosecuted by a U.S. Attorney. U.S. Attorneys' Offices submit copies of sentencing orders for all individuals convicted of defense-related fraud or felony in their districts to the Defense Procurement Fraud Debarment Clearinghouse on a quarterly basis. BJA maintains a list of people who have been disqualified from contracting with DoD based on these sentencing orders.

Clearinghouse Services: The clearinghouse responds to inquiries from federal agencies, DoD contractors, and first-tier subcontractors as required to determine employment or contract eligibility. The clearinghouse also forwards pertinent information to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), where the information is coded to identify the specific category of federal exclusion which is included in the GSA publication Lists of Parties Excluded From Federal Procurement or Non-procurement Programs, more commonly known as the Debarment List or EPLS. The exclusion is categorized according to the specific cause (i.e., the statute violated and the treatment or exclusion).

Information for DoD Contractors DoD contractors and subcontractors should verify that potential employees have not been debarred and are not on the current List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement or Non-procurement Programs (EPLS). Individuals who have been convicted of fraud or any other felony arising out of a contract with DoD are prohibited from contracting with or being employed by any DoD contractor, as stipulated under the National Defense Authorization Act of 1989 (Public Law 100-456).

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Government contractor wage fraud has increased as some government contractors and subcontractors have sought to fraudulently avoid paying the prevailing wage or fringe benefits in violation of the Davis Bacon and Related Act (DBRA).  Government Contractors that violate DBRA and/or falsely certify services or goods that they seek payment from the government for can be subject to Federal False Claims Act Lawsuits and required to pay back fraudulently taken money.  Whistleblowers that have independent knowledge of fraud committed against the government by government contractors and subcontractors can become American heroes by blowing the whistle on fraud and if they are the first to provide notice of the fraud can recover a portion of the recovered money.

The Davis Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) requires all contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal or District of Columbia construction contracts or federally assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 to pay their laborers and mechanics not less than the prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on similar projects in the area. The prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits are determined by the Secretary of Labor for inclusion in covered contracts.

In addition to the Davis Bacon Act itself, Congress added Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions to approximately 60 laws-"related Acts"-under which federal agencies assist construction projects through grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance. (Examples of the related Acts are the Federal-Aid Highway Acts, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.) Generally, the application of prevailing wage requirements to projects receiving federal assistance under any particular "related" Act depends on the provisions of that law.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has oversight responsibilities to assure coordination of administration and consistency of enforcement of the labor standards provisions of the Davis Bacon and Related Acts. Under this authority, DOL has issued regulations establishing standards and procedures for the administration and enforcement of the Davis-Bacon labor standards provisions. Federal contracting agencies have day-to-day responsibility for administration and enforcement of the Davis-Bacon labor standards provisions in covered contracts for which they are responsible or to which they provide federal assistance under laws they administer.

For more information on the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), please go to the following United States Department of Labor Web Page.

Through government contractor fraud qui tam lawsuits and other federal false claims act lawsuits, whistleblowers, the United States Department of Justice, and fraudulent contractor qui lawyers have helped the government recover billions of dollars that was wrongfully taken through fraud from the government.  Often in these cases the fraudulent government contractor has paid off key government official to look the other way and it is essential to have a whistleblower with specialized knowledge of the fraud to expose the contractor fraud.  In other cases, the fraudulent government contractor is exploiting a lack of efficient supervision in the bureaucratic system.  In these cases, it also typically takes a whistleblower with specialized knowledge to locate the fraud and expose it.

Economic Incentives for Whistleblowers Lawsuits, Government Fraud Lawsuits, and Qui Tam Lawsuits

The basic premise of "qui tam actions" is to encourage private citizens to step up and blow the whistle on fraud.  Qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act are based on the theory that one of the least expensive and most effective means of preventing fraud on taxpayers and the government is to make the perpetrators of government fraud liable to actions by private persons acting under the strong stimulus of personal ill will and potential of large economic gain.

The strong public policy behind creating an economic gain for whistleblowers is that  the government would be significantly less likely to learn of the allegations of fraud, but for persons in certain positions with specialized knowledge of fraud that has been committed. Congress has made it clear that creating this economic incentive is beneficial not only for the government, taxpayers, and the realtor, but is an efficient method of regulating government to prevent fraud and fraudulent schemes.

The central purpose of the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act is to set up financial incentives to supplement government regulation and enforcement by encouraging whistleblowers with specialized knowledge of fraud going on in the government to blow the whistle on the crime.

The whistleblower's share of recovery is a maximum of 30 percent and the government's prior knowledge of fraud now does not necessarily bar a whistleblower from collecting lost revenue. If the government takes over the lawsuit, the relator can "continue as a party to the action." The defendant is also required to pay for the relator's attorney fees. The whistleblower is also protected from retaliatory actions by his or her employer. As a result of the 1986 amendment and subsequent amendments to the False Claims Act, qui tam lawsuits have increased dramatically.   Though the law was first enacted for corrupt defense contractors during the civil war, the subsequent amendments has uncovered fraudulent government contractors building roads, bridges, and other public works as well as health care providers and others committing Medicare fraud.  So far, billions of dollars have been recovered.

Anyone who defrauds the government out of revenue can be held accountable under the False Claims Act. Common defendants include defense contractors, health care providers, other government contractors & subcontractors, state and local government agencies,  and private universities. Whistleblowers often include current and former employees of the defrauding company, competitors of government contractors and public interest groups.

The False Claims Act was enacted to encourage private citizens to assist the government in the fight against fraud. Often the whistleblower faces an uphill battle as large, powerful corporations or individuals are usually named as defendants. An experienced attorney in qui tam claims may help you gain a percentage of stolen government funds.

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Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyers work with whistleblowers to expose deceptive and corrupt government contractors that are committing procurement fraud.  As a Texas Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyer, Jason Coomer, works with other Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Qui Tam Lawyers throughout the state of Texas as well as throughout the United States.  He commonly works with Houston Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyers, Dallas Procurement Fraud Qui Tam Lawyers, San Antonio Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyers, Washington Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Lawyers, New York Government Contractor Procurement Fraud Qui Tam Lawyers, Virginia Government Contractor Fraud Lawyers, and other Qui Tam Lawyers to help American heroes blow the whistle on corrupt government contractors.

If you are aware of defense contractor procurement fraud, highway contractor procurement fraud, health care company procurement fraud, or other government contractor or subcontractor procurement fraud, please feel free to contact Texas Government Contractor Procurement Fraud lawyer, Jason Coomer, via e-mail  or online submission form for a free review of a government contractor procurement fraud qui tam claim.

Fraudulent Government Contractor Whistleblower Recovery Claims, Qui Tam Whistleblower Reward Actions, and Qui Tam Whistleblower Compensation Lawsuits

Qui tam Government Contractor Whistleblower Reward Claims are legal actions that are brought by whistleblowers seeking rewards against corrupt government contractors that price gouge, provide defective products, seek payment of services that were not provided, or provide false information to the government for the purpose of claiming payments or benefits.  Common qui tam claims or fraudulent government contractor actions include defense contractors and health care companies that charge for services and products that were not provided or falsely certify the quality of a product.  For more information on seeking a whistleblower reward for exposing a fraudulent government contractor or subcontractor, please read below or feel free to send an e-mail message to Whistleblower Recovery Lawyer Jason S. Coomer.

Qui Tam Claims and Qui Tam Lawyers

The abbreviation is from Latin and refers to "a person who files a suit for the king as for himself".  Qui tam laws have existed for centuries as deceptive government contractors have been around as long as government has contracted with private companies to provide services. Qui tam actions allow a private citizen to file a lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government in an effort to recover losses caused by fraud against the government. The law is an incentive for civilians who know of individuals or companies making false claims for profit to come forward with information. In reward, the "whistleblower" (also known as the relator) shares in any federal revenue recovered.

Qui Tam Lawyers work with whistleblowers to expose deceptive and corrupt government contractors.  As a Federal Government Contractor Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Jason Coomer, and other Federal Government Contractor Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers commonly work in litigation teams with other qui tam lawyers and the Department of Justice to help American heroes that blow the whistle on corrupt government contractors.

Federal False Claims Act Amendments and Federal Contractor, Grantee, and Subcontractor Fraud Claims

The False Claims Act was enacted to encourage private citizens to assist the government in the fight against fraud. While often the whistleblower faces an uphill battle as large, powerful corporations or individuals are usually named as defendants.  The whistleblower can hire an experienced government contractor fraud claim attorney and later work with attorneys from the Department of Justice in pursuing a qui tam claim. 

Under the Federal False Claims Act, a "copy of the complaint and written disclosure of substantially all material evidence and information the person possesses shall be served on the Government pursuant to Rule 4(d)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The complaint shall be filed in camera, shall remain under seal for at least 60 days, and shall not be served on the defendant until the court so orders. The Government may elect to intervene and proceed with the action within 60 days after it receives both the complaint and the material evidence and information."

This means that quite a bit of work on a Federal Contractor Fraud Claim occurs at the prior to the filing of the complaint.  This work includes gathering information and evidence of the fraud as well as a damage model of the amount of money that has been taken from the United States Federal Government through fraud.

In 1986 as a result of increased government contractor fraud, Congress amended the Federal False Claims Act in order to make it easier for whistleblowers to file claims against fraudulent government contractors including large corporations, defense contractors, health care providers, and individuals.  This expansion of the Federal False Claims Act allowed Qui Tam Lawyers and whistleblowers to file qui tam claims against government contractors that were fraudulently misidentifying medical expenses and overcharging the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

The 1986 Amendment defined a "claim" as:

"...any request or demand which is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient if the United States Government provides any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded, or if the government will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded."

In 2009, the Federal False Claims Act was Amended again to redefine a "claim" to include claims submitted "to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient, if the money or property is to be spent or used on the Government's behalf or to advance a Government program or interest." This language makes explicit the ability of Government and whistleblowers to pursue subcontractors and grantees. This expansion will create potential liability to health care providers and other businesses that contract with government programs including Medicaid and Medicare.

Also in 2009, additional changes in the law have expanded Whistleblower protections including Section 1553 of the Act that "prohibits any private employer or state or local government that receives any funds pursuant to the Act from retaliating against an employee who discloses, internally or externally, information that the employee reasonably believes constitutes evidence of one or more of a number of specified improper uses of stimulus funds, including gross mismanagement of an agency contract or grant, gross waste of covered funds, or an abuse of authority related to the implementation or use of covered funds. Section 1553 establishes procedures and damage remedies that are similar in some ways to those with which many employers are familiar under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"), but its whistleblower provisions go beyond the whistleblower protections of SOX in several respects."

Compensation for Relators, Qui Tam Plaintiffs, and Whistleblowers

The whistleblower's share of recovery is a maximum of 25 to 30 percent of the proceeds, if the government does not proceed with the action and a maximum of 15 to 25 percent of the proceeds if the government takes over the action.  Below are the provisions of the Federal False Claims Act that relate to Whistleblower Qui Tam Plaintiff compensation.

(1) If the Government proceeds with an action brought by a person under subsection (b), such person shall, subject to the second sentence of this paragraph, receive at least 15 percent but not more than 25 percent of the proceeds of the action or settlement of the claim, depending upon the extent to which the person substantially contributed to the prosecution of the action. Where the action is one which the court finds to be based primarily on disclosures of specific information (other than information provided by the person bringing the action) relating to allegations or transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing, in a congressional, administrative, or Government [General] Accounting Office report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the court may award such sums as it considers appropriate, but in no case more than 10 percent of the proceeds, taking into account the significance of the information and the role of the person bringing the action in advancing the case to litigation. Any payment to a person under the first or second sentence of this paragraph shall be made from the proceeds. Any such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.

(2) If the Government does not proceed with an action under this section, the person bringing the action or settling the claim shall receive an amount which the court decides is reasonable for collecting the civil penalty and damages. The amount shall be not less than 25 percent and not more than 30 percent of the proceeds of the action or settlement and shall be paid out of such proceeds. Such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.

Types of Qui Tam Claims, Whistleblower Claims, and Federal Government Contractor Fraud Claims

Anyone who defrauds the government out of funds can be held accountable under the False Claims Act. Common.  Potential defendants include defense contractors, health care providers, other government contractors & subcontractors, banks & financial institutes, state and local government agencies,  and private universities. Whistleblowers often include current and former employees of the defrauding company, competitors of government contractors and public interest groups.

Qui tam actions typically revolve around false claims that are either directly or indirectly presented to the Government for "payment or approval." These false claims can be generated through the submission of false bills, records, statements or other representations made to the Government.

There are several types of Qui Tam claims covered under the False Claims Act:

  • Mischarging or overcharging for goods or services.
  • Improper price data and the request for payment for services never provided.
  • Holding government property for fraudulent purposes.
  • Avoiding payment of a debt to the government because of illegal reasons.
  • Knowingly providing the government with defective or dangerous products that were falsely certified.
  • Falsely certifying information for the entitlement of benefits.
  • Having any false claim paid by the government.

The mischarging case is the most common type of qui tam case filed. Mischarging cases generally involve filing false claims for goods or services that were not provided or delivered. A common mischarging scenario is employee labor charged to a government contract not worked on. Other common mischarging schemes are claims made to the Government for medical services not rendered or for services performed by an attending physician when the service was actually performed by a nurse or other provider that should have been billed at a lower rate.

Contractor Fraud Claims

Another type of case is the false negotiation or defective pricing case that involves the submission of false cost and pricing data to the Government. This scheme, which takes on many forms, involves the submission of false costs or pricing data to the Government during the negotiation of a contract that subsequently results in an inflated contract price.

Other common types of cases involve product and service substitution and false certification of entitlement for benefits. Examples of product and service substitution are falsely certifying that a product meets specifications, false testing schemes such as falsely certifying that reliability testing was conducted and providing an inferior service or product. Examples of false certification of entitlement cases are falsely certifying information for FHA mortgage guarantees and price supports.

Blowing the Whistle on Those that Commit Fraud Against the United States Government, First to File Provisions of the Federal False Claims Act, and Preserving Relator Rights to Share in Recovery of Funds

If you are aware of a defense contractor, highway contractor, large health care company, or other large contractor or subcontractor that is defrauding the United States Government out of millions or billions of dollars, it is important to blow the whistle on the government contractor fraud.  By reporting the fraud you can save the government and taxpayers large amounts of money.

Further, if you are the first to file and blow the whistle correctly pursuant to the Federal False Claims Act, you may be able to share in the recovery.  As such, to become a relator it is important to collect evidence of the fraud and contact a Federal False Claims Act Lawyer such as Jason Coomer and the attorneys that he works with to make sure that every effort is made to protect your rights as a relator, qui tam plaintiff, and government contractor fraud whistleblower, so that you can share in the recover that is made from your heroic efforts.

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