About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-12-275R 1 (2012-01-27)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacfrj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO Accountlability * Integrity - Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 January 27, 2012 The Honorable Darrel E. Issa Chairman The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings Ranking Member Committee on Oversight and Government Reform House of Representatives Subject: Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act: Observations on Implementation This letter formally transmits the slides used at a briefing we presented to staff from your offices in response to your request for information about federal executive agencies' recent use of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (PFCRA).' (See enclosure for a copy of our briefing slides). PFCRA provides an administrative remedy available to federal executive branch agencies to address false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims and statements (false claims). PFCRA can be used for false claims where the alleged liability is less than $150,000 (claim ceiling). It also provides for monetary penalties up to $5,000 (a cap that most agencies are to adjust upward for inflation2) and allows for an assessment of up to two times the amount of the fraudulent claim. In addition to PFCRA, federal agencies also use other mechanisms to address false claims, such as the False Claims Act,3 suspension and debarment processes, and statutes that address Medicaid and Medicare false claim frauds through the Social Security Act, as amended.' In 1991, we reported that federal agencies did not use PFCRA extensively.' You asked us to provide recent information on federal agencies' use of PFCRA. As discussed with your staff, our objectives were to present information on (1) the extent to which federal agencies have used PFCRA in recent years, (2) factors '31 U.S.C. Chapter 38. 2The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act (28 U.S.C. § 2461 note) provides a mechanism to allow for regular adjustment (once every four years) for inflation of civil monetary penalties established in law. The monetary penalty in PFCRA would be subject to adjustment by this Act. However, agencies made initial adjustments to the PFCRA penalty cap at different times causing agencies to have varying penalty caps. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported adjusting its PFCRA cap to $7,500 in fiscal year 2009, and the Department of Energy reported adjusting its cap to $8,000 in fiscal year 2010. 3The False Claims Act is codified at 31 U.S.C. § 3729-33. 442 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a. 5 GAO, Program Fraud: Implementation of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986, GAO/AFMD-91-73 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 13, 1991). GAO-12-275R Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most