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GAO-06-320R 1 (2006-01-31)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamuv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A 0 .,! = Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 January 31, 2006 The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives The Honorable Chris Cannon Chairman, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives The Honorable Charles E. Grassley United States Senate Subject: Information on False Claims Act Litigation The False Claims Act (FCA) is one of the government's primary weapons to fight fraud against the government. The Act, as amended in 1986, provides for penalties and triple damages for anyone who knowingly submits or causes the submission of false or fraudulent claims to the United States for government funds or property. Under the FCA's qui tam provisions, a person with evidence of fraud, also known as a whistle blower or relator, is authorized to file a case in federal court and sue, on behalf of the government, persons engaged in the fraud and to share in any money the government may recover. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has the responsibility to decide on behalf of the government whether to join the whistle blower in prosecuting these cases. From fiscal years 1987 through 2005, settlements and judgments for the federal government in FCA cases have exceeded $15 billion, of which $9.6 billion, or 64 percent, was for cases filed by whistle blowers under FCA's qui tam provisions.2 The whistle blowers share of the qui tam settlements and judgments was over $1.6 billion during this period. With regard to your request to provide information on FCA litigation, this report addresses the following questions: 'The False Claims Act, as amended, is codified at 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33. 2Represents funds the government is entitled to recover as a result of qui tam case settlements or court judgments. These funds may or may not have been collected by the government. A DOJ official told us that while most of these funds arise from FCA allegations in the qui tam complaint, some funds are attributable to government initiated claims under the FCA and other statutory and common law claims, such as breach of contract, bribery, or conflict of interest, and that the relator is not entitled to a share of these funds. The official also told us that precise amounts attributable to each claim may not be distinguished in the case of a lump-sum settlement or judgment. GAO-06-320R False Claims Act

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