Qui tam whistleblowers who filed cases under the False Claims Act returned nearly $3 billion into the federal treasury in Fiscal Year 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
False Claims Act cases in the areas of health care, hospital services, mortgage and financial industries, and defense contracting account for the largest part of recoveries. Whistleblower awards during 2015 totaled $597 million.
“The False Claims Act has again proven to be the government’s most effective civil tool to ferret out fraud and return billions to taxpayer-funded programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
A recent expansion of state-level False Claims Acts will provide state governments with similar tools to combat fraud in a myriad of state- and municipal-funded programs.
These qui tam lawsuits are crucial to protecting the government fisc. Since January 2009, over $25 billion has been recovered under the False Claims Act. Kudos to whistleblowers and the Department of Justice for another stellar year.