Report Financial Fraud against the Government under the False Claims Act

According to several independent studies, about 10 percent of total government spending is simply lost due to financial frauds. Since the United States government is spending more than a trillion dollars every year on various programs, as much as 100 billion dollars are lost in frauds. Every citizen can take an initiative and report a fraud to the right law enforcement agencies.

In most cases financial frauds go undetected by law enforcement agencies unless someone blows the whistle along with some material evidence. As a matter of fact, 8 out of 10 cases of fraud against the government are brought into the light by whistleblowers. The United States Department of Justice operates a unique whistleblower reward program under the False Claims Act. According to this program, a whistleblower receives a fraction of the total funds collected by the government.

Till now, more than 25 billion dollars have been recovered by the United States Department of Justice from thousands of cheats who operated frauds against the federal government. The Department of Justice has paid nearly 3 billion dollars in rewards to whistleblowers who reported these frauds. Not many people in the United States are aware of the benefits of the False Claims Act and its various provisions.

Anyone can step forward with material evidence and documentation to report a fraud. Once the fraud case filed under the False Claims Act is proved in the court of law, the Department of Justice initiates funds recovery from the company found guilty of cheating. A whistleblower can receive up to 30 percent of the total recovery made by the Department of Justice. You will be surprised to know that the average whistleblower award is as high as 1 million dollars. The largest whistleblower award under the False Claims Act is over 100 million dollars!

The federal government commissions over 20 programs and a private person can report a fraud in any of these programs under the False Claims Act. Medicare and military fraud are most popular though. The False Claims Act also extends to TARP fraud and Bailout fraud.

You will get a whistleblower reward only when you follow the standard procedure outlined by the government. Technically, the government is on your side but you must be aware of some common requirements. Learning about common snags in advance is always helpful.

What most would-be whistleblowers don't know is that it takes more than just making a phone call and contacting someone in a government office to be legally eligible for a reward. Just as you file an application in case of a civil lawsuit, you need to file an application in the court of law under the False Claims Act as well. Also, it is important to rely upon an experienced and qualified whistleblower attorney. The legal proceeding under the False Claims Act shouldn't be left to someone who has been filing civil lawsuits. Find an attorney who specializes in the False Claims Act cases. Usually, it is possible for an attorney specializing in the False Claims Act to work on contingency. Therefore, you don't have to spend a penny out of pocket in order to get the reward after blowing the whistle. The private person who is the first one to file a case under the False Claims Act can be eligible for up to 25 percent reward.

The whistleblower program of the Department of Justice is applicable to any individual or commercial entity such as a group, partnership firm or privately held company who commits a financial fraud against a federal program or contract. Some common examples of frauds reported by whistleblowers in the last few months are Medicare fraud, TARP fraud, Medicaid fraud, homeland security fraud, bailout fraud etc. Even a company committing a fraud against the post office can be reported by a private person under the False Claims Act.