Looking For Info About A False Claims Act Whistleblower?A False Claims Act Whistleblower is a person who notifies the government of a false claim. As defined in the website of The False Claims Act Legal Center (http://www.taf.org), "the false claim may take many forms: overcharging for a product, failing to perform a service, delivering less than the promised amount of goods or services, underpaying money owed to the government, and charging for one thing but delivering another, to list just a few examples." A company or individual that has made a false claim can be responsible for not just one, but triple damages, a civil fine of $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim, and the attorney's fees of the citizen whistle-blower (called the "relator"). Individuals or companies that cause someone else to submit a false claim can also be found liable under the False Claims Act. The standard of proof in a False Claims Act case is "preponderance of the evidence", i.e., the claim is more likely true than not. This is the same burden of proof ordinarily applicable in most civil cases, and is easier to meet than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard used in criminal cases. When consider if it's worth submiting a false claim act or not, the potential False Claims Act Whistleblower must consider several important things. First and foremost, the whistleblower must have something more than just a suspicion. There must be some king of actual evidence to back up the knowledge that the whistleblower has. The evidence must be specific, answering the four most important qusetions in such cases, known as the Four 'W's - the "who, what, when and where" of the fraud. The assertion of false claims usually requires some documented evidence. The evidence must not come from any type of publicly available media source, like radio, television or newspapers. Such sources are considered as unreliable, plus the whistleblower won't be contributing to the case in any way. Another requirement is that Federal money must be involved, or, in a state with a state False Claims Acts, state money must be involved. And there is also a certain time frame, as the case needs to be filed within six years of the violation. But the list of requirements doesn't end here. The quality of information that's in possession of the whistleblower comes first. It is simply not enough to broadly allege fraud; specific knowledge of the fraud and how it works is required. FBI has strict policies in their whistleblower protection program for the fight against fraud with government resources. The bankruptcy filed by WorldCom is the largest in the USA's corporate history, followed by Enron. Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government. FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration. |