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We are attorneys that investigate False Claims Act cases nationwide, including in the state of New Jersey for Medicare fraud, tax fraud, contractor fraud and more against a range of employers including healthcare providers, medical device companies, defense contractors, and pharmaceutical companies. We stand ready to provide a free case evaluation to you; please call us today.

FALSE CLAIMS ACT CASES IN THE NEWS

As False Claims Act lawyers, one recent case was in the news where the government has decided to intervene against polling company Gallup because the company is alleged to have fraudulently inflated the price of governmental contracts to maximize its profits.

The AP (8/23, Yost) reports, “The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has joined a lawsuit against the Gallup Organization alleging the polling company filed false claims on contracts with the U.S. Mint, the State Department and other government agencies.” As the story explains, “a fired Gallup employee who became a whistle-blower, Michael Lindley, alleges in the lawsuit that he discovered shortly after going to work for the polling company that it had engaged in widespread fraud against the government.” Lindley’s lawsuit claims that “Gallup routinely submitted inflated cost estimates which enabled the company to reap huge profits from its government business.”

Bloomberg News (8/23, Schoenberg) reports, “The Justice Department disclosed today it had intervened in the allegations involving the State Department and U.S. Mint contracts and said in court papers filed in federal court in Washington that it planned to add claims involving Gallup’s subcontract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” US Attorney Ronald C. Machen said in a statement, “Working with relators and federal investigators, we will do all that we can to act against those who illegitimately bill the American taxpayers.”

Politico (8/23, Weinger) reports Stuart Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement, “The decision to join this civil lawsuit underscores the commitment of the Department of Justice to recover federal funds that are unlawfully claimed.”

If you would like more information on False Claims Act cases, please continue reading as we will accept nationwide case evaluations for cases similar to the Gallup case.

THE SCOPE OF FRAUD

Amazingly, some estimates have suggested that approximately 10% of the entire annual United States budget is lost to companies or individuals who are defrauding the government. The United States Federal budget for 2010 was $3.456 billion, meaning around $345.6 million was wrongfully wasted on fraud.

The entities defrauding the government do so in a variety of ways: Medicare or Medicaid fraud whereby they bill the government for services which they never provided or overbill for services that were provided; SEC Trading; Tax Fraud; TARP Fraud; Military/Defense contract fraud; Pharmaceutical Manufacturing;contract fraud involving any number of large government spending programs; or other types public benefit fraud.

HELPING THE PUBLIC.

As a whistleblower attorney, we are interested in speaking with persons willing to make known the truth about company practices and are willing to file a qui tam or whistleblower action. One area in particular we are interested in discussing are lawsuits involving medical device companies where the company is alleged to have overcharged, engaged in kickback programs, and the like. We will nevertheless investigate claims in a variety of areas.

Workers and persons all across the country witness actions at their work that may be unlawful or even corrupt. Unfortunately, some employees and workers feel that they will be fired, terminated, harrassed or punished if they report an unlawful or corrupt action. These reporters, however, are protected by the law as a Whistleblower and can receive compensation because of the False Claims Act or the Medicaid False Claims Act. If you have reported actions that may be fraudulent, then you should talk to a Whistleblower or qui tam lawyer about your facts.

Whistleblowers help the government to get back billions of dollars each year with the help of the False Claims Act. In fact, fraudulent Medicaid claims are also caught by whistleblowers having the Medicaid False Claims Act on their side. If you report a false claim or fraudulent action to the government, then the government will give you, the whistleblower, a part of the money that gets recovered. This is because of qui tam requirements. Qui Tam means that a person files a lawsuit for the king and also for him or herself. The phrase is qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, or, “he who sues for the king as well for himself.”

These requirements and lawsuits were made popular during the Civil War when many people were getting away with fraudulent actions against the government. In 1986, the False Claims Act was amended to raise the total compensation given to people who reported fraudulent actions, or whistleblowers. If a whistleblower works with a lawyer then it may be possible for them to get three times the amount the government would get in damages and also get additional compensation for general fines.

TYPES OF CASES

The most common situations that could form the basis of a Qui Tam action include:

• Submitting a false or fraudulent record, bill or statement to the government in order to fraudulently obtain money such as reporting a medical service that was never performed for Medicare or Medicad;
• Conspiring with a third party to submit or present have a false or fraudulent claim to the government;
• Withholding property of the government with the intent to defraud or conceal the property from the government;
• Fraudulently buying property of the government from someone not authorized to sell that property; and
• Making a false statement to fraudulently avoid paying money to the government or to avoid delivering property to the government.

FOR HELP, PLEASE CONTACT US.

We help whistleblowers on a contingency basis, meaning there is no fee charged for our work unless there is a recovery. We also front any and all expenses. No matter where you are located — we will represent you. We will come to you, you will not have to come to us.

Attorneys in our firm and attorneys that we work with on Whistleblower, Qui Tam, False Claims Act cases have represented a host of persons making claims, for violations of federal tax law, Medicare law and more.

For more information, please contact our team of whitsleblower and qui tam attorneys today at 1-800-632-1404 or fill out this form below for a free initial consultation.