Experienced Florida Lawyers Handling Qui Tam, “Whistle Blower Statute” Cases
Federal law provides a way for average citizens to fulfill their duty to report fraud and abuse involving federally funded programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Educational Grants, and similar programs funded with tax-payer dollars. The person who “blows the whistle” on this fraud literally brings the action on behalf of the United States government, and the whistle blower is entitled to compensation when the government recovers taxpayer money that has been stolen by unscrupulous businesses.
The Whistle Blower, or Qui Tam, statute dates back to 1863 and was designed to combat fraud in Union contracts during the Civil War. In 1986, Congress modernized the Whistle Blower statute, now called the False Claims Act, to make it the government’s primary tool to combat fraud. Individuals who report government-program fraud bring the lawsuit on behalf of the government.
False Claims Act lawsuits are filed under seal, meaning in secret, along with a disclosure statement detailing the evidence collected by the whistleblower. The Department of Justice reviews the evidence contained in the disclosure and decides whether it will step in and take over responsibility for prosecuting the civil case. The whistleblower, also called a “relator,” works closely with the government’s procurement fraud investigators by helping the investigators identify those responsible for the fraud and by pointing out relevant evidence of the fraud. If the government is successful in recovering money, the relator is entitled to between 15 to 25% of the recovery.
Since the relator or whistleblower works closely with the Department of Justice, it is important to retain a lawyer who understands the Department of Justice and who has experience complying with the False Claims Act’s requirements. The whistleblower’s lawyer drafts the lawsuit, prepares the disclosure statement, represents the whistleblower at all meetings with the United States Attorney’s Office and assists the government in prosecuting the claim. The whistleblower’s lawyer is paid on a contingency fee basis after the case is successfully prosecuted.
Overchuck & Byron have experience representing whistleblowers. Mr. Byron worked for the Department of Justice for over 10 years and prosecuted significant health care fraud cases. Please contact Overchuck & Byron. P.A. if you believe you have uncovered evidence of fraud involving a government-funded program.