Whistleblower-Qui Tam

A summary of the Federal False Claims Act for South Carolina qui tam and whistleblower plaintiffs and their SC attorneys, lawyers and law firms. The False Claims Act is highlighted to provide a basic understanding of the types of government fraud which are covered by the FCA and the procedures for filing a whistleblower or qui tam claim in federal court.

Programs like Medicaid and Medicare exist to provide low-income, elderly, or disabled people with the healthcare that they need but may not be able to afford. However, some doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals may decide to take advantage of the trust that the government places in these programs. This can result in healthcare fraud against the government.

Qui tam lawsuits have been filed for centuries. In England, the suits originated as a way for citizens to protect their government from fraud. In modern America, the False Claims Act was created in order to combat abuses mostly committed by financial institutions, health care providers, and defense contractors. Given the economic troubles coming from the past few years, the federal government has taken notice.

To promote justice, the United States law allows for private citizens to bring forth lawsuits on behalf of the government. If a citizen notices another person or company committing fraud or other such crimes, the citizen can accuse the criminal of defrauding the government and take that person to court. This is called qui tam law. One part of qui tam law includes a provision against false marking.

A whistleblower is a person who uncovers fraud against the government and brings suit on behalf of the government. For example, if you work for a health care provider and you observe that employees are exaggerating claims of time spent attending to Medicare patients, you may have a potential whistleblower action because the government is being defrauded.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was created by President Johnson in 1965 as a means to combat the issues facing a rising urban population across the United States. Since then, the task of the department has been to provide more efficient housing solutions, which has evolved into affordable loan programs for the disadvantaged or those who need the assistance. However, as with many federal programs, HUD, as it is known, has faced significant problems with fraud in these loan programs.