December 27, 2013
The federal government recovered more than $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2013 from False Claims Act cases, in large part due to qui tam (whistleblower) cases, according to recent statistics released by the Department of Justice. This was the second largest total amount recovered in one year from cases involving fraud against the government. In 2012, the government recovered $5 billion.
“These recoveries would not have been possible without the brave contributions made by ordinary men and women who made extraordinary sacrifices to expose fraud and corruption in government programs,” said Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery.
Other DOJ statistics for 2013:
- Qui tam lawsuits were the basis for $2.9 billion out of the $3.8 billion recovered.
- Whistleblower rewards for qui tam cases totaled $345 million.
- Whistleblowers filed 752 qui tam lawsuits in 2013, an increase of over 100 compared to 2012.
- Most of the recoveries ($2.6 billion) were from healthcare fraud cases.
- Procurement fraud (mostly related to defense contracts) accounted for $890 million out of the total, which was a record in that area.