Whistleblower Claims

Whistleblower claims involve a person or entity filing what is called a Qui Tam Lawsuit against any federal program or contract on the behalf of the United States Government. Not only are these types of cases sensitive in nature, but they are also complicated as well. Overall, the lawsuit usually involves a person that files individually, or a business that files alone, and then further down the court process the United States can join the lawsuit. That is what it means by calling this type of suit "Qui Tam."



Most of the false claims acts involve someone suing over Medicare, Medicaid, or one of the other federally regulated programs. Defense fraud and contracting fraud has also come up often in this type of case. How the cases are handled is for each fraud claim that is presented, the amount due can be three times what is owed and carries other penalties as well. The civil penalties involved that are owed usually range from $5,000 to $10,000. The only thing you need to file a case on your own is to have evidence that shows the government has been defrauded.



To put all of this in more laymen terms, if someone reports that an individual or business is practicing fraud against the government, they can report that entity and receive an award. The monetary values discussed earlier are typically what the whistleblower will get as a reward if the case is won in court. Money may not be paid by the government until they have received some of the defrauded cash taken from them first. Usually the government will be awarded roughly 15% of what is actually owed to them, hence why whistleblowers do not receive a overblown amount of money as a reward.



What people that plan on filing a Qui Tam lawsuit as a whistle blower is that these types of cases take many years to get resolved, sometimes up to five years total. They must also understand that they can file join lawsuits against the entity in question, and can gather as many plaintiffs as possible. The time limit set on this type of claim is 6 years from when the wrongdoing occurred.



If you feel that you have evidence and a strong case for a Qui Tam Lawsuit, you should contact an attorney that has handled this type of case before. Your attorney will help you with all of the complicated steps of this type of lawsuit, and will better your chances of receiving an award in the end.



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