Government Contractor and Procurement Fraud
Today's higher standards owe their origins to the Lincoln Law.
The Federal False Claims Act (FCA) was enacted in part because of bad mules. During the Civil War, unscrupulous defense contractors sold the Union Army decrepit horses, mules in ill health, faulty rifles and ammunition, and rancid rations. These frauds prompted President Abraham Lincoln to urge Congress to pass, in 1863, the original False Claims Act, commonly known as the Informer's Law or the Lincoln Law.
In a nutshell, the False Claims Act made it illegal for a party to present false statements in writing (claims) to the United States government in order to obtain money or reimbursement to which the claimant was not entitled — for example, payments for sickly mules. Today, while the False Claims Act is no longer used against traitorous Union suppliers, it is still an important weapon against government fraud, including government contractor and procurement fraud.
What can prompt government contractor and procurement fraud claims?
Claims against government contractors may be brought for many different types of false or fraudulent claims:
If, for example, a government contractor misrepresented its capacity to produce what was required by the contract or misrepresented itself as a small, disadvantaged, or minority enterprise — when it was not — in order to procure a government contract, the contractor would be liable for damages under the False Claims Act.
How Waters & Kraus can help whistleblowers
With a national presence and in-depth experience fighting fraud against the government, Waters & Kraus, LLP, provides aggressive representation of whistleblowers in qui tam actions and related complaints. The firm currently represents whistleblowers seeking to recover funds on behalf of the federal and state governments in a variety of cases, which may involve defendants such as large pharmaceutical companies, government contractors, school district contractors, and hospice and nursing home care providers.
To learn more about qui tam representation at Waters & Kraus, or to have one of our attorneys review your potential case, email us or call 800.226.9880.