Although the federal False Claims Act is associated with recoveries from healthcare sector fraud, many non-healthcare cases are filed yearly. This leads to many recoveries which compete in size with those from healthcare fraud cases. The following are the top three non-healthcare False Claims Act cases in 2021 based on the amount recovered:
- Balfour Beatty Communities LLC (Balfour) – Balfour operates privatized military housing, with operations in over 40 military bases. Despite being responsible for housing maintenance in these locations, Balfour either did not carry out the required maintenance or lied about doing so despite indicating that it had. Although not meeting its responsibilities, the company falsified submissions to the government as if maintenance was adequately carried out to qualify for performance incentive payments. Balfour ended up paying over $35 million to settle a civil False Claims Act case, separate from over $65 million paid in fines and restitution in a criminal case.
- Navistar Defense LLC (Navistar) – Navistar is a manufacturer of military vehicles. Navistar obtained a contract with the U.S. Marine Corps. to provide suspension systems for mine-resistant ambush vehicles. Navistar sought to modify this contract. During negotiations with the government it provided fraudulent invoices of the parts involved to make their request seem reasonable. To resolve these allegations, Navistar paid $50 million.
- United Airlines (United) – United had contracts with the U.S. Postal Service to transport U.S. mail internationally. United was supposed to provide accurate delivery scans of transported mail . Despite this, United submitted false delivery scan data. To settle the civil case against it, United paid over $32 million. Separately, over $17 million were paid in criminal penalties and disgorgement.
Do you have a valid claim?
If you witnessed any widespread suspicious activity within your workplace, you might have a chance of becoming a whistleblower by reporting an ongoing fraudulent scheme. However, to increase your chances of success, you must be sure to back up your claim with substantial evidence or privileged information.
A Quick Whistleblower Checklist
Is the fraudulent scheme widespread enough?
Has the fraud been perpetuated for years or involves large sums of money?
Do you possess any physical evidence of the fraud (documents, forged signatures)?
Do you have access to privileged information which may help our investigators?
Do you work as an insider within the company perpetrating the fraud?
Did you witness any ongoing illegal behavior within your workplace?
Have you been forced into taking part in any suspicious corporate activity?
