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How an Individual Can Help the Government Defeat Fraud  

https://zalma.com/blog

 If an individual has knowledge that a false claim was submitted to the  government, that person can elect to become a whistleblower and retain  an attorney who will draft a complaint and a disclosure statement. 

The  whistleblower will file these two documents under seal in US district  court and send copies to the Department of Justice.  After the complaint is filed, the Justice Department has 60 days to  investigate the allegations and determine whether it will join the  lawsuit. If the Justice Department does join the lawsuit, it has the  primary responsibility for prosecuting the case and can limit the  whistleblower\\u2019s participation in the action. If the qui tam action is  successful, the whistleblower\\u2019s share of the recovery will range from 15  to 30% depending on the extent of the individual\\u2019s investigation. The  judge normally determines the percentage.  If the department decides not to participate, the whistleblower has the  right to continue to pursue the claim on behalf of the US and will  receive a higher portion of any recovery received.  The False Claims Act states that any person can file a qui tam action as  long as they have direct and independent knowledge of the fraud and  this knowledge was not obtained from a \\u201cpublic disclosure.\\u201d 

The  definition of \\u201cperson\\u201d includes not only individuals, but also  businesses and state or local government entities. The most common  plaintiffs in qui tam actions are employees of government contractors,  healthcare organizations, and local, state, or federal government.