Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes

August 6, 2009 – April 26, 2021 R40785

Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and
April 26, 2021
Related Federal Statutes
Charles Doyle
Qui tam statutes enlist the public to sue to recover civil penalties and forfeitures from those who
Senior Specialist in
have defrauded the government. Qui tam rewards those who sue in the government’s name
American Public Law
(called relators) with a portion of the recovered proceeds. A creature of antiquity, once common,

today qui tam lives on in federal law only in the False Claims Act and in Indian protection laws.

The False Claims Act proscribes: (1) presenting a false claim; (2) making or using a false record
or statement material to a false claim; (3) possessing property or money of the U.S. and delivering less than all of it; (4)
delivering a certified receipt with intent to defraud the U.S.; (5) buying public property from a federal officer or employee,
who may not lawfully sell it; (6) using a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or
property to the U.S., or concealing or improperly avoiding or decreasing an obligation to pay or transmit money or property
to the U.S.; or (7) conspiring to commit any such offense. Offenders face the prospect of costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees,
damages, and perhaps triple damages in a civil action brought either by the U.S. or by a relator in the name of the U.S.
Additional liability may flow from any retaliatory action taken against a False Claims Act whistleblower. The False Claims
Act features a first-to-file bar that precludes copycat or piggyback relator suits and a public disclosure bar that precludes suits
based on old news unless the relator is an original source.
If the government initiates the suit, others may not join. If the government has not brought suit, a relator may do so, but must
give the government notice and afford it 60 days to decide whether to take over the litigation. If the government declines to
intervene, a prevailing relator’s share of any recovery is capped at 30%; if the government intervenes, the cap is lower and
depends upon the circumstances. Relators in Indian protection qui tam cases are entitled to half of the recovery.
Federal qui tam statutes have survived two types of constitutional challenges—those based on defendants’ rights in criminal
cases and those based on the doctrine of separation of powers. The courts have found the rights required in criminal cases
inapplicable, because qui tam actions are civil matters. They have generally rejected standing arguments, because relators
stand in the shoes of the United States in whose name qui tam actions are brought. They have rejected Appointments Clause
arguments, because relators hold no appointed office. They have rejected Take Care Clause arguments, because the residue of
governmental control over qui tam actions is considered constitutionally sufficient.
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Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes

Introduction
Qui tam is a whistleblower concept.1 It is the process whereby an individual sues or prosecutes in
the name of the government and shares in the proceeds of any successful litigation or settlement.
Although frequently punitive, it is generally a civil proceeding. Unlike antitrust, RICO, and other
federal punitive-damage, private-attorney-general provisions,2 the individual who brings the suit
in the name of the United States (called a relator) need not have been a victim of the misconduct
giving rise to the litigation.3
The name qui tam is the shortened version of an oft abbreviated Latin phrase which roughly
translates to “he who prosecutes for himself as well as for the King.”4 Qui tam comes to us from
before the dawn of the common law. Reviled at various times throughout the ages as a breeding
ground for “viperous vermin”5 and parasites,6 qui tam has been authorized by legislative bodies
when they consider the enforcement of some law beyond the unaided capacity or interest of
authorized law enforcement officials.7
Best known of the contemporary members of the line is the federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C.
§§ 3729-3733). From 1986 until expansion of the Act in 2009, Justice Department recoveries

1 A whistleblower is someone “who brings wrongdoing within an organization to light,” much like the police officer on
the beat who blows his whistle when he sees burglars climbing out the window of a house at night. THE AMERICAN
HERITAGE COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 1538 (3d ed. 1997).
This report is available in an abridged version, as CRS Report R40786, Qui Tam: An Abbreviated Look at the False
Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, attribution, appendices, and most of
the citations to authority found here.
2 15 U.S.C. § 15 (antitrust), 18 U.S.C. § 1964 (racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO)). Examples of
other punitive damage provisions include: 15 U.S.C. § 1679g (consumer credit protection); 18 U.S.C. § 2710 (wrongful
disclosure of video tape rental or sales records); 18 U.S.C. § 2520 (communications privacy); 18 U.S.C. § 2724 (state
motor vehicle record privacy); and, 47 U.S.C. § 551 (cable subscriber privacy). Other federal private attorney general
statutes permit suit by those who are not victims. These allow the award of attorney’s fees but, unlike qui tam
provisions, they do not call for the private plaintiff to share any damage or penalty award with the government. See,
e.g., 33 U.S.C. § 1365 (water pollution control); 42 U.S.C. § 4911 (noise control).
3 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(1).
4 Blackstone explained that the phrase “qui tam” comes from a longer one which he abbreviated to “qui tam pro
domino rege, &c, quam pro seipso in hac parte sequitur.” III William BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES 160 (1768).
Taking the “&c” into account, the phrase might read in full, “he who brings the following matter for my Lord the King
and who brings the following matter for himself as well.” In any event, later courts and commentators usually drop at
least the “&c” from Blackstone’s quote. See, e.g., Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel.
Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 768 n.1 (2000) (“qui tam pro domino rege quam pro seipso in hac parte sequitur”); J. Randy
Beck, The False Claims Act and the English Eradication of Qui Tam Legislation, 78 N.C. L. REV. 539, 541 n.3 (2000)
(same); Note, The History and Development of Qui Tam, 1972 WASH. U. L. Q. 81, 83 (“Qui tam is the accepted
abbreviation of the phrase ‘qui tam pro domino rege quam pro seipso.’”).
5 EDWARD COKE, THE THIRD PART OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 194 (1628).
6 S. Rept. No. 77-1708, at 2 (1942), and H. Rept. No. 78-263 at 2 (1943), each quoting from a letter from Attorney
General Biddle.
7 E.g., 132 CONG. REC. 20535 (1986) (remarks of Sen. Grassley urging enactment of an anti-fraud qui tam measure)
(“There is no question that the current state of affairs begs for reform. Fraud allegations are climbing at a steady rate
while the Justice Department’s own economic crime council last year terms the level of enforcement in defense
procurement fraud inadequate.”).
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Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes

totaled in excess of $20 billion.8 Since then, the Justice Department has recovered over $40
billion, including over $3 billion in FY 2019.9
This report discusses the history of federal qui tam provisions; the two existing federal qui tam
statutes—the False Claims Act10 and an Indian protection provision;11 and the constitutional
questions raised by federal qui tam provisions.
Background
Qui Tam in England
The earliest cited example of a qui tam provision is the 695 declaration of King Wihtred of Kent,
which stated, “If a freeman works during the forbidden time [i.e., the Sabbath], he shall forfeit his
healsfang, and the man who informs against him shall have half the fine, and [the profits arising]
from the labour.”12 During the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, qui tam statutes
become a common feature of English law.13 They brought with them, however, unintended
consequences. They gave rise to a class of bounty hunters who unscrupulously exploited
weaknesses in the system. “Old statutes which had been forgotten were unearthed and used as
means to gratify ill-will. Litigation was stirred up simply in order that the informer might
compound [i.e., settle] for a sum of money. Threats to sue were easy means of levying
blackmail.”14 Coke in his Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England devotes a chapter to

8 The False Claims Act Correction Act (S. 2041): Strengthening the Government’s Most Effective Tool Against Fraud
for the 21st Century: Hearing Before the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 110th Cong., 2d Sess. 1 (2008) (statement of
Sen. Leahy).
9 U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Fraud Section, False Claims Act Statistics
https://www.justice.gov/civil/documents-and-forms-0; and https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-recovers-
over-3-billion-false-claims-act-cases-fiscal-year-2019. Put another way, “the FCA has recovered over $62 billion since
1986 with $7.3 billion of those dollars flowing to whistleblowers.” Nathan T. Tschepik, Comment, The Executive
Judgment Rule: A New Standard of Dismissal for Qui Tam Suits Under the FCA, 87 U. CHI. L. REV. 1051, 1053 (2020).
10 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733.
11 25 U.S.C. § 201.
12 Translated in F. L. Attenborough, THE LAWS OF THE EARLIEST ENGLISH KINGS 27 (1963); described in Theodore F. T.
Plucknett, EDWARD I AND CRIMINAL LAW 31-2 (1960), and J. Randy Beck, The False Claims Act and the English
Eradication of Qui Tam Legislation, 78 N.C. L. REV. 539, 567 (2000).
13 E.g., 12 EDWARD II, ch. 6 (1318), 1 STATS. OF THE REALM 177, 178 (“ . . . no officer in City or in Borough . . . shall .
merchandise for Wines . . . And if any do, and be thereof convict[ed], the Merchandize whereof he is convict[ed] shall
be forfeit[ed] to the King, and the third part thereof shall be delivered to the Party that sued the Offender, as the King’s
Gift . . . “); 22 EDWARD IV, ch. 8 (1482), 2 STATS. OF THE REALM 468, 476 (export violations required the offender to
forfeit the contraband or its value and the statute provided that “our Lord the King to have as well the one Half of all
such Merchandise forfeited and seised, as the one half of all Sums of Money which shall be recovered by Action in the
Form aforementioned, [to pursue] for Value of any such Goods so forfeited; and the Person or Persons which shall
seise or sue in the Form aforesaid, to have the other Half of the same . . . ”); 32 HENRY VIII, ch. 9, §3 (1540), 3 STATS.
OF THE REALM 753, 753 (suborning perjury was made subject to a £10 penalty and “Th[e] one moytie [i.e., half] thereof
to the King our sourveraine lorde and th[e] other moytie to him that w[i]ll sue for the same by action of de[b]t[,] bill[,]
playnte or information in any of the Kinges Courtis . . . ”).
14 IV WILLIAM HOLDSWORTH, A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LAW 356 (1903). Coke strikes a similar note and adds the evils of
forum shopping to a defendant’s inconvenience, expense, and disadvantage, EDWARD COKE, THE THIRD PART OF THE
INSTITUTES OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 192, 194 (1628) (“First, many penall laws obsolete, and in time grown
apparently impossible, or inconvenient to be performed, remained as snares, whereupon the relator, informer, or
promooter did vex and entangle the subject . . . The second mischief was, that common informers . . . drew all
informations for any offence, in any place within the realm of England against any penall law to some of the kings
courts as Westminister, to the intolerable charge, vexation, and trouble of the subject . . . The third mischief was, that in
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the reform legislation designed to control the practices of these “vexatious relators, informers,
and promoters,” whom he classifies as turbidum hominum genus (a class of unruly men)15 and as
a species among the classes of “viperous vermin”16—a class so unpopular that Queen Elizabeth I
at one time found it necessary to issue a proclamation shielding its members from mob violence.17
Legislative reform, however, appears to have been effective, because a century and a half after
Coke’s comments, Blackstone describes qui tam without criticism, except to note statutorily
cured abuse.18
Early American Experience
Qui tam was no stranger to colonial America or to the early Republic. Colonial legislatures
enacted qui tam statutes of their own,19 and colonial courts heard qui tam cases arising under

informations, &c. the offence supposed to be against the penall law, and to be committed in one county, was at the
pleasure of the informer, &c. alledged in any country where he would, where neither party nor witnesse was known,
against the right institution of the law, that the jury (for their better notice) should come de vicineto of the place where
the fact was committed.”).
15 The term, which describes a species of lawless men who disrupt the normal peace and order of society, can be
alternatively translated as, “a wild or disorderly class of men.” See J. Randy Beck, The False Claims Act and the
English Eradication of Qui Tam Legislation, 78 N.C. L. REV. 539, 578 n.201 (2000).
16 EDWARD COKE, THE THIRD PART OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 191, 194 (1628).
17 Protecting Informers, 8 ELIZABETH I, PROCLAMATION OF NOVEMBER 10, 1566, reprinted with transliteration in II Paul
L. HUGHES & JAMES F. LARKIN (EDS.), TUDOR ROYAL PROCLAMATIONS, 1553-1587, 288-89 (1969) (“The Queen’s
majesty, understanding the great disorder that of late hath been and yet is daily used in and about the cities of London
and Westminster, and especially in and about Westminster Hall and the palace of Westminster, by divers light and evil-
disposed persons who in great routs and companies have assembled themselves together against such as be informers
upon penal laws and statutes, commonly called promoters; and so being assembled, have not only beaten and very evil
treated divers of the same informers but also have made great outcries against the same persons, where the courts and
places of justice in Westminster Hall and other places thereabouts have been much disquieted and troubled, and the
Queen’s majesty’s peas broken. . . . Wherefore her majesty doth straightly charge and command all persons that they
nor any of them do hereafter commit . . . any such disorder or misbehavior . . . against any such informers. . . upon pain
to suffer imprisonment of their bodies by the space of three months . . . ”). The Proclamation is available without
transliteration in GREAT BRITAIN SOVEREIGNS, 1558-1603: PROCLAMATIONS, 373 (1971) (DeCapo Press).
18 III WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 160 (1768) (“But, more usually, these
forfeitures created by statute are given at large, to any common informer; or, in other words, to any such person or
persons as will sue for the same: and hence such actions are called popular actions, because they are given to the
people in general. Sometimes one part is given to the king, to the poor, or to some public use, and the other part to the
informer or prosecutor and then the suit is called a qui tam action, because it is brought by a person ‘qui tam pro
domino rege, &c, quam pro seipso in hac parte sequitur.’ If the king therefore himself commences this suit, he shall
have the whole forfeiture. But if any one hath begun a qui tam, or popular, action, no other person can pursue it; and
the verdict passed upon the defendant in the first suit is a bar to all others, and conclusive even to the king himself. This
has frequently occasioned offenders to procure their own friends to begin a suit, in order to forestall and prevent other
actions: which practice is in some measure prevented by a statute made in the reign of a very sharp-sighted prince in
penal laws . . .”) (transliteration supplied).
19 E.g., COLONIAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS 8 (1686) (penalties for fraud in the sale of bread to be distributed one-third
to the inspector who discovered the fraud and remainder for the benefit of the town where the offense occurred); id. at
54 (penalties for catching mackerel out of season to be distributed one half to the informer and one half to the town
where the offense occurred); 1 STATUTES OF CONNECTICUT 531 (1672) (penalties of 10 shillings for permitting a night-
time disorderly assembly under one’s roof to be distributed half to the town and half to the individual who filed the
complaint); 1 COLONIAL LAWS OF NEW YORK, 1664-1719, 279, 281 (1692) (penalty of £50 for an officer’s failure to
perform duties for the prevention of piracy to be distributed one moiety to the informer and one to the province); id. at
845 (1715) (20 shilling penalties for taking oysters out of season to be distributed half to the informer and half to the
benefit of the poor of the town where the offense occurred); 2 COLONIAL LAWS OF NEW YORK, 1720-1737, 988, 989-90
(1737) (penalties of £30 for peddling without a license to be distributed one moiety to the informer and one for the
benefit of the town where the offense occurred); 7 VIRGINIA STATUTES (HENNING) 282, 285 (1759) (penalties for
peddling without a license to be distributed one moiety to the king for the support of the College of William & Mary
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these statutes,20 as well as under English law.21 Qui tam statutes dot the work of the first
Congresses of the new Republic,22 and qui tam cases appear among the cases of the early federal
courts.23 By the turn of the twentieth century, qui tam statutes had largely fallen into disuse in this
country, although they often remained on the books.
Contemporary Federal Qui Tam Statutes
In Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, the Supreme Court
identified four contemporary federal qui tam statutes: the False Claims Act, the Patent Act, and
two Indian protection laws.24 One of the Indian protection statutes has since been amended so that
it no longer authorizes a qui tam action.25 The Leahy-Smith America Invests Act replaced the
Patent Act qui tam provision with one that affords victims a cause of action.26 Of the two
survivors, the False Claims provision is by far the more often invoked.
Beyond these, Congress has enacted a number of other statutes with obvious qui tam
characteristics which might be thought to authorize qui tam proceedings. The Supreme Court
observed in United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess that “statutes providing for a reward to informers
which do not specifically either authorize or forbid the informer to institute the action are
construed to authorize him to sue.”27 The suggestion encouraged environmentalists to bring qui
tam actions based on an informer-reward provision in the Rivers and Harbors Act. The lower

and one to informer who brings the action on the debt for its recovery); IV STATUTES OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1752-1786,
460 (1778) (penalties of £1,000 for acting as a magistrate without authorization to be distributed one half to the public
treasury and one half to those who sued for their recover).
20 E.g., Churchill v. Blackburn, 1 Va. Colonial Dec. R26 (Va. Gen. Ct. 1730); Musgrove, qui tam v. Gibbs, 1 U.S. 216
(Pa. 1787).
21 E.g., Britton, qui tam v. Ridgely, 4 H. & McH. 503 (Md. Prov. 1768) (3 & 4 GEORGE II, ch.12); Anderson, qui tam v.
Winston, 2 Va. Colonial Dec. B201 (Va. Gen. Ct. 1735) (32 HENRY VIII, ch. 9).
22 E.g., Act of March 1, 1790, ch. 2, § 3, 1 STAT. 101, 102 (1790) (failure return census reports) (“And every marshal
failing to file the returns … shall forfeit the sum of eight hundred dollars … one half thereof to the use of the United
States, and the other half to the informer; but where the prosecution shall be first instituted on behalf of the United
States, the whole shall accrue to their use …”); Act of July 20, 1790, ch. 29, § 4, 1 STAT. 131, 133 (1790) (“That if any
person shall harbor or secrete any [runaway] seaman … [he] shall forfeit and pay ten dollars for every day which he,
she, or they shall continue to so harbor or secrete such seaman … one half to the use of the person prosecuting the
same, the other half to the use of the United States.”); Act of July 22, 1790, ch. 32, § 3, 1 STAT. 137, 138 (1790) (“That
every person who shall attempt to trade with Indian tribes … without a license … shall forfeit all the merchandise so
offered for sale to the Indian tribes … which forfeiture shall be one half to the benefit of the person prosecuting and one
half to the benefit of the United States.”); Act of March 2, 1791, ch.15, § 44, 1 STAT. 198, 209 (1791) (“That the one
half of all penalties and forfeitures incurred by virtue of this act [relating to custom offenses] … shall be for the benefit
of the person or persons who shall make a seizure, or who shall first discover the matter or thing whereby the same
shall have been incurred; and the other half to the use of the United States.”).
23 E.g., United States v. Simms, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 252 (1803); Adams v. Woods, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 336 (1805); The
Emulous, 1 F.Cas. 697 (D. Mass. 1813) (No. 4,479), rev’d sub nom., Brown v. United States, 12 U.S. (8 Cranch) 110
(1814).
24 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 768-69 n.1 (2000) (referring to
31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733 (1994); 35 U.S.C. § 292 (1994); 25 U.S.C. § 81 (1994); and 25 U.S.C. § 201 (1994),
respectively, all as they appeared at the time). A fifth statute, not identified, 26 U.S.C. § 7341 (sale of untaxed, taxable
property), appears to have been rarely used.
25 25 U.S.C. § 81 (1994). This qui tam provision disappeared when the Indian Tribal Economic Development Act
rewrote the section, P.L. 106-179, 114 STAT. 46 (2000).
26 P.L. 112-29, 125 STAT. 329 (2011), 35 U.S.C. § 292(b).
27 United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess, 317 U.S. 537, 541 n.4. (1943).
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courts were not particularly receptive to the suggestion28 and refused to recognize any implicit
authority to bring a qui tam action under the Rivers and Harbors Act.29
Yet the Court mentioned the suggestion again in Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United
States ex rel. Stevens,30 and in citing the existing qui tam-specific statutes, pointed out two of the
qui tam-silent informer-reward statutes.31 The lower federal courts, however, continue to maintain
that “Congress must explicitly create qui tam statutes.”32

28 Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Soc. v. U.S. Plywood-Champion Papers, Inc., 324 F. Supp. 302, 306 (S.D. Tex. 1971)
(“Justice Black’s dictum [from Hess and quoted above] would appear to state the law too broadly. The qui tam action
depends entirely upon statutory authorization, as it has never found its way into the common law. The action arises
only upon a statutory grant. The fact that someone is entitled by statute to share in some penalty or forfeiture does not
necessarily also give such person the right to bring an original action to recover such penalty or forfeiture. There must
be statutory authority, either express or implied, for the informer to bring the qui tam action.”).
29 Jacklovich v. Interlake, Inc., 458 F.2d 923, 924 (7th Cir. 1972) (no qui tam authority may be drawn from the
informer-reward provision of the Rivers and Harbors Act); Connecticut Action Now, Inc. v. Roberts Plating Co., 457
F.2d 81, 84-88 (2d Cir. 1972); Gerbingh ex rel. United States v. I.T.T. Rayoinier Inc., 332 F. Supp. 309, 310 (M.D. Fla.
1971); Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Soc. v. Scholze Tannery, Inc., 329 F. Supp. 339, 344-45 (E.D. Tenn. 1971); Bass
Anglers Sportsman’s Soc., 324 F. Supp. at, 306-307.
30 Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 777 n.7 (2000) (quoting United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess, 317 U.S. 537, 541 n.4 (1943)).
31 Stevens, 529 U.S. at 768-69 n.1 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 962 (vessels armed against nations with whom the U.S. is at
peace) (“Every such vessel … shall be forfeited, one half to the use of the informer and the other half to the use of the
United States”) and 46 U.S.C. § 723 [now 46 U.S.C. § 80103] (salvage of ship wrecks off the Florida coast)) (“A vessel
transporting property described in subsection (a) to a foreign port may be seized by, and forfeited to, the United States
Government. A forfeiture under this subsection accrues half to the informer and half to the Government.”).
Like the qui tam statutes, the explicit moiety, informer-reward, forfeiture-based statutes have largely disappeared or
been replaced by cross references to authority under the customs laws from which explicit references likewise have
been repealed or rewritten. E.g., 19 U.S.C. § 1619(a) (“If - (1) any person who is not an employee or officer of the
United States . . . (B) furnishes to a United States attorney, the Secretary of the Treasury, or any customs officer
original information concerning - (i) any fraud upon the customs revenue, or (ii) any violation of the customs laws or
the navigation laws which is being, or has been, perpetrated or contemplated by any other person; and (2) such
detection and seizure or such information leads to a recovery of - (A) any duties withheld, or (B) any fine, penalty, or
forfeiture of property incurred; the Secretary may award and pay such person an amount that does not exceed 25
percent of the net amount so recovered.”) (emphasis added).
See also 15 U.S.C. § 1177 (“Any gambling device transported … or used in violation of the provisions of this chapter
shall be seized and forfeited to the United States. All provisions of law relating to the seizure, summary and judicial
forfeiture … for violation of the customs laws; the disposition of such vessels … or the proceeds from the sale thereof;
… and the compromise of claims and the award of compensation to informers in respect of such forfeitures shall apply
to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have been incurred, under the provisions of this chapter, insofar as
applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions hereof…”) (emphasis added); 18 U.S.C. § 1955 (unlawful gambling
business) (“Any property, including money, used in violation of the provisions of this section may be seized and
forfeited to the United States. All provisions of law relating to the seizures, summary, and judicial forfeiture procedures
… for violation of the customs laws; the disposition of proceeds … from such sale; …and the award of compensation
to informers in respect of such forfeitures shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred or alleged to have been
incurred under the provisions of this section, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with such provisions.”)
(emphasis added).
But see 26 U.S.C. § 7341 (tax evasion) (“(a) Nonenforceability of contract - Whenever any person who is liable to
pay any tax imposed by this title upon, for, or in respect of, any property sells or causes or allows the same to be sold
before such tax is paid, with intent to avoid such tax, or in fraud of the internal revenue laws, any debt contracted in
such sale, and any security given therefor, unless the same shall have been bona fide transferred to an innocent holder,
shall be void, and the collection thereof shall not be enforced in any court. (b) Forfeiture of sum paid on contract. If
such property has been paid for, in whole or in part, the sum so paid shall be deemed forfeited. (c) Moiety. Any person
who shall sue for the sum so paid (in an action of debt) shall recover from the seller the amount so paid, one-half to his
own use and the other half to the use of the United States.”).
32 Stalley v. Methodist Healthcare, 517 F.3d 911, 920 (6th Cir. 2008); see also United Seniors Ass’n, Inc. v. Philip
Morris USA, 500 F.3d 19, 23 (1st Cir. 2007) (“There presently is no common law right to bring a qui tam action, which
is strictly a creature of statute.”); Woods v. Empire Health Choice, Inc., 574 F.3d 92, 98 (2d Cir. 2009).
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False Claims Act
Civil War Origins
The False Claims Act originated as the Act of March 2, 1863.33 Its brief legislative history is
devoted almost exclusively to a subsequently abandoned proposal that all offenders, both military
and civilian, had to be tried by courts martial.34 Senator Howard, the sponsor and floor manager
of the bill in the Senate, provided the only explicit explanation of the qui tam provision:
The other clauses which follow, and which prescribe the mode of proceeding to punish
persons who are not in the military service of the United States, I take it, are open to no
serious objection. The effect of them is simply to hold out to a confederate a strong
temptation to betray his coconspirator, and bring him to justice. The bill offers, in short, a
reward to the informer who comes into court and betrays his coconspirator, if he be such;
but it is not confined to that class. Even the district attorney, who is required to be vigilant
in the prosecution of such cases, may be also the informer, and entitle himself to one half
the forfeiture under the qui tam clause, and to one half of the double damages which may
be recovered against the person committing the act. In short, sir, I have based the fourth,
fifth, sixth, and seventh sections upon the old-fashion idea of holding out a temptation, and
“setting a rogue to catch a rogue,” which is the safest and most expeditious way I have ever
discovered of bringing rogues to justice.35
As enacted, the statute prohibited various frauds against the government, including making or
presenting false claims, false vouchers, false oaths, forged signatures, theft, embezzlement, and
conspiracy.36 The proscriptions applied to both military personnel and civilians.37 Civilian
offenders faced a sentence of imprisonment of from one to five years or a fine of not less than
$1,000 or more than $5,000.38 They also faced civil liability in the amount of $2,000, double the
amount of damage sustained by the United States, and costs.39 Any person might bring suit in the
name of the United States to recover the civil penalties, although the suit could only be settled
with the consent of the court and federal prosecutors.40 The private parties, known as relators,41
were entitled to half of the penalty recovered and costs, if successful.42 The qui tam provisions

33 Act of March 2, 1863, ch. 67, 12 STAT. 696 (1863).
34 33 CONG. GLOBE 952-960 (1863).
35 Id. at 955-56 (remarks of Sen. Howard).
36 Act of March 2, 1863, § 1, 12 STAT. at 696-97 (1863).
37 Id. §§ 1, 3, 12 STAT. at 696-97, 698 (1863).
38 Id. § 3, 12 STAT. at 698 (1863).
39 Id.
40 Id. §4, 12 STAT. at 698 (1863).
41 The term “relator” derives from the style used in qui tam suits. For example, the case that figures prominently in the
1943 amendments was styled United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess. “Ex rel.” stands for “ex rationale,” which in this
context means “in relation to.” Thus, “United States ex rel. Marcus” means the “United States in relation to the
allegations brought by Marcus.”
42 Act of March 2, 1863, ch. 67, § 6, 12 STAT. at 698 (1863).
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were codified in the Revised Statutes43 and continued relatively unchanged until 1943 when the
Attorney General sought to have them repealed.44
1943 Amendments
On August 28, 1942, Attorney General Biddle requested repeal of the qui tam provisions in
identical letters to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee.45 He explained that:
The reasons advanced by Senator Howard for the enactment of these sections are no longer
pertinent. Recent experience shows that plaintiffs in informers’ suits not only fail to furnish
to the United States the information which is the basis of their actions, but on the contrary,
at times base the litigation on information which has been secured by the Government in
the regular course of law enforcement. Such plaintiffs at times not only use information
contained in indictments returned against the defendant, but also seek to use Government
files to prove their cases. Consequently, informers’ suits have become mere parasitical
actions, occasionally brought only after law-enforcement offices have investigated and
prosecuted persons guilty of a violation of law and solely because of the hope of a large
reward.46
He also referred to a court of appeals decision that seemed to reflect judicial condemnation of the
qui tam provisions.47 The Senate passed the repeal proposal with little debate at the close of the
77th Congress.48 The House acted with similar dispatch and passed a comparable bill when it
convened in the 78th Congress.49 In the interim, however, the Supreme Court had repudiated the
lower court opinion which the Attorney General had cited.50 Moreover, opposition to repeal had
developed in the Senate.51 As a consequence, the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended

43 The qui tam provisions appeared in REV. STAT. §§3490-3494, the criminal provisions in REV. STAT. § 5438 (1876).
The criminal provisions have remained separate and are now found in 18 U.S.C. §§ 286-287. Their evolution is beyond
the scope of this report.
44 31 U.S.C. §§ 231-235 (1940 ed.).
45 Printed in S. Rept. No. 77-1708, at 1-2 (1942); H. Rept. No. 78-263 at 1-2 (1943).
46 S. Rept. No. 77-1708, at 2; H. Rept. No. 78-263, at 2.
47 S. Rept. No. 77-1708, at 2; H. Rept. No. 78-263, at 2 (“In a recent informer’s action, United States ex rel. Marcus v.
Hess, 127 F. (2d) 233, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in reversing a judgment in the sum of
$315,100.91 in favor of the informer made the following observations (p. 235): ‘Qui tam actions have always been
regarded with disfavor: It is wrong for a free country to allow an informer to seek redress for his own pecuniary
advantage in respect of a public wrong in which he has no direct personal interest or concern. A wrong to the State
should surely be atoned for by a penalty payable to the State alone. * * * Hurst, The Common Informer, 147
Contemporary Review 189, 190.’”).
48 88 CONG. REC. 9138 (1942) (S. 2707).
49 89 CONG. REC. 2801 (1943) (H.R. 1203).
50 United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess, 317 U.S. 537, 541 (1943) (“We cannot accept either the interpretive approach
or the actual decision of the court below. Qui tam suits have been frequently permitted by legislative action, and have
not been without defense by the courts”). In support of this latter point, the Supreme Court cited a nineteenth century
opinion that lauded qui tam suits. Id. at 541 n.5 (quoting United States v. Griswold, 24 F. 361, 366 (D. Ore. 1885))
(“The statute is a remedial one. It is intended to protect the treasury against the hungry and unscrupulous host that
encompasses it on every side, and should be construed accordingly. It was passed upon the theory, based on experience
as old as modern civilization, that one of the least expensive and most effective means of preventing frauds on the
treasury is to make the perpetrators of them liable to actions by private persons acting, if you please, under the strong
stimulus of personal ill will or the hope of gain. Prosecutions conducted by such means compare with the ordinary
methods as the enterprising privateer does to the slow-going public vessel.”).
51 S. Rept. No. 78-291, Pt.2 (1943) (minority views of Sen. Langer).
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curtailing, rather than repealing, the false claim qui tam provisions.52 The two Houses ultimately
reached agreement and passed the compromise as Public Law 78-213.53
The legislation required relators to provide the government with the evidence upon which they
based their litigation and to allow the government 60 days to intervene.54 It precluded qui tam
suits based on information already within the government’s possession,55 and it reduced the
relator’s share of a successful suit from 50% to no more than 25% (no more than 10% should the
government take up and litigate the case).56
1986 Amendments
The 1943 amendments addressed reform of those qui tam procedures seen as rewarding the
unworthy and obstructing other law enforcement efforts. The 1986 amendments reinvigorated qui
tam procedures in the face of evidence of extensive fraud against the United States.57 They
reflected a fairly wide array of concerns. Changes included:
 an explicit cause of action for reverse false claims (false statements calculated to
reduce an obligation to pay the United States);58
 a cause of action for retaliation against whistleblowers;59
 an increase in sanctions from a penalty of not more than $2,000 and double damages
to a penalty of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 and treble damages;60
 an increase in the maximum award available to qui tam relators from not more than
25% to not more than 30%;61

52 S. Rept. No. 78-291 (1943).
53 57 STAT. 608 (1943).
54 57 STAT. at 608, 31 U.S.C. § 232(C) (1946 ed.).
55 Id.
56 57 STAT. at 609; compare, 31 U.S.C. § 234 (1940 ed.), with 31 U.S.C. § 232(E) (1946 ed.).
57 S. Rept. No. 99-345, at 2-3 (1986) (“In 1985 . . . 45 of the 100 largest defense contractors, including 9 of the top 10,
were under investigation for multiple fraud offenses. Additionally, the Justice Department has reported that in the last
year, four of the largest defense contractors . . . have been convicted of criminal offenses while another . . . has been
indicted and awaits trial. . . . The Department of Justice has estimated fraud as draining 1 to 10 percent of the entire
Federal budget. Taking into account the spending level in 1985 of nearly $1 trillion, fraud against the Government
could be costing taxpayers anywhere from $10 to $100 billion annually”); see also H. Rept. No. 99-660, at 18 (1986).
58 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(7) (1988 ed.). Although some believed the False Claims Act already covered such misconduct,
the Justice Department urged adoption of an explicit provision to avoid any ambiguity suggested by the case law. S.
Rept. No. 99-345, at 15 (1986); H. Rept. No. 99-660, at 20 (1986).
59 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h) (1988 ed.). See H. Rept. No. 99-660, at 23 (“Under current law, there is no federal whistle
blower protection statute for persons who are fired or otherwise discriminated against by their employer because of
their lawful participation in a False Claims Act case. Often, the employee within the company may be the only person
who can bring the information forward. If the person stands to lose his job, he may be unwilling to expose company
fraud.”); S. Rept. No. 99-345, at 4-5.
60 Compare 31 U.S.C. § 3729 (1982 ed.) with 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a) (1988 ed.). Recall that the statutory penalty had been
frozen at $2,000 since 1863.
61 Compare 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2) (1982 ed.) with 31 U.S.C. 3730(d)(2) (1988 ed.).
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 an express definition of the knowledge required for a violation and a declaration that
a specific intent was unnecessary;62
 a specific preponderance-of-the-evidence burden of proof;63
 a declaration that states could act as qui tam relators;64
 a revised jurisdictional bar for qui tam suits based on matters of public knowledge;65
 an expanded statute of limitations;66 and
 an authorization for government use of civil investigative demands.67
2009 Amendments
The amendments of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 reinforced the 1986
amendments, particularly in instances where judicial developments evidenced a need for
clarification.68 Modifications included:
 eliminating language suggesting that a false claim must be submitted directly to a
federal officer or employee;69
 adding a specific materiality element defined to encompass those false statements
having a natural tendency to influence payment;70
 expanding the conspiracy proscription to apply to all of the substantive False Claims
Act violations;71 and
 enlarging the reverse false claims offense to cover not only false statements but any
improper avoidance.72

62 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b) (1988 ed.). The Committee expressed concern that, absent a specific provision, the courts would
require actual knowledge of a statement’s false character and specific intent. S. Rept. No. 99-345, at 7 (citing United
States v. Aerodex, Inc. 469 F.2d 1003 (5th Cir. 1972)); H. Rept. No. 99-660, at 20-1.
63 31 U.S.C. § 3731(c). Without a statutory provision, some courts had imposed a more demanding standard, S. Rept.
No. 99-345, at 31 (“Some courts have required that the United States prove its case by clear and convincing, or even by
clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence”) (citing United States. v. Ueber, 299 F.2d 310 (6th Cir. 1962)); H. Rept.
No. 99-660 at 25-6.
64 31 U.S.C. § 3732(b) (1988 ed.). At least one court had held in a Medicaid fraud action that they could not. United
States ex rel. Wisconsin v. Dean, 729 F.2d 1100 (7th Cir. 1984).
65 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e) (1988 ed.).
66 Id. § 3731(b) (1988 ed.).
67 31 U.S.C. § 3733. Civil investigative demands are a form of administrative subpoena.
68 Section 4, P.L. 111-21, 123 STAT. 1617, 1621 (2009).
69 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A).
70 Id. § 3729(a)(1)(B), (G), (b)(4).
71 Id. § 3729(a)(1)(C).
72 Id. § 3729(a)(1)(G).
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2010 Amendments
Congress tucked modest False Claims Act amendments into the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act (PPACA)73 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(Dodd-Frank).74 PPACA clarified the definition of the relator “original source” qualification.75
Dodd-Frank added an explicit 3-year statute of limitations within which a civil action in response
to retaliation must be commenced.76
Current State of the Law
Persons Who May Be Liable
The False Claims Act declares that any “person” who violates its prohibitions may incur liability.
It does not define the term “person.” 77As a general rule, federal law understands the term to
“include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock
companies, as well as individuals.”78 Local governments are considered persons for purposes of
False Claims Act suits brought against them,79 but states80 and Indian tribes are not.81 The statute
also denies federal courts jurisdiction over certain False Claims Act suits brought by private

73 P.L. 111-148, § 10104(j)(2), 124 STAT. 901 (2010), amending, 31 U.S.C. § 3730((e)(4).
74 P.L. 111-203, § 1079A(c), 124 STAT. 2079 (2010), amending, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h).
75 Section 3730(e)(4) now provides: “(A) The court shall dismiss an action . . . if substantially the same allegations . . .
were publicly disclosed . . . unless . . . the person bringing the action is an original source of the information. (B) For
purposes of this paragraph, “original source” means an individual who either (i) prior to a public disclosure under
subsection (e)(4)(a), has voluntarily disclosed to the Government the information on which allegations or transactions
in a claim are based, or (2) who has knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed
allegations or transactions, and who has voluntarily provided the information to the Government before filing an
action under this section.” (emphasis added).
Prior law defined “original source” as “an individual who has direct and independent knowledge of the information on
which the allegations are based and has voluntarily provided the information to the Government before filing an action
under this section which is based on the information.” 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(B) (2006 ed.); Rockwell Int’l Corp. v.
United States, 549 U.S. 457, 476 (2007).
76 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(3).
77 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 784 (2000).
78 1 U.S.C. § 1.
79 Cook County v. United States ex rel. Chandler, 538 U.S. 119, 122 (2003) (“In Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
v. United States ex rel. Stevens, we held that States are not ‘persons’ subject to qui tam actions under the False Claims
Act. Here, the question is whether local governments are amenable to such suits, and we hold that they are.”) (internal
citations omitted). See also United States ex rel. Oberg v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, 804 F.3d
646, 650 (4th Cir. 2015).
80 Stevens, 529 U.S. at 787-88 (2000). State agencies that function as an arm of the state are not “persons” subject to
suit under the False Claims Act. United States ex rel. Onnen v. Sioux Falls Independent School District 49-5, 688 F.3d
410, 414 n.3 (8th Cir. 2012). The same cannot be said of state-created corporations that function independently. United
States ex rel. Oberg v. Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corp., 681 F.3d 575, 578, 580 (4th Cir. 2012) (“To
determine if [state-created entities] are subject to suit under the FCA . . . the critical inquiry is whether [they] are truly
subject to sufficient state control to render them a part of the state, and not persons . . . .[that is, to distinguish] a State-
created entity functioning independently of the State from a State-created entity functioning as an arm of the State or its
alter ego.”). See also United States v. University of Massachusetts, Worcester, 812 F.3d 35, 39-44 (1st Cir. 2016);
Kreipke v, Wayne State University, 807 F.3d 768, 774-76 (6th Cir. 2015); Oberg, 804 F.3d at 677.
81 United States ex rel. Cain v. Salish Kootenai College, Inc., 862 F.3d 939, 943 (9th Cir. 2017); United States v.
Menominee Tribal Enterprises, 601 F.Supp.2d 1061, 1068 (E.D. Wis. 2009).
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parties against Members of Congress, members of the federal judiciary, senior federal officials, or
members of the armed forces.82
Who May Bring an Action
The False Claims Act allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the government, but any False
Claims Act litigation takes place in the shadow of the government’s prerogatives. The action is
brought in the name of the United States. The Attorney General may bring an action for
violations.83 A private party (called a relator) may also bring such an action,84 but the government
may elect to assume primary responsibility for the litigation from the beginning.85 If it initially
chooses not to do so, the government is nevertheless free to intervene later in the proceedings
upon a showing of cause.86 The government is likewise free to move to dismiss or settle the
litigation over the objections of the relator, as long as the relator is given an opportunity to be
heard.87 The Department of Justice’s JUSTICE MANUAL, which replaced the U.S. ATTORNEYS’
MANUAL, provides a “non-exhaustive list” of government interests that—in addition to the first-
to-file, public-disclosure, and tax bars—should be considered in filing a motion to dismiss.88 The

82 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(1) and (2) provide:
“(1) No court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought by a former or present member of the armed forces under
subsection (b) of this section against a member of the armed forces arising out of such person’s service in the armed
forces.
“(2)(A) No court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought under subsection (b) against a Member of Congress, a
member of the judiciary, or a senior executive branch official if the action is based on evidence or information known
to the Government when the action was brought.
“(B) For purposes of this paragraph, ‘senior executive branch official’ means any officer or employee listed in
paragraphs (1) through (8) of section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).”
83 31 U.S.C. § 3730(a).
84 Id. § 3730(b).
85 Id. § 3730(c)(1).
86 Id. § 3730(c)(3); United States v. Everglades College, Inc., 855 F.3d 1279, 1285-86 (11th Cir. 2017) (holding that the
good cause requirement only applies for continuation of the litigation not when the government seeks to settle, thus
ending the case).
87 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2) (“(A) The Government may dismiss the action notwithstanding the objections of the person
initiating the action if the person has been notified by the Government of the filing of the motion and the court has
provided the person with an opportunity for a hearing on the motion. (B) The Government may settle the action with
the defendant notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the action if the court determines, after a hearing,
that the proposed settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable under all the circumstances. Upon a showing of good
cause, such hearing may be held in camera”).
88 U.S. Department of Justice, JUSTICE MANUAL, § 4-4.111 (“When evaluating a recommendation to decline
intervention in a qui tam action, attorneys should also consider whether the government’s interests are served, in
addition, by seeking dismissal pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2)(A). While it is important to be judicious in utilizing
§ 3730(c)(2)(A), such dismissals also provide an important tool to advance the government’s interest, preserve limited
resources, and avoid adverse precedent. When determining whether to seek such dismissal, the Department should
evaluate the following non-exhaustive list of factors that can serve as a basis for dismissal:
1. Curbing meritless qui tams that facially lack merit (either because the relator’s legal theory is inherently
defective, or the relator’s factual allegations are frivolous)
2. Preventing parasitic or opportunistic qui tam actions that duplicate a pre-existing government investigation, and
add no useful information to the investigation
3. Preventing interference with an agency’s policies or the administration of its programs
4. Controlling litigation brought on behalf of the United States in order to protect the Department’s litigation
prerogatives
5. Safeguarding classified information and national security interests
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government may also petition the court to limit the relator’s participation in the litigation in the
interest of a more effective prosecution of the action.89

6. Preserving government resources, particularly when the government’s cost (including the opportunity cost of
expending resources on other matters) are likely to exceed any expected gain
7. Addressing egregious procedural errors that could frustrate the government’s efforts to conduct a proper
investigation.
Attorneys may also cite alternative grounds for seeking dismissal other than § 3730(c)(2)(A), such as the first to file
bar, the public disclosure bar, the tax bar, or Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b).”). Rule 9(b) provides: “In alleging
fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake. Malice, intent,
knowledge and other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.” See United States ex rel. Bookwalter v.
UPMC, 946 F.3d 162, 176 (3d Cir. 2019) (Rule 9(b) requires a plaintiff to plead “all of the essential factual background
that would accompany the first paragraph of any newspaper story – that is, the who, what, where, when, and how of the
events at issue.”); application of the rule is sometimes challenging. See Tricia L. Forte, Resolving the Circuit Split:
Pleading Healthcare Fraud With Particularity, 25 ROGER WILLIAMS U. L. REV. 16 (2020). The courts cannot agree on
the standard for dismissal. Chang v. Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware Weih Steve Chang, 938 F.3d 384, 387
(3d Cir 2019) (“The parties presented this appeal as an opportunity for us to take a side in a putative circuit split. On
one hand, the Ninth Circuit says that courts have approval authority over the government’s decision to dismiss a qui
tam suit. See Sequoia Orange Co. v. Baird-Neece Packing Corp., 151 F.3d 1139, 1145-46 (9th Cir. 1998). This test
requires the government to show (1) a valid government purpose and (2) a rational relation between dismissal and
accomplishment of that purpose. If the government meets these prongs, the burden shifts to the relator to demonstrate
that dismissal is fraudulent, arbitrary and capricious, or illegal. The Tenth Circuit has also adopted this standard. United
States ex rel. Ridenour v. Kaiser-Hill Co., L.L.C., 397 F.3d 925, 934-35 (10th Cir. 2005). The D.C. Circuit, by contrast,
has held that the United States has an ‘unfettered right’ to dismiss a qui tam case. See Swift v, United States, 318 F.3d
250, 252-53 (D.C. Cir. 2003). . . . We need not take a side in this circuit split because Chang fails even under the more
stringent standard.”); See also United States ex rel. CIMZNHCA, LLC v. UCB, Inc. 970 F.3d 835, 851-52 (7th Cir.
2020) (reversing lower court’s denial of the government’s motion to dismiss and refusing to remand in the absence of
evidence of irrational, oppressive, shocking, or egregious government conduct that could be “grist” for a hearing under
Section 3730(c)(2)(A)); United States ex rel. Schweizer v. Oce N.V., 677 F.3d 1228, 1289-93 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (finding
that the government’s option to dismiss under Section 3730(c)(2)(A) does not render Section 3730(c)(2)(A) a dead
letter and that a relator is entitled to a judicial determination that a proposed settlement is “fair, adequate, and
reasonable” under Section 3730(c)(2)(B)); Nathan T. Tschepik, Comment, The Executive Judgment Rule: A New
Standard of Dismissal for Qui Tam Suits Under the FCA, 87 U. CHI. L. REV. 1051, 1053 (2020); David O’Neill,
Resolving the Confusion: Granting the Government Unfettered Discretion to Dismiss Qui Tam Actions, 49 PUB. CONT.
L. J. 403 (2020).
89 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2)(C) (“Upon a showing by the Government that unrestricted participation during the course of
the litigation by the person initiating the action would interfere with or unduly delay the Government’s prosecution of
the case, or would be repetitious, irrelevant, or for purposes of harassment, the court may, in its discretion, impose
limitations on the person’s participation, such as – (i) limiting the number of witnesses the person may call; (ii) limiting
the length of the testimony of such witnesses; (iii) limiting the person’s cross-examination of witnesses; or (iv)
otherwise limiting the participation by the person in the litigation.”).
The court may also limit the relator’s participation in the interest of avoiding undue harassment of the defendant. Id.
§ 3730(c)(2)(D) (“Upon a showing by the defendant that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation by
the person initiating the action would be for purposes of harassment or would cause the defendant undue burden or
unnecessary expense, the court may limit the participation by the person in the litigation.”).
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Who May Not Bring an Action
First to File
The False Claims Act features a first-to-file bar which precludes a second relator from bringing a
later copycat action while the first claim is still pending.90 The bar extends to any claims that
allege the same material or essential elements of the same underlying fraud.91
Public Information
A relator may not bring a False Claims Act action based on public information or information
from official proceedings, unless he or she is the original source of the information.92

90 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(5) (“When a person brings an action under this subsection, no person other than the Government
may intervene or bring a related action based on the facts underlying the pending action”); In re Natural Gas Royalties
Qui Tam Litigation (CO2 Appeals), 566 F.3d 956, 961 (10th Cir. 2009) (“The first-to-file bar thus functions both to
eliminate parasitic plaintiffs who piggy back off the claims of a prior relator, and to encourage legitimate relators to file
quickly by protecting the spoils of the first to bring a claim.”); In re Plavik Marketing, Sales Practices and Product
Liability Litigation (No. 11), 974 F.3d 228, 233 (3d Cir. 2020) (“[T]here are three ways for nonparties with interests
relevant to a suit to become parties to a suit. They can intervene in the existing suit. They can file their own related suit
based on the same facts. Or they can be added to the existing suit by the court or the parties. In the False Claims Act
qui tam suits, the first-to-file bar precludes the first two options, but not the third . . . .”).
A first filed claim “ceases to be ‘pending’ once it is dismissed.” Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States
ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. 650, 664 (2015); United States ex rel. Banign v. PharMerica, Inc., 950 F.3d 134, 142 n.8 (1st
Cir. 2020).
The circuits disagree as to whether the first-to-file rule is jurisdictional, United States v. Millenium Laboratories, Inc.,
923 F.3d 240, 251 (1st Cir. 2019) (not jurisdictional); United States ex rel. Hayes v. Allstate Ins. Co., 853 F.3d 80, 85
(2d Cir. 2019) (same); United States ex rel. Health v. AT & T, Inc., 791 F.3d 112, 120-21 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (same);
United States ex rel. Carter v. Halliburton Co., 866 F.3d 199, 203 n.1 (4th Cir. 2017) (jurisdictional); see also In re
Plavik, 974 F.3d at 232 (collecting cases) (holding the bar is not jurisdictional).
91 Id. at 233; Millenium Laboratories, Inc., 923 F.3d at 252-53 (1st Cir. 2019); United States ex rel. Wood v. Allergan,
Inc., 899 F.3d 163, 169 (2d Cir. 2018); United States ex rel. Shea v. Cello Partnership, 863 F.3d 923, 929 (D.C. Cir.
2017); United States ex rel. Carson v. Manor Care, Corp., 851 F.3d 293, 302 (4th Cir. 2017); In re Natural Gas
Royalties Qui Tam Litigation (CO2 Appeals), 566 F.3d at 962; United States ex rel. Branch Consultants v. Allstate
Insurance Co., 560 F.3d 371, 377 (5th Cir. 2009); United States ex rel. Poteet v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 F.3d 503, 516
(6th Cir. 2009).
92 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4) (“(A) The court shall dismiss an action or claim under this section, unless opposed by the
Government, if substantially the same allegations or transactions as alleged in the action or claim were publicly
disclosed – (i) in a Federal criminal, civil, or administrative hearing in which the Government or its agent is a party; (ii)
in a congressional, Government Accountability Office, or other Federal report, hearing, audit, or investigation; or (iii)
from the news media, unless the action is brought by the Attorney General or the person bringing the action is an
original source of the information. (B) For purposes of this paragraph, “original source” means an individual who either
(i) prior to a public disclosure under subsection (e)(4)(a), has voluntarily disclosed to the Government the information
on which allegations or transactions in a claim are based, or (2) who has knowledge that is independent of and
materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations or transactions, and who has voluntarily provided the information
to the Government before filing an action under this section.”). See also Schindler Elevator Corp. v. United States ex
rel. Kirk, 563 U.S. 401, 404 (2011) (written agency response to relator’s wife’s Freedom of Information request
constitutes a report for purposes of the original source provision); Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District
v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 559 U.S. 280, 283 (2010) (public disclosure bar of Section 3730(e)(4) includes state or
local administrative reports, hearings, audits, or investigations); United States ex rel. Maur v. Hage-Korban, 981 F.3d
516, 522 (6th Cir. 2020) (“[P]ublicly available [information on] the Inspector General’s website . . . qualifies as a
‘Federal report’ within the meaning of 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(A).”); United States ex rel. Holloway v. Heartland
Hospice, Inc., 960 F.3d 836, 844 (6th Cir. 2020) (“A [public] disclosure can arise from multiple documents taken
together, rather than from a single document.”); United States ex rel. Banigan v. Pharm Erica, Inc., 950 F.3d 134, 137
(1st Cir. 2020) (“The public disclosure bar is designed to prevent opportunistic relators enticed by the financial
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Other Bars
The False Claims Act contains a number of other actions on behalf of the government. One
applies with respect to actions based on civil litigation or administrative penalty enforcement
proceedings to which the United States is a party.93 In addition, a person convicted for conduct
related to a False Claims Act violation may not participate in a False Claims Act civil action and a
person who planned or initiated a False Claims Act violation may not share in the proceeds from
a civil action under the Act.94 Furthermore, a member of the armed forces may not bring a False
Claims Act action against another member based on the defendant’s service,95 nor may an action
be brought under the statute for false tax claims or statements.96
Even though relators are often referred to as private parties, government employees may bring a
False Claims Act qui tam action as long as one of the statutory bars does not apply.97

incentives that the FCA provides from bringing parasitic qui tam actions.”); United States ex rel. Reed v. Key Point
Government Solutions, 923 F.3d 729, 738 (10th Cir. 2019) (“The public disclosure bar aims to strike ‘the golden mean
between encouraging whistle-blowing insiders with genuine valuable information’ to come forward while discouraging
‘opportunistic plaintiffs who have no significant information to contribute of their own.’”) (quoting United States ex
rel. Fine v. Sandia Corp., 70 F.3d 568, 571 (10th Cir. 1995)); United States ex rel. Solis v. Millennium
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 885 F.3d 623, 626 (9th Cir. 2018) (“This public disclosure bar is triggered if three conditions are
met: ‘(1) the disclosure at issue occurred through one of the channels specified in the statute; (2) the disclosure was
public; and (3) the relator’s action is based upon the allegations or transaction.’”) (quoting United States ex rel. Mateski
v, Raytheon Co., 816 F.3d 565, 570 (9th Cir. 2016); United States ex rel. Solomon v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 878 F.3d
139, 143 (5th Cir. 2017) (same); United States ex rel. Davis v. District of Columbia, 679 F.3d 832, 839 (D.C. Cir.
2012) (The False Claims Act “now allows a relator to proceed if he either meets the . . . pre-public disclosure
notification requirement, or if he possesses knowledge independent of the public disclosure that materially adds to the
public disclosure and he provides the information to the government prior to filing suit.”).
93 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(3) (“In no event may a person bring an action under subsection (b) which is based upon
allegations or transactions which are the subject of a civil suit or an administrative civil money penalty proceeding in
which the Government is already a party.”); United States ex rel. Bennett v. Biotronik, Inc., 876 F.3d 1011, 1019 (9th
Cir. 2017) (holding that the bar applies to concluded suits or proceedings in which the government was a party).
94 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(3).
95 Id. § 3730(e)(1).
96 Id. § 3729(d) (“This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made under the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986.”).
97 Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co., 690 F.3d 282, 284 (5th Cir 2012); United States ex rel. Holmes v.
Consumer Insurance Group, 318 F.3d 1199, 1212 (10th Cir. 2003) (en banc) (citing United States ex rel. Marcus v.
Hess, 317 U.S. 537, 546 (1943) (“Thus, we believe that Marcus, to the extent it construed the qui tam provision as
allowing a government official to file suit as a relator based upon information obtained in the course of his or her
official duties, remains valid.”); United States ex rel. Hagood v. Sonoma County Water Agency, 929 F.2d 1416, 1419-
20 (9th Cir. 1991) (“The United States further argues that the ‘public disclosure’ required by the statute occurred when
Hagood as a government employee ‘disclosed’ to himself as a member of the public information on which he based his
suit. To say that the argument of the United States is tortured is to state the obvious. … We hold that no ‘public
disclosure’ was made.”); United States ex rel. Williams v. NEC Corp., 931 F.2d 1493, 1496-1500 (11th Cir. 1991);
United States ex rel. LeBlanc v. Raytheon Co., Inc., 913 F.2d 17, 20 (1st Cir. 1990) (“It was LeBlanc’s responsibility, a
condition of his employment, to uncover fraud. The fruits of his efforts belong to his employer – the government. Thus,
LeBlanc was not someone with independent knowledge of the information as required by the statute.”). See also United
States ex rel. Burns v. A.D. Roe Co., Inc., 186 F.3d 717, 722-23 (6th Cir. 1999) (declining to address the argument that
government employees are per se ineligible to file False Claims Act qui tam actions, but noting that the argument has
been uniformly rejected by other courts). A federal employee may have difficulty qualifying as an “original source” of
publicly available information upon which an action is based if the nature of his duties obligate him to disclose the
information to his superiors rather than “voluntarily” disclosing it as the definition of “original source” requires. United
States ex rel. Fine v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 72 F.3d 740, 742-44 (9th Cir. 1995) (“[T]he fact Fine was employed
specifically to disclose fraud is sufficient to render his disclosures nonvoluntary.”).
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Basis for Liability
Seven forms of misconduct give rise to civil liability under Section 3729. They occur when
anyone:
(A) knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment
or approval;
(B) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement
material to a false or fraudulent claim;
(C) conspires to commit a violation of subparagraph (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), or (G);
(D) has possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or to be used, by the
Government and knowingly delivers, or causes to be delivered, less than all of that money
or property;
(E) is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used, or to
be used, by the Government and, intending to defraud the Government, makes or delivers
the receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;
(F) knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from
an officer or employee of the Government, or a member of the Armed Forces, who lawfully
may not sell or pledge property; or
(G) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement
material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government, or
knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay
or transmit money or property to the Government.98
Additional liability may also flow from any retaliatory action taken against those who seek to
stop violations of the False Claims Act.99
Common Elements
State-of-Mind
Section 3729(b) supplies definitions that govern the scope of the seven proscriptions found in
Section 3729(a)(1) and requires less than actual knowledge to establish the state of mind
necessary for conviction. Thus, it defines the terms “knowing” and “knowingly” to make clear
that the government need not show that the defendant acted with the intent to defraud.100

98 31 U.S.C. § 3729.
99 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h). Conduct in violation of the False Claims Act may also violate other federal criminal and civil
statutes. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. §§ 220 (kick-backs), 286 & 287 (false, fictitious or fraudulent claims), 371 (conspiracy),
641 (theft of federal property), 666 (theft from federal fund recipients), 669 (health care related theft), 1001 (false
statements), 1031 (major fraud against the United States) 1341 (wire fraud), 1343 (mail fraud), 1346 (honest services
fraud), 1347 (health care fraud), 1512 (witness tampering), 1517 (retaliation), 1952 (Travel Act), 1956 & 1957 (money
laundering), 1961-1968 (racketeering); 31 U.S.C. §§ 3801-3812(program fraud civil remedies); 42 U.S.C. §§ 1320a-7b
(federal health care program fraud), 1395nn (physician referrals). See generally Pamela H. Bacy, Crimes By Health
Care Providers, 1996 UNIV. ILL. L. REV. 589; A. Lee Bentley, III & Jason P. Mehta, Beyond the False Claims Act: The
Government’s Untraditional Tools in Health Care Fraud Prosecutions, 13 J. HEALTH & SCI. L. 90 (2020). These
statutes and their state-law equivalents are beyond the scope of this report.
100 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(1)(B); Winter ex rel. United States v. Gardens Regional Hosp. and Medical Center, 953 F.3d
1108, 1117 (9th Cir, 2020); United States v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., 892 F.3d 822, 837 (6th Cir.
2018); United States ex rel. Spay v. CVS Caremark Corp., 875 F.3d 746, 760 (3d Cir. 2017).
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Moreover, Section 3729(b)(1) ensures that the knowledge element may be satisfied with a
showing that the defendant acted knowingly, with deliberate ignorance, or with reckless
disregard.101 The “knowing” standard demands that the defendant act with the intent to engage in
conduct that the law proscribes whether he is aware of the proscription or not.102 The “deliberate
ignorance standard” is an ostrich-with-his-head-in-the-sand standard.103 And, the “reckless
disregard” standard contemplates a state-of-mind element found somewhere between deliberate
disregard and gross negligence.104

101 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(1)(A) (“the terms ‘knowing’ and ‘knowingly’ – (A) mean that a person, with respect to
information – (i) has actual knowledge of the information; (ii) acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the
information; or (iii) acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information”). See also United States ex rel.
Brookwalter v. UPMC, 946 F.3d 162, 175 (3d Cir. 2019); Godecke v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., 937 F.3d 1201, 1211 (9th
Cir. 2019); United States ex rel. Polukoff v. St. Mark’s Hosp., 895 F.3d 730, 734 (10th 2018).
102 Dixon v. United States, 548 U.S. 1, 5 (2006) (“As we have explained, ‘unless the text of a statute dictates a different
result, the term ‘knowingly’ merely requires proof of knowledge of the facts that constitute the offense … And the term
‘willful’ requires a defendant to have acted with knowledge that his conduct is unlawful.’”) (quoting Bryan v. United
States, 524 U.S. 184, 193 (1998)); United States v. Vereen, 920 F,3ed 1300, 1308 (11th Cir. 2019); United States v.
Rivero, 889 F.3d 618, 621 (9th Cir. 2018) (“The Supreme Court has provided guidance on how to interpret the term
‘knowingly’ in a criminal statute … See e.g., Dixon v. United States, 548 U.S. 1, 5 (2006) (stating ‘unless the text of a
statute dictates a different result, the term ‘knowingly’ merely requires proof of knowledge of the facts that constitute
the offense’ … as opposed to proof that the defendant acted with knowledge that his conduct was unlawful.).”) (parallel
citations omitted).
103 Godecke v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., 937 F.3d at 1211 (“The deliberate ignorance standard can cover ‘the ostrich type
situation where an individual has buried his head in the sand and failed to make simple inquiries which would alert him
that false claims are being submitted,’”) (quoting United States v. United Healthcare Ins. Co., 848 F.3d 1161, 1174 (9th
Cir. 2016)). But see United States ex rel. Phalp v. Lincare Holdings, Inc., 857 F.3d 1148, 1155 (11th Cir. 2017)
(suggesting that the ostrich example is also encompassed within the “reckless disregard” standard).
104 United States ex rel. Wall v. Circle C Constr., L.L.C., 697 F.3d 345, 356 (6th Cir. 2012) (“An aggravated form of
gross negligence (i.e., reckless disregard) will satisfy the scienter requirement for an FCA violation.”). The Supreme
Court in Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 68-9 (2007), observed in another context that “the common
law has generally understood it [(recklessness)] in the sphere of civil liability as conduct violating an objective
standard: action entailing an unjustifiably high risk of harm that is known or so obvious that it should be known. The
Restatement [(Second) of Torts], for example, defines reckless disregard of a person’s physical safety this way: ‘The
actor’s conduct is in reckless disregard of the safety of another if he does an act or intentionally fails to do an act which
it is his duty to do, knowing or having reason to know of facts that would lead a reasonable man to realize, not only that
his conduct creates an unreasonable risk of physical harm to another, but also that the risk is substantially greater than
that which is necessary to make his conduct negligent.’”). E.g., United States v. Dynamic Visions Inc., 971 F.3d 330,
(D.C. Cir. 2020) (“There is no need to aggregate the individual knowledge of Dynamic Vision’s officers and employees
to establish the requisite disregard on the part of the company. Rather, any single person who looked at the patient files
should have known that the company sought reimbursements unsupported by adequate POCs [required individual
patient Plans of Care].”); United States ex rel. Citynet v, Gianato, 962 F.3d 154,159 (4th Cir. 2020) (“We have
previously recognized that this element is so defined to ensure that liability is not imposed for honest mistakes or
incorrect claims submitted through mere negligence. Thus, False Claims Act liability attaches only when a person has
acted intentionally or recklessly.”).
At least at one time, several federal appellate courts recognized a government knowledge inference that permitted a
defendant to deny that he had acted “knowingly.” See United States ex rel. Spay v. CVC Caremark Corp., 875 F.3d
746, 755-56 (3d Cir. 2017) (“Although we have never recognized a government knowledge inference defense that
would defeat the scienter requirement under the FCA, the District Court quite correctly noted that six of our sister
circuit courts of appeals have. Just as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals did before us, today we join with our sister
circuits and hold that the government’s knowledge of the facts underlying the allegedly false record or statement can
negate the scienter required for an FCA violation. . . . The government knowledge inference may arise when the
government knows and approves of the facts underlying an allegedly false claim prior to presentation and the defendant
knows that the government is aware of the false information in the claim.”). Clarification of the FCA’s materiality
demand would seem to eliminate the need for recourse to the inference.
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False
The False Claims Act does not define either the term “false” or the term “fraudulent.”105 Congress
and the courts have endeavored to fill the gap. Congress has declared that the terms include more
than conduct intended to defraud106 and that the terms encompass information presented blindly
or in reckless disregard of its veracity.107
The courts have held that the terms embody both factually false and legally false claims.108
Factually false claims inaccurately describe the goods or services provided.109 Legally false
claims can be either expressly or implicitly false; they can either explicitly certify that they
comply with all the material statutory, regulatory, and contractual prerequisites for payment,110 or
that they present a claim that implies compliance but fails to disclose violation of a statutory,
regulatory, or contractual condition of payment.111 A defendant may be liable under an implicit
certification theory when “first, the claim does not merely request payment, but also makes
specific representations about the goods or services provided; and second, the defendant’s failure
to disclose noncompliance with material statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirements makes
the representations misleading half-truths.”112
Materiality
Section 3729(b)(4) adopts the traditional definition of materiality: “the term ‘material’ means
having a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the payment or receipt of
money or property.”113
Materiality, like knowledge, cabins the Act’s falsity requirement. As the Supreme Court has
explained, not every false statement is actionable; only those likely to induce an unwitting
government payment or forbearance.114 The parties asked the Supreme Court in Escobar whether
for False Claims Act purposes a statement, true on its face, could be made false by omission. The
Court held that “liability can attach when the defendant submits a claim for payment that makes
specific representation about the goods or services provided but knowingly fails to disclose the
defendant’s violation of a material statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement.”115 Escobar

105 Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989, 1998 (2016).
106 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(1)(B) (“(1) the terms “knowing” and “knowingly” - … (B) require no proof of specific intent to
defraud”).
107 Id. §3729(b)(1)(A) (“(1) the terms “knowing” and “knowingly” – (A) mean that a person, with respect to
information … (ii) acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or (iii) acts in reckless
disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.”).
108 United States ex rel. Polakoff v. St. Luke’s Hosp., 895 F.3d 730, 745 (10th Cir. 2018); United States ex rel.
Greenfield v. Medco Health Solutions, Inc., 880 F.3d 89, 94 (3d Cir. 2018).
109 Polakoff, 895 F.3d at 741; Greenfield, 880 F.3d at 94.
110 Polakoff, 895 F.3d at 741; Greenfield, 880 F.3d at 94.
111 United States ex rel. Anita Silingo v. WellPoint, Inc., 904 F.3d 667, 675-76 (9th Cir. 2018).
112 Escobar, 136 S. Ct. at 2001.
113 Id. at 2002 (“Section 3729(b)(4) defines materiality using language that we have employed to define materiality in
other federal fraud statutes.”).
114 Id. at 1996 (“What matters is … whether the defendant knowingly violated a requirement that the defendant knows
is material to the Government’s payment decision.”); United States ex rel. Janssen v. Lawrence Memorial Hosp., 949
F.3d 533, 540 (10th Cir. 2020) (“But the FCA does not impose liability for any and all falsehoods. . . . Instead, FCA
liability attaches only where the alleged misrepresentations are material to the Government’s payment decision.”)
(citing Escobar, 136 S. Ct. at 2001-02).
115 Escobar, 136 S. Ct. at 1995 (emphasis added); Dynamic Visions Inc., 971 F.3d at 336 (“A claim can be false when a
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has supplied later courts with factors to assist in the determination of whether a false statement is
material, such as whether the government has consistently honored claims that it knew involved
false information.116
Violations
Presentation of a false or fraudulent claim (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A))
“… [A]ny person who – (A) knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false claim for
payment or approval … is liable. . . .”
As noted earlier, the term “person” encompasses any individual or legal entity other than a State
or its alter ego. “Presentation” is Section 3729(a)(1)(A)’s distinctive element. A decade ago,
Congress adjusted this element. Prior to enactment of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act
of 2009 (2009 Act),117 this section was designated 31 U.S.C. § 3279(a)(1) and read, “(a) Any
person who—knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, to an officer or employee of the
United States Government or member of the Armed Forces of the United States a false or
fraudulent claim for payment or approval.”118 The language had been construed in the D.C.
Circuit’s Totten opinion to mean that liability “only attach[ed] if the claim [was] ‘presented to an
officer or employee of the Government.’”119 Congress removed the reference to federal
government employees and members of the armed services in order to clarify “that direct
presentment is not required for liability to attach.”120 The claims encompassed within Section
3729(a)(1)(A) are those presented to the federal government, its employees or agents, as well as
those presented to others for payment, directly or indirectly, out of federal funds.121

person ‘makes specific representations about the goods or services provided’ but fails ‘to disclose noncompliance with
material statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirements.’”) (quoting Escobar).
116 Godecke v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., 937 F.3d 1201, 1213 (9th Cir. 2019) (“[T]he Supreme Court has given a list of
relevant, but not necessarily dispositive, factors in determining whether the false claims are material such as whether
the government decided to expressly identify a provision as a condition of payment. Likewise, proof of materiality can
include, but is not necessarily limited to, evidence that the defendant knows that the Government consistently refuses to
pay claims in the mine run of cases based on noncompliance with the particular statutory, regulatory, or contractual
requirement. Conversely, if the Government pays a particular claim in full despite its actual knowledge that certain
requirements were violated, that is very strong evidence that those requirements are not material. Or, if the Government
regularly pays a particular type of claim in full despite actual knowledge that certain requirements were violated, and
has signaled no change in position, that is strong evidence the requirements are not material. Materiality, in addition,
cannot be found where noncompliance is minor or insubstantial.”) (quoting Escobar, 136 S. Ct. at 2003-04); see also
Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation, LLC, 963 F.3d 1089, 1108-109 (11th Cir. 2020); Winter ex rel. United States v. Gardens
Regional Hospital and Medical Center, 953 F.3d 1108, 1121 (9th Cir. 2020); United States ex rel. Lemon v. Nurses To
Go, Inc., 924 F.3d 155, 140 (5th Cir. 2019); United States ex rel. Doe v. Heart Solution, P.C., 923 F.3d 308, 317-18 (3d
Cir. 2019).
117 P.L. 111-21, 123 STAT. 1617 (2009).
118 31 U.S.C. § 3279 (2006 ed. & Supp. II).
119 S. Rept. No. 111-10, at 10 (2009) (quoting United States ex rel. Totten v. Bombardier Corp., 380 F.3d 488, 490
(D.C. Cir. 2004).
120 S. Rept. No. 111-10, at 11.
121 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(2) (“the term ‘claim’ – (A) means any request or demand, whether under a contract or
otherwise, for money or property and whether or not the United States has title to the money or property, that—(i) is
presented to an officer, employee, or agent of the United States; or (ii) is made to a contractor, grantee, or other
recipient, if the money or property is to be spent or used on the Government’s behalf or to advance a Government
program or interest, and if the United States Government – (I) provides or has provided any portion of the money or
property requested or demanded; or (II) will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the
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Use of false records or statements material to a false or fraudulent claim (31
U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(B))
“… [A]ny person who – (B) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record
or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim … is liable. . . .”
Before the 2009 Act’s amendments, this section applied to, “Any person who . . . knowingly
makes, uses, or causes to be made, or used, a false record or statement to get a false or fraudulent
claim paid or approved by the Government.”122 The 2009 Act amended the section to negate the
Supreme Court’s suggestion in Allison Engine 123 that liability under its provisions required proof
that “a defendant must intend that the Government itself pay the claim.”124 The 2009 Act also
made materiality a specific element of Section 3729(a)(1)(B), thus requiring that the false record
or statement have “a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the payment or
receipt of money or property.”125 At the time of enactment, most but not all of the lower courts to
consider the issue believed that Section 3729 contained an implicit materiality requirement.126
The 2009 amendments also made its modifications retroactively applicable to cases pending on
June 7, 2008 and thereafter.127
As it now stands, the existence of a false record relating to a claim provides Section
3729(a)(1)(B) with its distinctive element.128 Otherwise, as in the case of Section 3729(a)(1)(A),
“[a]n FCA violation has four elements: falsity, causation, knowledge, and materiality.”129

money or property which is requested or demanded; and (B) does not include requests or demands for money or
property that the Government has paid to an individual as compensation for Federal employment or as an income
subsidy with no restrictions on that individual’s use of the money or property.”).
United States ex rel. Benaissa v. Trinity Health, 963 F.3d 733, 741 (8th Cir. 2020) (“[A] relator under Section
3729(a)(1)(A) must allege representative examples of false claims or particular details of a scheme to submit false
claims paired with reliable indicia that lead to a strong inference that claims were actually submitted [to satisfy the
pleading requirements of Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure].”).
122 31 U.S.C. § 3720(a)(2) (2006 ed. & 2008 Supp.) (language removed by the 2009 Act in italics).
123 Allison Engine Co. v. United States ex rel. Sanders, 553 U.S. 662 (2008).
124 S. Rept. No. 111-10, at 10 (2009) (quoting Allison Engine Co. v. United States ex rel. Sanders, 553 U.S. at 669).
125 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(4); United States ex rel. Wall v. Circle C Constr. L.L.C., 697 F.3d 345, 356 (6th Cir. 2012).
The definition tracks the generally understood materiality standard. See, e.g., United States v. Bourseau, 531 F.3d 1159,
1171 (9th Cir. 2008) (citing Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 16 (1999)); United States ex rel. Sanders v. North
American Bus Industries, Inc., 546 F.3d 288, 297 (4th Cir. 2008). But see Costner v. URS Consultants, Inc., 153 F.3d
667, 677 (8th Cir. 1998) (adopting a materiality standard under which the misconduct must have “the purpose and
effect of causing the United States to pay out money it is not obligated to pay, or those actions which intentionally
deprive the United States of money it is lawfully due.”).
126 Bourseau, 531 F.3d at 1170-171 (noting the agreement of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits, but
pointing out that in United States ex rel. Cantekin v. University of Pittsburgh, 192 F.3d 402, 415 (3d Cir. 1999), the
Third Circuit had “cast[] doubt on whether materiality is an element under the FCA, but [had] declin[ed] to resolve the
issue”). Later, the Second Circuit found it unnecessary to address the materiality issue, but noted in passing that it
considers the 2009 materiality amendment to § 3729(a)(1)(B) only prospectively applicable. United States ex rel.
Feldman v. van Gorp, 697 F.3d 78, 86 n.5 (2d Cir, 2012).
127 Section 4(f), P.L. 111-21, 123 STAT. 1625 (2009), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 note.
128 United States ex rel. Strubbe v Crawford County Memorial Hosp., 915 F.3d 1158, 1166 (8th Cir. 2019).
129 Benaissa, 963 F.3d at 741 (“The elements of a § 3729(a)(1)(B) claim are: ‘(1) the defendant made a false record or
statement; (2) the defendant knew the statement was false; (3) the statement was material; and (4) the statement made a
claim for the government to pay money or forfeit money due.’”) (quoting United States ex rel. Miller v. Weston Educ.,
Inc., 840 F.3d 494, 500 (8th Cir. 2016)) (“cleaned up”). See also United States ex rel. Doe v. Heart Solution, P.C., 923
F3d 308, 317-18 (3d Cir. 2019).
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“A claim is false if it is an assertion that is untrue when it is made.”130 “Ordinarily, facts are the
only item that fits in the false statement category; opinions—when given honestly—are almost
never false.”131 Yet, “opinions may trigger liability for fraud when they are not honestly held by
their maker, or when the speaker knows the facts are fundamentally incompatible with his
opinion.”132
“[T]he False Claims Act requires that the defendants know, deliberately ignore, or recklessly
disregard the falsity of their claim. But it does not require a specific intent to defraud.”133
Causation is a product of materiality,134 which Congress made explicit in 2009.
Conspiracy to commit liability triggering misconduct (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(C))
“… [A]ny person who – (C) conspires to commit a violation of subparagraph (A), (B), (D), (E)
(F), or (G)… is liable. . . .”
At one time, this section (then referred to as Section 3729(a)(3)) imposed civil liability upon
those who conspired “to defraud the Government by getting a false or fraudulent claim allowed or
paid.”135 To some, this meant that liability for the substantive misconduct and conspiracy did not
correspond. For example, although civil liability might be incurred under then Section 3279(a)(7)
for false statements calculated to conceal an obligation to pay the United States (reverse false
claims), a reverse false claims conspiracy might not be thought to result in liability since it would
not constitute a conspiracy to get a “claim allowed or paid,” as the language of the conspiracy
prohibition then required.136 The 2009 Act resolved the incongruity by recasting the section to
establish liability for conspiracy to engage in any misconduct covered by the substantive
pronouncements in Section 3729(a)(1), not just the misconduct described in Section
3729(a)(1)(A) and Section 3729(a)(1)(B) (the only two sections to expressly refer to claims).
The subsequent case law is sparse, but indicates that a violation of Section 3729(a)(1)(C) is not
“independently actionable” without an underlying violation of one of the other prohibitions of
Section 3729(a)(1).137

130 United States v. AseraCare, Inc., 938 F.3d 1278, 1289 (11th Cir. 2019).
131 Id.
132 Id. at 1299-1300.
133 United States ex rel. Bookwalter v. UPMC, 946 F.3d 162, 175 (3d Cir. 2019) (citing 31 U.S.C. § 3739(b)(1)). See
also United States ex rel. Anita Silingo v. Well Point, Inc., 904 F.3d 667, 679 (9th Cir. 2018); United States v.
Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., 892 F.3d 822, 837 (6th Cir. 2018).
134 Doe, 923 F.3d at 318 (“Because these misrepresentations were material, they caused damage to [the government]. In
other words, but for the misrepresentation, [the government] would never have paid the claims.”).
135 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(3) (2006 ed. & Supp. II).
136 United States ex rel. Huangyan Import v. Nature’s Farm Products, 370 F. Supp. 2d 993, 1102-1003 (N.D. Cal. 2005)
(“Admittedly, this creates an unusual lack of symmetry in the FCA’s structure: Normal and reverse false claims are
equally punishable as a substantive matter, but only conspiracies directed at the former, not the latter, are punishable.
. . . The requirement that the conspiracy be directed at ‘getting a false or fraudulent claim allowed or paid,’ §
3729(a)(3), is unambiguous: Its plain meaning requires that the conspirators seek to be ‘paid’ or to have a claim on the
treasury ‘allowed.’ This is not what allegedly happened here; the alleged conspirators in this case wanted to avoid
paying money to the United States.”).
137 United States ex rel. Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP v. BASF Corp., 929 F.3d 721, 728-29 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (“To
succeed on Count Five, which alleges that the defendant violated the FCA conspiracy provision, Kasowitz had to
establish an underlying FCA violation . . . Our rejection of all of Kasowitz’s underlying theories of liability mandates
that we affirm the dismissal of Count Five.”); United States ex rel. Ibanez v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 874 F.3d 905,
917 (6th Cir. 2017) (The conspiracy subsection “requires a relator to plead facts showing there was a plan or agreement
to commit a violation of one or more of the FCA subsections.”); Olson v. Fairview Health Services of Minn., 831 F.3d
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Short-changing the government on the transfer of funds or other property (31
U.S.C. 3729(a)(1)(D))
“Any person who . . . (D) has possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or to be
used, by the Government and knowingly delivers, or causes to be delivered, less than all of that
money or property . . . is liable. . . .”
The 2009 Act streamlined this section, eliminating the receipt requirement and substituting a
knowledge element for one that once insisted on willful concealment or an intent to defraud. The
section once declared:
Any person who . . . (4) has possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or
to be used, by the Government and, intending to defraud the Government or willfully to
conceal the property, delivers, or causes to be delivered, less property than the amount for
which the person receives a certificate or receipt . . . is liable. . . . 138
Conversion stands as the distinctive element of Section 3729(a)(1)(D). Consequently liability
requires both the defendant’s possession of the money or property139 and the defendant’s
knowledge, as defined in Section 3729(b)(1), that the money or property belonged to the
government.140
Issuing a false government receipt (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(E))
“Any person who . . . (E) is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of
property used, or to be used, by the Government and, intending to defraud the Government,
makes or delivers the receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is
true . . . is liable. . . .”
To date, federal courts have yet to construed Section 3729(a)(1)(E)’s language.141 On its face,
Section 3729(a)(1)(E) (previously designated Section 3729(a)(5)) establishes civil liability for
anyone, authorized to certify receipt of property on behalf of the government, who knowingly
certifies receipt falsely with the intent to defraud the government. Section 3729(a)(1)(E) is the
only one of the offenses enumerated in Section 3729(a)(1) that explicitly refers to an intent to
defraud. The reference seems to fly in the face of Section 3729(b)(1)(B) which declares that an
intent to defraud is not a component of the knowledge element.142 A court might conclude that the
purpose of Section 3729(a)(1)(E)’s explicit intent-to-defraud language is to override Section
3729(b)(1)(B), but that the purpose of Section 3729(a)(1)(E)’s without-completely-knowing

1063, 1075 (8th Cir. 2016) (“Because we find no violation of subparagraph [3729(a)(1)](A), (B), and (G), as a matter
of law, UMMC has not violated subparagraph (C).
138 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(4) (2006 ed. & Supp. II).
139 BASF Corp., 929 F.3d at 728.
140 United States ex rel. Harper v. Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, 842 F.3d 430, 439 (6th Cir. 2016)
(“Under the text of the conversion provision, the relator must also show that [the defendant] either had ‘actual
knowledge’ that title to the relevant land reverted to the United States or that [the defendant] acted in ‘deliberate
ignorance’ or ‘reckless disregard’ of the fact.”).
141 In the only case in the last twenty years found to cite the section, the court noted that the relator while referring to
the section had failed to provide “any allegations (factual or legal) that appear to state a claim under this section.”
United States ex rel. Sharma v. Miraca Life Services, Inc., 472 F. Supp. 3d 429. 448 n. 14 (N.D. Ohio 2020).
142 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b) (“For purposes of this section– (1) the terms ‘knowing’ and ‘knowingly’. . . (B) require no
proof of specific intent to defraud ”).
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statement is to incorporate the alternative knowledge standards of Section 3729(b)(1)(A) (actual
knowledge, deliberate ignorance, or reckless disregard).
Section 3729(a)(1)(E) makes no mention of materiality. However, the courts have generally
assumed that Congress did not mean to envelop inconsequential untrue statements within its fraud
and false statement prohibitions.143
Unlawful purchase of government property (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(F))
“Any person who . . . (F) knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public
property from an officer or employee of the Government, or a member of the Armed Forces, who
lawfully may not sell or pledge property . . . is liable . . . ”
To date, there are no federal reported cases construing Section 3729(a)(1)(F). The section (once
Section 3729(a)(6)) on its face creates civil liability for those who purchase government property,
or who accept government property as security, from a government officer or employee or
member of the armed forces who has no authority to sell or pledge the property. The prior,
similarly-worded section required the relator to show that the defendant acted with guilty
knowledge under the same knowledge standards now found in Section 3729(b)(1).144
Reverse false claims (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(G))
“Any person who . . . (G) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or
statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government or
knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or
transmit money or property to the Government . . . is liable . . . ”
The 2009 Act rewrote and substantially changed the scope of Section 3729(a)(1)(G) (once
Section 3729(a)(7)), the so-called reverse false claims section. It is “described as a ‘reverse false
claims’ provision because the financial obligation that is the subject of the fraud flows in the
opposite of the usual direction.”145 Instead of fraudulently attempting to obtain money or property
from the government, the misconduct is designed to fraudulently avoid providing money or
property to the government. In its present state, the section covers two forms of misconduct: (1)
making or using a false statement or record material to an obligation to provide the government
with money or property, and (2) knowingly concealing or improperly avoiding or decreasing an
obligation to provide the government with money or property.146 The first prong is the traditional
form; the 2009 Act added the second.
The elements of a violation under the first prong of the reverse–FCA provision are that (1)
a record or statement was false, (2) the defendant had knowledge of the falsity, (3) the

143 E.g., Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 23 (1999) (“Thus, under the rule that Congress intends to incorporate the
well-settled meaning of the common-law terms it uses, we cannot infer from the absence of an express reference to
materiality that Congress intended to drop that element from the fraud statutes. On the contrary, we must presume that
Congress intended to incorporate materiality, unless the statute otherwise indicates.”).
144 Hagood v. Sonoma County Water Agency, 81 F.3d 1465, 1476-477 & n.21 (9th Cir. 1996) (“For a qui tam action to
survive summary judgment, the relator must produce sufficient evidence to support an inference of knowing fraud”)
(quoting, United States ex rel. Anderson v. Northern Telecom, Inc., 52 F.3d 810, 815 (9th Cir. 1995)). Moreover, the
required “knowledge” may take the form of “actual knowledge,” “deliberate ignorance,” or “reckless disregard.” 31
U.S.C. § 3729(b)(1).
145 United States ex rel. Ramadoss v. Caremark, Inc., 586 F.Supp.2d 668, 692 (W.D. Tex. 2008) (quoting United States
ex rel. Bahrani v. Conagra, 465 F.3d 1189, 1195 (10th Cir. 2006)).
146 United States ex rel. Ormsby v. Sutter Health, 444 F. Supp. 3d 1010, 1055 (N.D. Cal. 2020).
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defendant made or used (or caused to be made or used) the false record or statement, (4)
the defendant’s purpose was to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay the
government, and (5) the false record or statement was material.
The elements of a violation under the second prong of the reverse-FCA provision are that
the defendant (1) concealed or improperly avoided or decreased an obligation to pay the
government and (2) did so knowingly. There is no requirement under the second prong to
show that the defendant used a false record or statement or that a record or statement was
material.147
The Committee report accompanying passage of the 2009 Act explained that the second prong
was designed for greater symmetry with §3729(a)(1)(A) and §3729(a)(1)(B). Where those
sections speak of misconduct calculated to induce excessive payments by the government, section
3729(a)(1)(G) speaks of misconduct calculated to avoid full payment to the government. Sections
3729(a)(1)(B) and (A) condemn making false statements and submitting false claims to induce
payment by the government; §3729(a)(1)(G) was crafted to condemn making false statements and
engaging in other improper conduct calculated to avoid full payment of the government. Until
passage of the 2009 Act, §3729(a)(1)(G) (then styled §3729(a)(7)) only covered false statements,
but had no false presentation counterpart.148 The section was amended in hopes of filling the gap:
Any person who . . . (G) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false
record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the
Government, or knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an
obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government is liable. . . . 31 U.S.C.
3729(a)(1)(G) [language added by the 2009 Act in italics].149
The new language does more than fill gaps. Unlike §3729(a)(1)(A), it creates civil liability for not
only false or fraudulent claims, but for “any knowing and improper conduct.” Moreover, unlike
Section 3729(a)(1)(A), it establishes liability without insisting on either direct or indirect
presentation.150 Nor need the misconduct involve a false or fraudulent statement or record;
conscious or recklessly improper conduct will suffice.151
Although the term “improper” is not defined, the 2009 Act added a new definition of “obligation”
that considerably enlarges the scope of the false statement and the improper avoidance prongs of
Section 3729(a)(1)(G). Parsed to its constituent parts, the definition states:

147 Id. at 1055-56.
148 “Any person who . . . (7) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement to
conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government is liable. . . ” 31
U.S.C. § 3729(a)(7) (2006 ed.).
149 S. Rept. No. 111-10 at 13-4 (“Section 3729(a)(7) . . . is commonly referred to as creating ‘reverse’ false claims
liability because it is designed to cover Government money or property that is knowingly retained by a person even
though they have no right to it. This provision is similar to the liability established under 3729(a)(2). . . . However, the
provision does not capture conduct described in 3729(a)(1), which imposes liability for actions to conceal, avoid, or
decrease an obligation directly to the Government. This legislation closes this loophole and incorporates an analogous
provision to 3729(a)(1) for ‘reverse’ false claims liability.”).
150 Id. at 14 (“The Committee also notes that the reverse false claims provision and amendments to that provision do
not include any new language that would incorporate or should otherwise be construed to include a presentment
requirement. This is consistent with various court decisions that have held that the current reverse false claims
provision does not contain a presentment requirement.”) (citing United States ex rel. Bahrani v. Conagra, Inc., 465 F.3d
1189, 1208 (10th Cir. 2006) and United States ex rel. Koch v. Koch Industries, 57 F.Supp.2d 1122, 1144 (N.D. Okla.
1999).
151 Recall that Section 3729(b)(1) defines “knowingly” to mean actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, or reckless
disregard.
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Obligation means
1. an established duty
2. whether fixed or not fixed
3. arising from
a. an express or implied
i. contractual,
ii. grantor-grantee, or
iii. licensor-licensee
relationship
b. a fee-based or similar relationship
c. statute or regulation, or
d. the retention of any overpayment.152
Earlier courts, operating without the benefit an explicit definition, had often construed the term
“obligation” narrowly. Some courts had found that the reverse false claims section did not
“extend to the potential or contingent obligations to pay the government fines or penalties which
[had] not been levied or assessed . . . and which [did] not arise out of an economic relationship
between the government and the defendant (such as a lease or a contract or the like).”153 Although
a few had held that the obligation need not always be fixed,154 most had “held that in order to
create liability under (a)(7), the obligations must be fixed and definite at the time of the false
claim.”155 The 2009 Act codified a more expansive view:
The term ‘obligation’ is now defined under new Section 3729(b)(3) and includes fixed and
contingent duties owed to the Government – including fixed liquidated obligations such as
judgments, and fixed, unliquidated obligations such as tariffs on imported goods. . . . By
including contingent obligations such as, ‘imposed contractual, quasi-contractual, grant-
or-grantee, licensor-licensee, fee-based, or similar relationships, this new section reflects
the Committee’s view, . . . that an ‘obligation’ arises across the spectrum of possibilities
from the fixed amount debt obligation where all particulars are defined to the instance
where there is a relationship between the Government and a person that results in a duty to
pay the Government money, whether or not the amount owed is yet fixed.156

152 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(3) (“the term ‘obligation’ means an established duty, whether or not fixed, arising from an
express or implied contractual, grantor-grantee, or licensor-licensee relationship, from a fee-based or similar
relationship, from statute or regulation, or from the retention of any overpayment”).
153 United States ex rel. Marcy v. Rowan Companies, Inc., 520 F.3d at 391 (quoting United States ex rel. Bain v.
Georgia Gulf Corp., 386 F.3d 648, 657 (5th Cir. 2004)); United States v. Pemco Aeroplex, Inc., 195 F.3d 1234, 1237
(11th Cir. 1999).
154 United States ex rel. Bahrani v. Conagra, 465 F.3d 1189, 1202 (10th Cir. 2006) (“We agree that there are instances
in which a party is required to pay money to the government, but, at the time the obligation arises, the sum has not been
precisely determined.”).
155 United States ex rel. Marcy v. Rowan Companies, Inc., 520 F.3d 384, 390 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing American Textile
Manufacturers Institute, Inc. v. The Limited, Inc., 190 F.3d 729, 735 (6th Cir. 1999) and United States v. Q Inter’l
Courier, Inc., 131 F.3d 770, 774 (8th Cir. 1997)). See also United States v. Bourseau, 531 F.3d 1159, 1169-170 (9th
Cir. 2008).
156 S Rept. No. 111-10, at 14 (2009).
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Nevertheless, the reference in the definition to an “established duty” seems to place a limitation
on contingent or unfixed obligations to pay.157
Retaliatory actions (31 U.S.C. § 3730(h))
“(h) Relief From Retaliatory Actions.- (1) In general.-Any employee, contractor, or agent shall
be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that
employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in
any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of
lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent or associated others in furtherance of an
action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter.158
Section 3730(h) is an inside whistleblower protection provision. On its face, a claim of retaliation
under Section 3730(h) must involve:
1. a victim who is an “employee, contractor, or agent;”
2. who suffers, or is threatened with, some form of adverse employment action (“is
discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner
discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment”);
3. “because of;”
4. the conduct of the victim or an associate (“lawful acts done by employee,
contractor, agent or associated others”);
5. relating to a protected activity (“lawful acts . . . in furtherance of an action under
this section [i.e., a qui tam action] or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of
this subchapter [i.e., the False Claims Act].”]. 159

157 United States ex rel. Barrick v. Parker-Migliorini Int’l, LLC, 878 F.3d 1224, 1230 (10th Cir. 2017) (“For our
purposes ‘established’ is the key word in the definition. As the Fifth Circuit recently explained, ‘established’ refers to
whether there is a duty to pay. . . . Under this interpretation, a duty to pay must be formally established before liability
can arise under the False Claims Act.”) (quoting United States ex rel. Simoneaux v. E. I. duPont de Nemours Co., 843
F.3d 1033, 1035 (5th Cir. 2016)). See also United States ex rel. Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP v. BASF Corp., 929 F.3d
721, 725, 727 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (“An unassessed potential penalty for regulatory noncompliance does not constitute an
obligation that gives rise to a viable FCA claim. . . . [And to extent] the issue is whether the TSCA obligation to inform
the EPA of substantial risk information qualifies as an obligation to transmit property. . . . We conclude it does not.”);
United States ex rel. Petras v. Simparel, Inc., 857 F.3d 497, 506 (3d Cir. 2017) (“[F]or a reverse FCA claim, the
definition of an obligation refers to one existing at the time of the improper conduct to pay the Government funds, the
amount of which may not be fixed at the time of the improper conduct.”).
158 31 U.S.C. §3730(h)(1). The section continues:
“(2) Relief.-Relief under paragraph (1) shall include reinstatement with the same seniority status that employee,
contractor, or agent would have had but for the discrimination, 2 times the amount of back pay, interest on the back
pay, and compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs
and reasonable attorneys' fees. An action under this subsection may be brought in the appropriate district court of the
United States for the relief provided in this subsection.
“(3) Limitation on bringing civil action.-A civil action under this subsection may not be brought more than 3 years
after the date when the retaliation occurred.”
159 See also United States ex rel. Benaissa v. Trinity Health, 963 F.3d 733, 742 (8th Cir. 2020) (“There are four
elements to an FC retaliation claim: (1) the relator was engaged in protected activity; (2) his employer knew he was
engaged in protected activity; (3) his employer retaliated against him and (4) the retaliation was motivated solely by his
protected activity. . . . To show that an employer knew that an employee was engaged in protected activity, the
employee must connect the alleged misconduct to fraudulent or illegal activity under the FCA.”) (citing United States
ex rel. Strubber v. Crawford Cty. Memorial Hosp., 915 F.3d 1158, 1166-68 (8th Cir. 2019); Guifoile v. Shields, 913
F.3d 178, 187-88 (1st Cir. 2019) (“To prevail on an FCA retaliation claim, a plaintiff must show that 1) the employee’s
conduct was protected under the FCA; 2) the employer knew that the employee was engaged in such conduct; and 3)
the employer discharged or discriminated against the employee because of his or her protected conduct.”).
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The courts have not always agreed on the elements’ individual requirements and Congress has not
always agreed with the courts’ interpretations. Until passage of the 2009 Act, the False Claims
Act condemned retaliation by employers against employees and mentioned some of the protected
forms of assistance. Some courts concluded that only employees might claim the section’s
protection and that it exposed only employers to liability.160 The 2009 Act expanded Section
3730(h) to specifically include employees, contractors, and agents, and eliminated references to
employers and specific examples of protected assistance.161
The lower federal appellate courts have yet to reach consensus over the appropriate “because of”
interpretation. Some favor a “but-for” reading and others a “motivating factor” standard.162
“In general, proving a violation of § 3729 is not an element of a § 3730(h) cause of action,”163 and
does not require a prior filing of a False Claims Act action.164
“In order to qualify as protected activity under the FCA’s anti-retaliation provision, the
employer’s conduct: (1) ‘must have been in furtherance of an FCA activity,’ and (2) ‘must be
aimed at matters which are calculated, or reasonably could lead, to a viable FCA action, meaning

160 Vessell v. DPS Associates, 148 F.3d 407, 413 (4th Cir. 1998) (the pre-amendment section did not cover independent
contractors); United States ex rel. Siewick v. Jamison Science and Engineering, Inc., 322 F.3d 738, 740 (D.C. Cir.
2003) (corporation’s President and CEO was not an employer and consequently beyond the section’s reach); Yesudian
ex rel. United States v. Howard University, 270 F.3d 969, 972 (D.C. Cir. 2001) (the section did not apply to an
employee’s supervisors); United States ex rel. Morgan v. Science Applications International Co., 604 F.Supp.2d 245,
250-51 (D.D.C. 2009) (the section did not apply to the employees of a subcontractor); United States ex rel. Saragoglou
v. Weill Medical College, 451 F.Supp.2d 613, 625 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (the section did not apply to an employee’s
supervisors); Orell v. UMass Memorial Medical Center, Inc., 203 F.Supp.2d 52, 65-7 (D. Mass. 2002) (same).
161 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h). The relevant portion of the section previously read: “Any employee who is discharged,
demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of
employment by his or her employer because of lawful acts done by the employee on behalf of the employee or others in
furtherance of an action under this section, including investigation for, initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in any
action filed or to be filed under this section, shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make the employee whole . . .” 31
U.S.C. § 3730(h) (2006 ed.).
162 Lestage v. Coloplast Corp., 982 F.3d 37, 46 (1st Cir. 2020); Nesbitt v. Candler County, 945 F.3d 1355, 1359-60
(11th Cir. 2020) (“Our reading of Gross [Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs., Inc., 557 U.S. 167 (2009)] and Nassar [Univ. of
Tex. SW. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 570 U.S. 338 (2013)] convinces us that the but-for causation standard applies to claims
under the antiretaliation provision of the False Claims Act just as it does to the antiretaliation provision of Title VII and
the antidiscrimination provision of the ADEA. The key ‘because of’ and ‘because’ language is identical or materially
identical in all three statutes. . . . Those of our sister circuits that have taken Gross and Nassar into account have
concluded, as we do, that the but-for standard applies to False Claims Act retaliation claims… Some of our sister
circuits that have not taken Gross and Nassar into account have reached a different result, concluding that a motivation
factor standard of causation is the proper one to apply under the antiretaliation provision of the False Claims Act.”)
(citing DiFiore v. CSL Behring, LLC, 879 F.3d 71, 76-78 (3d Cir. 2018) and United States ex rel. King v. Solvay
Pharms., Inc., 871 F.3d 318, 333 (5th Cir. 2017) (but-for standard) versus Singletary v. Howard Univ., 939 F.3d 289,
293 (D.C. Cir 2019) (“To make a claim of retaliation under Section 3730(h), a plaintiff must plead facts showing (i)
that she engaged in protected activity, (ii) ‘because of’ which she was retaliated against. To satisfy the second element,
the plaintiff must further allege … that the retaliation was motivated ‘at least in part’ by her protected activity”); United
States ex rel. Ziebell v. Fox Valley Workfoce Dev. Bd., Inc., 806 F.3d 946, 953 (7th Cir. 2015); and McKenzie v.
BellSouth Telecomm., Inc., 219 F.3d 508, 518 (6th Cir. 2000) (motivating factor standard)).
163 Guifiole, 913 F.3d at 188 (citing Graham City Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 545
U.S. 409, 416 n.1 (2005)).
164 McBride v. Peak Wellness Center, Inc., 688 F.3d 698, 704 (10th Cir. 2012) (“An employee need not actually file a
qui tam action to qualify for whistleblower protection, but the activity prompting the plaintiff’s discharge must have
been taken in furtherance of an FCA enforcement action.”); United States ex rel. Bartz v. Ortho-McNeil Pharm., 856 F.
Supp. 2d 253, 271 (D. Mass. 2012) (“[C]onduct protected by the FCA is limited to activities that reasonably could lead
to an FCA action.”).
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the employee in good faith believes and a reasonable employee in the same circumstances might
believe that the employer is possibly committing fraud against the government.’”165
Section 3730(h) retaliation claims may face a shifting standard of proof. If a claimant alleges
sufficient facts to prevail, the burden shifts to the defendant to demonstrate an innocent
justification for the adverse action taken against the claimant. Then the burden shifts again and
compels the claimant to show that the defendant’s justification is a pretext.166
Section 3730(h), however, does not trigger a Rule 9(b) heightened pleading requirement, because
a False Claims Act retaliation claim is not an accusation of fraud.167
Penalties and Awards
A court may order a defendant liable under Section 3729 to pay treble damages; a statutory
penalty ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 (adjusted for inflation); the government’s litigation costs;
and a relator’s expenses, attorneys’ fees, and costs.168 The court may reduce its damage award to
no less than double the damages if it finds that a defendant made prompt disclosure and provided
full cooperation before judicial or administrative proceedings began.169
A court may order a defendant liable for retaliation in violation of Section 3730(h) to pay the
whistleblower’s attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, and twice the amount of “back pay, interest on
back pay, and compensation for special damages sustained as a consequence” of the retaliation.170

165 Sherman v. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC, 956 F.3d 526, 531-32 (8th Cir. 2020) (quoting Schell v. Bluebird
Media, LLC, 787 F.3d 1179, 1187 (8th Cir. 2015)). See also United States ex rel. Benaissa v. Trinity Health, 963 F.3d
733, 742 (8th Cir. 2020) (“To constitute ‘protected activity,’ an employee’s conduct must have been (1) in furtherance
of an FCA action or an effort to stop one or more FCA violations, and (2) aimed at matters which are calculated, or
reasonably could, lead to a viable FCA action.”); Hickman v. Spirit of Athens, Alabama, Inc., 985 F.3d 1284, 1289
(11th Cir. 2021) (“[T]he Act’s retaliation provision only protects employees where the suspected misdeeds are a
violation of the False Claims Act, not just of general principles of ethics and fair dealing.”).
166 Musser v. Paul Quinn College, 944 F.3d 557, 561 (5th Cir. 2019) (“We apply the familiar McDonnell Douglas
[Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04 (1973)] burden-shifting framework to FCA retaliation claims. ‘Under this
framework, the employee must first establish a prima facie case of retaliation by showing: (1) that he engaged in
protected activity; (2) that the employer knew about the protected activity; and (3) retaliated because of the protected
activity.’ If the employee establishes a prima facie case, ‘the burden shifts to the employer to state a legitimate, non-
retaliatory reason for the decision. After the employer articulates a legitimate reason, the burden shifts back to the
employee to demonstrate that the employer’s reason is actually a pretext for retaliation.’”) (quoting Garcia v. Prof’l
Contract Servs., Inc., 938 F.3d 236, 240-41 (5th Cir. 2019)). See also Lestage, 982 F.3d at 47; Sherman, 956 F.3d at
532; United States ex rel. Hamrick v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC, 814 F.3 10, 18 (1st Cir. 2016).
167 Singletary v. Howard University, 939 F.3d 287, 303 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (“Rule 9(b) applies to False Claims Act qui
tam actions. But it does not extend to retaliation claims because such claims do not themselves assert or seek to prove
actual fraud.”); Guilloile, 913 F.3d at 188.
168 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729(a)(1), (3); 3730(d). The 2009 Act amended Section 3729(a)(1) to provide for inflationary
adjustments of the $5,000-$10,000 statutory penalty.
169 Id. § 3729(a)(2) (“If the court finds that – (A) the person committing the violation of this subsection furnished
officials of the United States responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to such
person about the violation within 30 days after the date on which the defendant first obtained the information; (B) such
person fully cooperated with any Government investigation of such violation; and (C) at the time such person furnished
the United States with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative
action had commenced under this title with respect to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of
the existence of an investigation into such violation, [–] the court may assess not less than 2 times the amount of
damages which the Government sustains because of the act of that person.”).
170 Id. § 3730(h)(2). Potts v. Center for Excellence in Higher Education, Inc., 908 F.3d 610, 616 (10th Cir. 2018)
(“Though ‘shall include’ [as used in Section 3730(h)(2)] allows unspecified other employment-related relief we do not
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When the False Claims Act action succeeds, relators are entitled to a share in the proceeds of up
to 30%. If the government has not participated in the litigation, they are entitled to an award of
from 25% to 30%.171 If the government took over the litigation, relators are entitled to a finder’s
fee of from 15% to 25%,172 reduced to no more than 10% when their claim was based primarily
on public information.173 In any case, they are also entitled to attorneys’ fees, expenses, and
costs,174 but may be denied any award if they participated in the underlying fraud.175

construe it to reach relief beyond employment-related relief.”).
171 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(2) (“If the Government does not proceed with an action under this section, the person bringing
the action or settling the claim shall receive an amount which the court decides is reasonable for collecting the civil
penalty and damages. The amount shall be not less than 25 percent and not more than 30 percent of the proceeds of the
action or settlement and shall be paid out of such proceeds. Such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable
expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. All such
expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.”).
172 Id. § 3730(d)(1) (“If the Government proceeds with an action brought by a person under subsection (b), such person
shall, subject to the second sentence of this paragraph, receive at least 15 percent but not more than 25 percent of the
proceeds of the action or settlement of the claim, depending upon the extent to which the person substantially
contributed to the prosecution of the action. . . . Any payment to a person under the first or second sentence of this
paragraph shall be made from the proceeds. Any such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses
which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. All such expenses,
fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.”). E.g., United States v. Millenium Laboratories, Inc., 923 F.3d
240, 252 (1st Cir. 2019) (“We look to whether the government recovery from Millenium constitutes the ‘proceeds of
the settlement of the claim’ [which the relator initially brought]. See Rille v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 803 F.3d 368,
373 (8th Cir. 2015) (en banc) (‘[A] relator seeking recovery must establish that there exists [an] overlap between
Relator’s allegations and the conduct discussed in the [government’s] settlement agreement.’) ‘To be entitled to the
relator’s share under paragraph 3730(d)(1), a relator must be a person who [brings ] an action under subsection
3730(b).’”) (quoting United States ex rel. Bledsoe v. Community Health Sys., Inc., 342 F.3d 634, 651 (6th Cir. 2003)).
173 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(1). (“ . . . Where the action is one which the court finds to be based primarily on disclosures of
specific information (other than information provided by the person bringing the action) relating to allegations or
transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing, in a congressional, administrative, or Government
Accounting Office report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the court may award such sums as it
considers appropriate, but in no case more than 10 percent of the proceeds, taking into account the significance of the
information and the role of the person bringing the action in advancing the case to litigation . . . ”); Anderson v. United
States, 686 F.3d 791, 795 (9th Cir. 2012); United States ex rel. Johnson v. Universal Health Services, Inc., 889 F. Supp.
2d 791, 794 (W.D. Va. 2012) (“The fifteen percent award specified in the FCA has generally been regarded as a
finder’s fee to which the relators are entitled even if their only involvement in the suit was merely to file the action. It is
noted that ‘[p]ercentage awards above the statutory 15% take into account whatever information, work, and help of any
kind the relator provides, apart from the mere filing of the action, that leads to a recovery by the Government, and
substantially contributes to the prosecution of the case without harming the Government’s efforts’”) (quoting, United
States ex rel. Shea v. Verizon Com., Inc., 844 F.Supp.2d 78, 81 (D.D.C. 2012)).
174 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(1), (2); United States ex rel. Longhi v. Lithium Power Technologies Inc., 575 F.3d 458, 475-76
(5th Cir. 2009); Gonter v. Hunt Valve Co., Inc., 510 F.3d 610, 614 (6th Cir. 2007) (“[O]nly the plaintiff has the power
to demand that the defendant pay the fees of the plaintiff’s attorney under the FCA; without such a demand the
defendant is under no obligation to pay.”).
175 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(3) (“Whether or not the Government proceeds with the action, if the court finds that the action
was brought by a person who planned and initiated the violation of § 3729 upon which the action was brought, then the
court may, to the extent the court considers appropriate, reduce the share of the proceeds of the action which the person
would otherwise receive under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection, taking into account the role of that person in
advancing the case to litigation and any relevant circumstances pertaining to the violation. If the person bringing the
action is convicted of criminal conduct arising from his or her role in the violation of § 3729 that person shall be
dismissed from the civil action and shall not receive any share of the proceeds of the action. Such dismissal shall not
prejudice the right of the United States to continue the action, represented by the Department of Justice.”). Roberts v.
Accenture, LLP, 707 F.3d 1011, 1016 (8th Cir. 2013) (“There are three statutory exceptions to the 15% minimum
finder’s fee in situations where the government elects to proceed with a relator’s action and obtains a judgment or
settlement. The statutory exceptions to the minimum finder’s fee are as follows: (1) an additional reduction if the
relator himself planned and initiated the FCA violation, 31 U.S.C. § 3730 (d)(3); (2) no share in a recovery if the relator
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In contrast, if the defendant prevails in a False Claims Act action in which only a private relator
has taken part, the court may award the defendant attorneys’ fees and expenses, should it
conclude that the action was clearly frivolous, vexatious, or brought to harass.176 The test for
whether attorneys’ fees and expenses are appropriate is said to be analogous to that used for
prevailing defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1988177 and other federal fee-shifting statutes.178 Such
awards are thought to be appropriate only under “rare and special circumstances,”179 when the
relator’s action is meritless, groundless, or without foundation;180 when allegations are bereft of
factual support or when there is no reasonable chance of success;181 or when brought or pursued
for an improper motive.182

is convicted of criminal conduct arising from his or her role in the violation, id.; (3) a limitation of the relator’s share to
no . . . more than 10 percent of the proceeds when the relator’s claim is based primarily on disclosures of specific
information traceable to a source other than the relator, id. § 3730(d)(1).”).
176 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(4) (“If the Government does not proceed with the action and the person bringing the action
conducts the action, the court may award to the defendant its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses if the defendant
prevails in the action and the court finds that the claim of the person bringing the action was clearly frivolous, clearly
vexatious, or brought primarily for purposes of harassment”). The term “expenses” does not include “costs” which
covers things like court fees and witness fees and may be awarded under the less demanding standards of Rule 54 of
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Associates Against Outlier Fraud v. Huron Consulting Group, 817 F.3d 433,
437 (2d Cir. 2016); United States ex rel. Ritchie v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 558 F.3d 1161, 1171-72 (10th Cir. 2009);
United States ex rel. Costner v. United States, 317 F.3d 889, 891 (8th Cir. 2003); United States ex rel. Lindenthal v.
General Dynamics Corp., 61 F.3d 1402, 1412-13 (9th Cir. 1995).
177 United States ex rel. Onnen v. Sioux Falls Independent School District No. 49-5, 688 F.3d 410, 415 (8th Cir. 2012);
Pfingston v. Ronan Engineering Co., 284 F.3d 999, 1005-06 (9th Cir. 2002); United States ex rel. Mikes v. Straus, 274
F.3d 687, 705 (2d Cir. 2001), each citing, S. Rept. No. 99-345, at 29 (1986).
178 Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Aventis Pharm, SA, 856 F.3d 696, 710 (9th Cir. 2017) (“Finally, it [(the
Supreme Court)] made clear that its reasoning applied to other fee-shifting statutes, stating that Congress has included
the term ‘prevailing party’ in various fee-shifting statutes, and it has been the Court’s approach to interpret the term in a
consistent manner.”) (citing CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC, 136 S. Ct. 1642, 1646 (2016)); In re Natural Gas
Royalties Qui Tam Litigation, 845 F.3d 1010, 1017 (10th Cir, 2017) (“The Supreme Court provided guidance on
frivolousness in Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412 (1978). In Christiansburg, the Court addressed
‘what standard should inform a district court’s discretion in deciding whether to award attorneys’ fees to a successful
defendant in a Title VII action.’ The Court said ‘. . . attorneys’ fees may be awarded upon a finding that the plaintiff’s
action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, even though not brought in subjective bad faith.’ It
continued that “a meritless case is one that is groundless or without foundation. A case is not meritless simple because
the plaintiff has ultimately lost his case’ . . .Christiansburg applies in FCA cases.”).
179 United States ex rel. Rafizadeh v. Continental Common, Inc., 553 F.3d 869, 875 (5th Cir. 2008); Pfingston, 284
F.3d at 1006-07.
180 Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 856 F.3d at 710; United States ex rel. Grynberg v. Praxair, Inc., 389 F.3d 1038,
1058 (10th Cir. 2004); United States ex rel. Rafizadeh, 553 F.3d at 875 (“An action is not frivolous if existing law or a
reasonable suggestion for its extension, modification, or reversal supports the action.”).
181 United States ex rel. Ubl v. IIF Data Solutions, 650 F.3d 445, 458 (4th Cir. 2010) (“The question before us is
whether Ubl’s FCA claims objectively had any reasonable chance of success. We believe that question must be
answered in the affirmative. And therefore conclude that the district court abused its discretion by awarding attorney’s
fees to IIF.”); Mikes, 274 F.3d at 705.
182 Pfingston, 284 F.3d at 1006. The courts may also be influenced by the defendant’s conduct in the course of
litigation, e.g., United States ex rel. Onnen v. Sioux Falls Independent School District No. 49-5, 688 F.3d at 415
(“Although we would also have affirmed an award of attorney’s fees because the record contains indications that
Onnen’s unsupported claims were asserted primarily for vengeful harassment, we conclude the district court did not
abuse its substantial discretion in denying an award of attorney’s fees. Our conclusion is influenced somewhat by the
defendants’ urging of an alternative ground that prompted the Attorney General to appear as amicus curiae to urge a
proper interpretation of the relevant federal statutes. It is appropriate that defendants pay their own attorney’s fees when
they chose, unnecessarily, to use this case in a misguided attempt to obtain blanket immunity from FCA liability.”).
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Questions have arisen over relators’ rights and options when the government pursues one of the
alternate remedies mentioned in False Claims Act.183 Issues include: (1) whether criminal
proceedings constitute “alternate remedies” for purposes of Section 3730(c)(5);184 (2) whether
relators have standing to intervene in such proceedings;185 (3) whether federal laws governing
those proceedings preclude intervention;186 (4) whether a relator’s qui tam action constitutes the
exclusive means of securing a relator’s rights under Section 3730(c)(5);187 and (5) the extent to
which relators may share in the judgments or settlements in alternative remedy proceedings
relating involving a mixture of claims, some traceable to a relator’s qui tam action, others not so.
Procedure
Section 3731(b)(1) states that a civil action for a violation of Section 3729 must begin within six
years of the violation, but Section 3731(b)(2) provides an extension for undiscovered fraud which
extends the deadline to 10 years as long as the action is brought within three years of official
discovery or notice.188 The lower federal courts were initially divided over the question of

183 Id. §3730(c)(5) (“Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Government may elect to pursue its claim through any
alternate remedy available to the Government, including any administrative proceeding to determine a civil money
penalty. …”); United States ex rel. Connor v. Mahajan, 877 F.3d 264, 267-68 (7th Cir. 2017) (“Upon learning of a qui
tam action, the government has multiple options for action. One of those options is taking over the lawsuit and, if the
government takes control, the relator will receive 15% to 25% of any recovery. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(1). The
government also can decline to participate directly, and, if it chooses that option, the relator can continue to prosecute
the case on the government’s behalf. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(4)(B); (c)(3)… [A] relator who successfully prosecutes a qui
tam action without government involvement will receive 25% to 30% of the recovery. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(2). A third
option available to the government is seeking recovery for fraud through an alternative remedy ‘including any
administrative proceeding to determine a civil money penalty.’ 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(5). When the government pursues
an alternative remedy, the relator has the same rights in that proceeding as if the qui tam action had continued,
including the right to recover a percentage of any recovery. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(5).”).
184 United States v. Couch, 906 F.3d 1223, 1228 (11th Cir. 2018) (“Whether a criminal fraud prosecution is an
‘alternative remedy’ is an open question.”) (citing United States v. Van Dyck, 866 F.3d 1130, 1135 (9th Cir. 2017) and
United States ex rel. Babalola v. Sharma, 746 F.3d 157, 160-63 (5th Cir. 2014)); see also United States v. Wegeler, 941
F.3d 665, 677 (3d Cir. 2019) (“We do not opine on whether a criminal proceeding is an alternative remedy such that a
relator retains her FCA rights including the right to a share in the proceeds.”).
185 Id., at 676 (“We are therefore aligned with our two sister circuits that have addressed this question and hold that (1)
a relator lacks standing to intervene in the criminal prosecution of another as it pertains to her participation rights…”);
Couch, 906 F.3d at 1226 (We are aware of the recent ruling of the Ninth Circuit [in Van Dyck] that a qui tam plaintiff
lacked standing to intervene in criminal forfeiture. We do not join in the rationale of our sister circuit. Rather, we
conclude that Ms. Carver does have standing to assert that the alternate-remedy provision gives her a right to intervene
in criminal forfeiture proceedings so as to claim an interest in the property.”) (The Eleventh Circuit went on to explain,
however, that the forfeiture statutes barred such intervention.).
186 Couch, 906 F.3d at 1228 (“Three criminal forfeiture statutes apply in this case, and each expressly bars third parties
from intervening in forfeiture proceedings to claim an interest in property subject to forfeiture… Each of the three
statutes has exceptions [for property owners and good faith purchasers] to allow third parties to petition a court for the
forfeited property… But Ms. Carver has conceded that neither of these exceptions applies to her. These criminal
forfeiture statutes … make plain that Ms. Carver has no right to intervene.”).
187 Wegeler, 941 F.3d at 676 (“We are therefore aligned with our two sister circuits that have addressed this question
and hold that … (2) even if a relator had standing to intervene only as to her alleged interest in her share of the
proceedings collected by the government, the sole remedy that the FCA provides her is to commence or continue the
FCA action.”) (citing Van Dyck, 866 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2017) and Couch, 906 F.3d 1223 (11th Cir. 2018)); United
States v. L-3 Communications EO Tech, Inc., 921 F.3d 11, 26 (2d Cir. 2019) (“[W]e agree with Babalola that Barajas
and Bledsoe implicitly considered an existing [relator’s] qui tam action to be a prerequisite of any recovery under §
3730(c)(5)”) (citing United States ex rel. Babalola v. Sharma, 746 F.3d 157 (5th Cir. 2014); United States ex rel.
Bledsoe v. Community Health Sys., Inc., 342 F.3d 634 (6th Cir. 2003); and United States ex rel. Barajas v. Northrop
Corp., 258 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)).
188 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b) (“A civil action under section 3730 may not be brought – (1) more than 6 years after the date
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whether the (b)(2) discovery extension was available only to actions by the government or to
actions by private parties in which the government intervened.189 The Supreme Court resolved the
dispute in Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt where it held that the False
Claims Act’s discovery extension applies regardless of whether the government elects to
intervene.190
In the case of litigation for retaliatory misconduct under Subsection 3730(h) (rather than one of
Section 3729’s proscriptions), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
established a 3-year statute of limitations.191 Previously, parties were required to look to the most
closely analogous statute of limitations under state law, since the sole explicit False Claims Act
provision applied only to causes of action under Section 3729.192
For private litigants, the False Claims Act process begins with a complaint filed under seal with
the federal court in the district in which a violation occurred or in which any of the defendants is
found, resides, or does business.193 Thereafter, relators must deliver all their material evidence
and information to the government.194 The government has 60 days, or until the end of a longer
period of any extensions granted by the court for cause, in which to decide whether intervene.195
The government has at its disposal civil investigative demand authority which allows it to compel
the production of material and testimony in its investigations.196

on which the violation of section 3729 is committed, or (2) more than 3 years after the date when facts material to the
right of action are known or reasonably should have been known by the official of the United States charged with
responsibility to act in the circumstances, but in no event more than 10 years after the date on which the violation is
committed, [–] whichever occurs last.”).
189 United States ex rel. Sanders v. North American Bus Industries, Inc., 546 F.3d 288, 294 (4th Cir. 2008) (the
extension is only available to the government); United States ex rel. Sikkenga v. Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, 472
F.3d 702, 722-25 (10th Cir. 2006) (same); United States ex rel. Hyatt v. Northrop Corp., 91 F.3d 1211, 1214-16 (9th
Cir. 1996) (the extension is available to both the government and to a relator); United States ex rel. Ven-A-Care v.
Actavis Mid Atlantic LLC, 659 F. Supp. 2d 262, 273 (D. Mass. 2009) (same); see also United States ex rel. Snapp v.
Ford Motor Co., 532 F.3d 496, 509-10 (6th Cir. 2008) (recognizing the split of authority, but finding it unnecessary to
decide the issue).
190 139 S. Ct. 1507, 1512 (2019).
191 P.L. 111-203, §1079(c), 124 STAT. 2079 (2010), 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(3).
192 Graham Country Soil & Water Conservation District v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 545 U.S. 409, 422 (2005). The
courts seem unlikely to apply the Dodd-Frank amendment retroactively to causes of action in place prior to its
enactment. See Riddle v. Dyncorp Int’l, Inc., 666 F.3d 940, 943-44 (5th Cir. 2012) (“The parties do raise the question
of whether the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank [Act] . . . has an effect on this appeal. . . . Our precedent directs us to apply
the statute of limitations that is in effect at the time a plaintiff files his complaint. We may sometimes apply a newly-
enacted statute of limitations to a pending case, but not if the effect would be to revive a claim that expired before the
statute’s effective date.”); cf. Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 559
U.S. 280, 283 n.1 (2010) (“The legislation [amending the public disclosure bar] makes no mention of retroactivity
which would be necessary for its application to pending cases given that it eliminates petitioner’s claimed defense to a
qui tam suit.”); United States ex rel. Berglund v. Boeing Co., 835 F. Supp. 2d 1020, 1034 (D. Ore. 2011) (“Although,
the present action is distinguishable because the retroactive application of the limitations period set forth in
§ 3730(h)(3) would not require Boeing to defend a previously time-barred claim, absent controlling authority, the court
declines to apply § 3730(h)(3) here…”).
193 31 U.S.C. §§ 3730(b)(2), 3732(a). State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby, 137 S. Ct. 436, 442-
44 (2016) (stating that compliance with the nondisclosure requirement is mandatory, but dismissal is a permissible
rather than a mandatory sanction for a relator’s failure to honor the seal).
194 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2).
195 Id. § 3730(b)(2), (3), (4).
196 Id. § 3733. A civil investigative demand is a form of administrative subpoena that operates in the civil realm not
unlike a grand jury subpoena in the criminal world.
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After the government has made its initial determination of whether to intervene, the defendants
are served and have 20 days in which to respond.197 The government must prove damages and all
of the elements of the asserted violation by a preponderance of the evidence.198 A civil defendant,
however, may not contest the presence of any elements of any violation which has been
established or conceded against him in parallel criminal proceedings.199 Although they sue in the
name of the United States, relators are bound by the 30-day deadline for appellate review rather
than the 60-day deadline available to the government.200
Until recently, some courts had held that the statute of limitations barred government intervention
in a privately initiated case after the 6-year/3-year time period had run. That is, the government’s
action would not be thought to relate back to the private litigant’s filing within the statute of
limitations.201 The 2009 Act added a new subsection to Section 3731 to afford the government the
advantage of the date of the relator’s complaint as a cut-off date for statute of limitations
purposes.202 Thus, a complaint that would be time barred as of the date of the government’s
intervention survives if it would not be time barred on the date of the relator’s earlier original
complaint and relates to that complaint.203 The government’s related-back action may include

197 Id. § 3730(b)(3).
198 Id. § 3731(d); United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy. Inc., 887 F.3d 1081, 1090 n.8 (11th Cir. 2018),
aff’d on other grounds, 139 S. Ct. 1507 (2019). The same standard applies to relators, in the absence of government
intervention. See United States ex rel. Hanks v. United States, 961 F.3d 101, 136 (2d Cir. 2020) (relator has the burden
of establishing subject matter jurisdiction by a preponderance); United States ex rel. Solis v. Millennium
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 885 F.3d 623, 625 (9th Cir. 2018); cf. United States ex rel. Heath v. AT&T, Inc., 791 F.3d 112,
127 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (“To win his case, a relator does not need to identify exact dollar amounts, billing numbers or
dates to prove to a preponderance that fraudulent bills were actually submitted.”) (emphasis added.).
199 31 U.S.C. § 3731(e) (“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, or the
Federal Rules of Evidence, a final judgment rendered in favor of the United States in any criminal proceeding charging
fraud or false statements, whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, shall estop the
defendant from denying the essential elements of the offense in any action which involves the same transaction as in
the criminal proceeding and which is brought under subsection (a) or (b) of section 3730.”).
200 United States ex rel. Eisenstein v. New York, 556 U.S. 928, 929 (2009). The longer period applies, however, when
the government has participated in the case and is considered a party. United States ex rel. Hanks v. United States, 961
F.3d 131, 136 (2d Cir. 2020) (citing in accord United States ex rel. Bennett v. Biotronik, Inc., 876 F.3d 1011, 1020 (9th
Cir. 2017)).
201 United States v. The Baylor University Medical Center, 469 F.3d 263, 267-70 (2d Cir. 2006).
202 31 U.S.C. § 3731(c) (“If the Government elects to intervene and proceed with an action brought under 3730(b), the
Government may file its own complaint or amend the complaint of a person who has brought an action under section
3730(b) to clarify or add detail to the claims in which the Government is intervening and to add any additional claims
with respect to which the Government contends it is entitled to relief. For statute of limitations purposes, any such
Government pleading shall relate back to the filing date of the complaint of the person who originally brought the
action, to the extent that the claim of the Government arises out of the conduct, transactions, or occurrences set forth, or
attempted to be set forth, in the prior complaint of that person”); United States ex rel. Frascella v. Oracle Corp., 751 F.
Supp. 2d 842, 853-54 (E.D. Va. 2010); United States ex rel. Freedman v. Suarez-Hoyos, 781 F. Supp. 2d 1270, 1282
(M.D. Fla. 2011) (emphasis added) (“31 U.S.C. 3731(c) expressly provides that if the Government intervenes and files
an amended complaint, then the amended complaint relates back to the date of the Relator’s complaint for statute of
limitations purposes, to the extent that the claims of the Government arise out of the conduct, transactions, occurrences
set forth, or attempted to be set forth, in the Relator’s complaint. While §3731(c) was added as part of the Fraud
Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (‘FERA’), the Act contains a note that provides that §3731(c) applies in cases
pending on the date of its enactment”).
203 United States ex rel. Miller v. Bill Harbert Int’l Construction, 608 F.3d 871, 882 (D.C. Cir. 2010) (“Miller’s
allegations concerning any contracts beyond 20A were nothing more than ‘naked assertions[s] devoid of further factual
enhancements’ . . . Allowing such broad and vague allegations to expand the range of permissible amendments after the
limitation period has run would circumvent the statutory requirement in the FCA that the amendments ‘arise[] out of
the conduct, transactions, or occurrence in the original complaint, 31 U.S.C. 3731(c); it would also, we note,
circumvent the recent teachings of Ashcroft [v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009)] and [Bell Atlantic Corp. v.] Twombly[, 550
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new claims but only if they are “tied to a common core of operative facts” found in the relator’s
timely complaint.204
The Wartime Statute of Limitations Act205 applies only to criminal cases and not to False Claims
Act qui tam cases.206
Indian Protection (25 U.S.C. § 201)
All penalties which shall accrue under Title 28 of the Revised Statutes shall be sued for
and recovered in an action in the nature of an action of debt, in the name of the United
States, before any court having jurisdiction of the same, in any State or Territory in which
the defendant shall be arrested or found, the one half to the use of the informer and the
other half to the use of the United States, except when the prosecution shall be first
instituted on behalf of the United States, in which case the whole shall be to their use.207
Section 201 dates from 1834 and authorizes qui tam actions for violations of five separate
statutes: (1) unlawful purchase of land from an Indian nation or tribe;208 (2) driving livestock to
feed on Indian land;209 (3) settling on or surveying Indian land;210 (4) setting up a distillery in
Indian country;211 and (5) trading in Indian country without a license.212
Qui tam actions under Section 201 are relatively rare and appear to have arisen most often under
the unlicensed trading and grazing (livestock on Indian land) provisions. In the Hall unlicensed
trader case, the relators’ action survived a standing challenge,213 but was dismissed for failure to

U.S. 544 (2007)] by allowing amendments to relate back to allegations that were themselves nothing more than naked
assertions. That potential for abuse is avoided by the relation back provision in the FCA, the amendment of which
postdates Twombly, cabining the scope of otherwise untimely amendments by imposing the same ‘conduct,
transactions, or occurrences’ requirement.”).
204 United States ex rel. Vavra v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 848 F.3d 366, 383 (5th Cir. 2017) (“This is not to say
that the Government may take advantage of Section 3731(c)’s relation-back provision by adding any claims (FCA or
not) to any qui tam FCA complaint … [A] new claim or pleading will not relate back when it asserts new ground for
relief supported by facts that differ in both time and type from those the original pleading set forth … Rather, to relate
back, a new claim must be tied to a common core of operative facts.”).
205 18 U.S.C. § 3287.
206 Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. 650, 661-62 (2015).
207 25 U.S.C. § 201. In 2000, the Supreme Court identified “three other qui tam statutes” in addition to the False Claims
Act. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v, United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 769 n.1 (2000). Only
Section 201 of the three survives. See P.L. 106-179, 114 STAT. 46 (2000) (amending 25 U.S.C. § 81); P.L. 112-29, 125
STAT. 329 (2011) (amending 35 U.S.C. § 292). The Court also referred to two then-existing forfeiture moiety statutes.
Stevens, 529 U.S. at 769 n.1. Moiety statutes entitle informers to half of the proceeds generated by confiscation of
crime-related property, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 962 (“…Every such vessel, her tackle … shall be forfeited, one half to the use
of the informer and the other half to the use of the United States.”). Some moiety statutes resemble qui tam statutes
because, as the Court explained, the moiety provisions sometimes allow the informer to prosecute the forfeiture
proceedings in the name of the United States, Stevens, 529 U.S. at 769 n.1.
208 25 U.S.C. § 177 (REV. STAT. § 2116).
209 25 U.S.C. § 179 (REV. STAT. § 2117).
210 25 U.S.C. § 180 (REV. STAT. § 2118).
211 25 U.S.C. § 251 (REV. STAT. § 2141).
212 25 U.S.C. § 264 (REV. STAT. § 2133). United States ex rel. Burnette v. Driving Hawk, 587 F.2d 23, 23-25 (8th Cir.
1978) (Section 201 applies where Congress established monetary penalties for various prohibitions enacted for the
protection of the Indians; it does not create a qui tam cause of action with respect to criminal statutes which come
replete with terms of imprisonment such as the embezzlement provisions of 25 U.S.C. § 450d).
213 United States ex rel. Hall v. Tribal Development Corp., 49 F.3d 1208, 1216 (7th Cir. 1995).
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join an indispensible party—the tribe, which had contracted for gambling equipment and services
from the unlicensed supplier.214 In Keith, the relator’s action was dismissed after the court
concluded that “bureaucratic nonfeasance” made it impossible to obtain the required trader’s
license.215 Relators were somewhat more successful in Hornell, where the court upheld recovery
of the monetary penalty, but declined to affirm confiscation of the station wagon that was the
object of the unlicensed sale.216
Section 179 prohibits grazing horses, mules, or cattle on Indian land without permission and sets
the penalty at $1 per head. The circuits are divided over the question of whether the Secretary of
the Interior may by regulation set the penalty at $1 per head for each day of violation.217 Federal
district courts have jurisdiction exclusive of the states for enforcement of the penalties under
Section 179, but they may abstain from exercising jurisdiction in favor of enforcement in a tribal
court of jurisdiction.218
There may be some question whether the monetary penalty established in Section 177 may be
enforced by a qui tam action under §201. Section 201, however, applies to “penalties which shall
accrue under Title 28 of the Revised Statutes,” i.e., REV. STAT. §§ 2039-2157. Section 177
appears in Title 28 of the Revised Statutes as Section 2116. Thus, on its face, Section 201 permits
a qui tam action to recover the penalties accruing under Section 177.
In Harlan, however, the Eighth Circuit stated in dicta that “25 U.S.C. § 177 appears to deal
directly with cases where, as here, a person attempts to lease tribal lands without express approval
of the federal government. . . . The statute makes violators subject to a fine of $1,000, but has no
provision entitling relators to bring actions under it. See James v. Watt, 716 F.2d 71 (1st Cir.
1983).”219 The issue in Harlan was whether the qui tam provisions, then found in 25 U.S.C. § 81,
relating to contracts for services which required government approval, extended to sharecrop
agreements. The court referred to Section 177 “simply . . . to demonstrate that a broad and
general policy to oversee all contracts by Indians need not be accomplished through 25 U.S.C.
§ 81 alone.” The James case, which the court cites, held that an individual tribal member, suing as
a victim of a violation of Section 177, may only do so as a representative of his tribe and not on
his own behalf.220 It says nothing of whether he may do so on behalf of the United States qui tam.
The application of Section 201 to the penalties under Section 177 seems clear on its face, but the
contrary statement in Harlan seems equally clear.

214 United States ex rel. Hall v. Tribal Development Corp., 100 F.3d 476, 478 (7th Cir. 1996).
215 United States ex rel. Keith v. Sioux Nation Shopping Center, 634 F.2d 401, 403 (8th Cir. 1980).
216 United States ex rel. Hornell v. One 1976 Chevrolet Station Wagon, 585 F.2d 978, 980-81 (10th Cir. 1978).
217 United States ex rel. Whitehorse v. Briggs, 555 F.2d 283, 288 (10th Cir. 1977) (To “permit a cow to trespass and
graze on Indian land for a day, a month, a year, or forever, upon the payment of a statutory penalty in the amount of $1
. . . would completely defeat the intent of, and purpose behind, the statute.”); United States ex rel. Chase v. Wald, 557
F.2d 157, 161 (8th Cir. 1977) (the Secretary has no authority to increase the statutory penalty).
218 United States v. Plainbull, 957 F.2d 724, 726-28 (9th Cir. 1992).
219 United States ex rel. Harlan v. Bacon, 21 F.3d 209, 212 (1994) (emphasis added).
220 James v. Watt, 716 F.2d 71, 72 (1st Cir. 1983) (emphasis in the original) (“This court has held that the INA [Indian
Nonintercourse Act, 25 U.S.C. § 177] was designed to protect the land rights only of tribes; that the INA therefore
granted a cause of action to tribes; and that individual Indians could not assert INA rights on their own behalf.”).
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Constitutional Concerns
Qui tam evokes two classes of constitutional issues. First, to what extent may qui tam defendants
claim the constitutional protections available to defendants in criminal cases? Second, is qui tam
compatible with the Constitution’s allocation of powers among the three branches of
government? At first glance, the first question seems the least troubling. The rights available in
criminal proceedings exist precisely because the proceedings are criminal. The Sixth Amendment
rights –the right to counsel, to call and confront witnesses, to be informed of the nature of the
charges, to trial in the place where the offense occurred, and to a speedy and public trial before an
impartial jury—apply only to “the accused” in criminal proceedings.221 Thus, they are
inapplicable to federal qui tam proceedings which are civil in nature.222 Rights found elsewhere in
the Constitution, however, often turn upon whether the government’s action may be or must be
considered punitive. Here the answers are bit less clear.
Double Jeopardy
For example, in the context of the False Claims Act, it was once thought that the Fifth
Amendment’s double jeopardy clause applied to “actions intended to authorize criminal
punishment to vindicate public justice” but not to “civil, remedial actions brought primarily to
protect the government from financial loss.”223 It was further thought that a legislatively
established civil remedy should not be considered a criminal penalty for double jeopardy
purposes unless its purpose or effect was so excessive as to belie its civil designation.224
But then the Court seemed to make a rule of the exception when it declared in United States v.
Halper that, “under the Double Jeopardy Clause a defendant who already has been punished in a
criminal prosecution may not be subjected to an additional civil sanction to the extent that the
second sanction may not fairly be characterized as remedial, but only as a deterrent or
retribution.”225 Nine years later, however, in Hudson v. United States, the Court withdrew from
the broad implications of Halper whose analysis it characterized as “ill considered.” 226 The
appropriate test, the Court declared,227 is one exemplified in its pre-Halper case law:
Whether Congress, in establishing the penalizing mechanism, indicate[] either expressly or
impliedly a preference for one label or the other. Second, where Congress has indicated an
intention to establish a civil penalty, [was] the statutory scheme . . . so punitive either in
purpose or effect as to negate that intention. In regard to this latter inquiry, we have noted

221 U.S. CONST. amend. VI (“In all criminal proceedings, the accused shall enjoy the right . . .”).
222 E.g., 31 U.S.C. § 3730(a) (“ . . . The Attorney General finds that a person has violated or is violating section 3729,
the Attorney General may bring a civil action . . . ); 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(1) (“A person may bring a civil action for a
violation of section 3729 for the person and for the United States Government . . . “); 35 U.S.C. § 292(b) (“Any person
may sue for the penalty . . . ”).
223 United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess, 317 U.S. 537, 548, 549 (1943).
224 Rex Trailer Co. v. United States, 350 U.S. 148, 154 (1956).
225 United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 448-49 (1989). Yet the Court observed in a footnote: “We express no opinion
as to whether a qui tam action, such as the one in Hess, is properly characterized as a suit between private parties for
the purpose of this rule,” Id. at 451 n.10.
226 522 U.S. 93, 101 (1997).
227 Id. at 96 (“We hold that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment is not a bar to the later criminal
prosecution because the administrative proceedings were civil, not criminal. Our reasons for so holding in large part
disavow the method of analysis used in United States v. Halper. 490 U.S. 435, 448 (1989), and reaffirm the previously
established rule exemplified in United States v. Ward, 448 U.S. 242, 248-249 (1980).”).
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that only the clearest proof could suffice to establish the unconstitutionality of a statute on
such a ground.228
The Court has looked to the due process standards listed in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez229
when defendants seek to satisfy the daunting “clearest proof” test.230 Although Hudson was not a
qui tam case, later lower federal court qui tam cases consider it dispositive, and held that False
Claims Act damages are not punishment for Double Jeopardy Clause purposes.231
Excessive Fines
The Supreme Court implied in Hudson that the problems which drove its Halper analysis might
more appropriately be judged by Eighth Amendment excessive fines standards.232 The Eighth
Amendment states that “[e]xcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”233 In other contexts, the Supreme Court has determined
that the excessive fines clause “does not constrain an award of money damages in a civil suit
when the government neither has prosecuted the action nor has any right to receive a share of the
damages awarded.”234 The clause does, however, apply to “the government’s power to extract
payments . . . as punishment for some offense.”235 The critical question is not whether the
procedure for extracting the payment is classified as civil or criminal or whether it serves some
additional remedial purposes; if the payment constitutes punishment, it is a “fine” and as a

228 United States v. Ward, 448 U.S. at 248-49 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).
229 372 U.S. 144, 168-69 (1963).
230 Hudson, 522 U.S. at 99 (“Even in those cases where the legislature has indicated an intention to establish a civil
penalty, we have inquired further whether the statutory scheme was so punitive either in purpose or effect as to
transform what was clearly intended as a civil remedy into a criminal penalty. In making this latter determination, the
factors listed in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez provide useful guideposts, including: (1) whether the sanction involves
an affirmative disability or restraint; (2) whether it has historically been regarded as a punishment; (3) whether it comes
into play only on a finding of scienter; (4) whether its operation will promote the traditional aims of punishment –
retribution and deterrence; (5) whether the behavior to which it applies is already a crime; (6) whether an alternative
purpose to which it may rationally be connected is assignable for it; and (7) whether it appears excessive in relation to
the alternative purpose assigned”) (internal citations and quotations omitted); see also United States v. Ward, 448 U.S.
at 249.
231 United States v. Aleff, 772 F.3d 508, 511-12 (8th Cir. 2014) (“[T]he FCA is not punishment for double jeopardy
purposes”); United States v. Rogan, 517 F.3d 449, 453-54 (7th Cir. 2008) (“We know from Hudson v. United States . . .
that penalties under the False Claims Act are not criminal punishment for the purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause
in the Fifth Amendment”); see also United States v. Karron, 750 F. Supp. 2d 480, 493 n.12 (S.D.N.Y. 2011); United
States v. Lumanna, 114 F. Supp. 2d 193, 197 (W.D.N.Y. 2000).
232 Hudson, 522 U.S. at 102-03.
233 U.S. CONST. amend. VIII.
234 Browning-Ferris Industries v. Kelco Disposal, 492 U.S. 257, 264 (1989) (holding that the excessive fines clause did
not apply to a treble damage antitrust award). The Court “left open the question whether a qui tam action, in which a
private party brings suit in the name of the United States and shares in any award of damages, would implicate . . . the
Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause.” Id. at 275-76 n.21.
235 Austin v. United States, 509 U.S.602, 609-10 (1993).
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general matter may not be excessive.236 A fine is excessive, in the eyes of the Court, “if it is
grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the defendant’s offense.”237
In the qui tam context, some lower courts treat False Claims Act qui tam penalties as punishment
and consequently subject to excessive fines clause analysis.238 They have generally concluded,
however, that the fines imposed in the cases before them were not excessive for Eighth
Amendment purposes.239
Due Process
Two Supreme Court cases suggest that permitting individuals with a personal interest to prosecute
in the name of the United States may present due process issues. In Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., the
Court rejected the argument that an administrative agency’s receipt of civil penalties which it
assessed and collected posed a due process risk of biased prosecution.240 In the course of its
opinion, however, the Court noted that it “need not say with precision what limits there may be on
a financial or personal interest of one who performs a prosecutorial function. In particular, we
need not say whether different considerations might be held to apply if the alleged biasing
influence contributed to prosecutions against particular persons, rather than to a general
zealousness in the enforcement process.”241 That fact pattern surfaced in Young v. United States ex
rel. Vuitton et Fils S.A., but the issue splintered the Court.

236 Id. at 610. Once again, however, the Court declined to resolve the question of the clause’s application to qui tam
penalties: “In Browning-Ferris, we left open the question whether the Excessive Fines Clause applies to qui tam actions
in which a private party brings suit in the name of the United States and shares in the proceeds . . . Because the instant
suit was prosecuted by the United States and because Austin’s property was forfeited to the United States, we have no
occasion to address that question here.” Id. at 607 n.3.
237 United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 334 (1998).
238 United States ex rel. Drakeford v. Tuomey, 792 F.3d 364, 387 (4th Cir. 2014) (“A fine will be found excessive only
if it is grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense. We have said, however, that instances in which the penalty
prescribed under the FCA is unconstitutionally excessive will be ‘infrequent.’”) (quoting United States ex rel. Bunk v.
Gosseli World Wide Moving, N.V., 741 F.3d 390, 408 (4th Cir. 2013)); United States v. Aleff, 772 F.3d 512-13 (8th
Cir. 2014) (“FCA’s treble damages in combination with the pre-claim penalties are punitive for purposes of the
Excessive Fines Clause”); United States v. Bourseau, 531 F.3d 1159, 1173-174 (9th Cir. 2008); United States v.
Mackby, 339 F.3d 1013, 1016 (9th Cir. 2003); United States ex rel. Tyson v. Amerigroup Illinois, Inc., 488 F. Supp. 2d
719, 743-45 (N.D. Ill. 2007); United States v. Eghbal, 475 F. Supp. 2d 1008, 1016-19 (C.D. Cal. 2007); United States
v. Byrd, 100 F. Supp. 2d 342, 344-45 (E.D.N.C. 2000); but see United States v. Rogan, 517 F.3d 449, 453-54 (7th Cir.
2007) (finding it unnecessary to resolve the issue and indicating that the results of double jeopardy and excessive fines
analysis should be the same, but noting that it considers the law in the area is “unsettled”).
239 Drakeford, 792 F.3d at 387 (holding that $234.4 million in damages and penalties was not unconstitutional under
the Excessive Fines Clause); Aleff, 772 F.3d at 512-13 (holding that $1.3 million in damages was not grossly
disproportionate to the defendant’s misconduct); Bourseau, 531 F.3d at 1173-174 ($15.6 million Medicare False Claim
Act penalty was not excessive in light of the harm to the U.S. Treasury and to the integrity of the Medicare program);
Mackby, 339 F.3d at 1019 ($729,454.92 Medicare False Claims Act judgment was not excessive in light of the
defendant’s culpability and the harm caused by the offense); United States ex rel. Tyson v. Amerigroup Illinois, Inc.,
488 F.Supp.2d 719, 743-45 (N.D. Ill. 2007) ($334 million Medicaid False Claims Act penalty was not excessive in
light of the fact that the statute permitted a penalty of $524 million); Eghbal, 475 F.Supp.2d at 1016-19 ($5.851 million
in mortgage fraud False Claims Act damages and penalties was not excessive in light of the defendant’s culpability, the
seriousness of the offense, and the harm caused); Byrd, 100 F.Supp.2d at 344-55 ($1.575 million food stamp False
Claims Act penalty was not excessive in light of the fact that a penalty of $2.895 million was authorized under the
statute).
240 Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., 446 U.S. 238, 252 (1980).
241 Id. at 250 n.12 and accompanying text.
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Young and Vuitton were engaged in trademark litigation which had resulted in the issuance of an
order enjoining Young from manufacturing or distributing counterfeit versions of Vuitton’s
product line.242 Upon a showing of probable cause to believe that Young had violated the
injunction, the court appointed Vuitton’s lawyers to prosecute the criminal contempt.243 Five
members of the Supreme Court agreed that Young’s subsequent conviction should be overturned
because, “counsel for a party that is the beneficiary of a court order may not be appointed as
prosecutor in a contempt action alleging a violation of that order.”244 Four members of the Court
felt this was so because the appointment of an interested prosecutor constituted error which
undermined confidence in the integrity of the criminal proceeding.245 One of the four went so far
as to assert that the failure to appoint a disinterested prosecutor constituted a due process
violation.246 A fifth Justice merely concurred in the result, because he felt that the lower court’s
appointment of a prosecutor—disinterested or not—was invalid on separation of powers
grounds.247
Lower federal courts thereafter confronted with due-process-disinterested-prosecutor challenges
to qui tam have rejected them based on the fact that relators press their claims as private civil
litigants and thus do not exercise government power subject to due process clause restrictions on
criminal prosecutions.248
“[T]he Due Process Clause imposes limits on ‘grossly excessive’ monetary penalties…”249 “The
Supreme Court has instructed courts to consider three guideposts when reviewing punitive
damages awards under the Due Process Clause.”250 Those three are: “(1) the degree of
reprehensibility of the defendant’s misconduct; (2) the disparity between the actual or potential
harm suffered by the plaintiff and the punitive damage award; and (3) the difference between the
punitive damages awarded by the jury and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in
comparable cases.”251
Other due process challenges have occasionally arisen over the retroactive amendments to qui
tam legislation, sometimes in conjunction with an ex post facto challenge. Ex post facto
challenges have failed because the courts considered the statute insufficiently penal to trigger

242 Young v. United States ex rel. Vuitton et Fils S.A., 481 U.S. 787, 790-91 (1987).
243 Id. at 791-92.
244 Id. at 809.
245 Id. at 810.
246 Id. at 814-15 (Blackmun, J., concurring).
247 Id. at 815 (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment).
248 United States ex rel. Kelly v. Boeing Co., 9 F.3d 743, 760 (9th Cir. 1993); United States ex rel. Phillips v. Pediatric
Services of America, Inc., 123 F. Supp. 2d 990, 994-95 (W.D.N.C. 2000); United States ex rel. Fallon v. Accundyne
Corp., 921 F. Supp. 611, 623-24 (W.D. Wis 1995); United States ex rel. Stillwell v. Hughes Helicopters, Inc., 714 F.
Supp. 1084, 1088 n.4 (C.D. Cal. 1989); but see Friedman v. Rite Aid Corp., 152 F. Supp. 2d 766, 771 (E.D. Pa. 2001)
(finding due process inapplicable because relators merely receive “an appropriate incentive and reward for aiding the
Government”).
249 United States ex rel. Drakeford v. Tuomey, 792 F.3d 364, 387 (4th Cir. 2015) (citing BMW of N. Am., Inc. v. Gore,
517 U.S. 559, 562 (1996)).
250 Drakeford, 792 F.3d at 388 (citing State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 517 U. S. 408, 418 (2003)).
251 Id. (citing State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins., 517 U. S. at 418).
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such concerns.252 Due Process retroactivity challenges have failed because the courts concluded
that rational legislative purposes justified retroactive application.253
Separation of Powers
Is qui tam legislation compatible with the Constitution’s allocation of powers among the three
branches? The Constitution allocates federal governmental authority among three coordinated
branches. It vests all legislative powers in Congress, executive power in the President, and the
judicial power of the United States in the federal courts.254 It declares that Congress shall have the
power to make all laws, necessary and proper, for carrying into execution its own powers and
those of the executive and judicial branches.255 It empowers Congress to remove by impeachment
the President, the Vice President, and any civil officer of the United States for treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors.256 It requires the advice and consent of the Senate for the
appointment of ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all
other officers of the United States (except for those inferior officers whose appointment has been
otherwise provided for by law).257 It instructs the President “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed.”258
The Constitution authorizes the President to recommend legislation to Congress and to call
Congress into extraordinary session.259 Legislation may not become law until presented to the
President for his approval, or in the case of his disapproval only upon the vote of a super majority
in each House.260 The Constitution says little about how the President may or must exercise the
executive authority of the United States. It names the President commander-in-chief of the armed
forces.261 It empowers the President to nominate, and with Senate advice and consent to appoint,
ambassadors, public ministers, consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the
United States (except for those inferior officers whose appointment has been otherwise provided
for by law).262 It permits the President to grant pardons and reprieves with respect to offenses
against the United States and to require executive department heads to provide him with written
opinions on matters relevant to their duties.263 It authorizes the President to receive ambassadors
and other public ministers.264 Finally, the Constitution defines those cases and controversies to
which the judicial power of the United States extends.265

252 Sanders v. Allison Engine Co., Inc., 703 F.3d 930, 942-48 (6th Cir. 2012); United States ex rel. Miller v. Bill
Harbert Int’l Construction Inc., 608 F.3d 871, 878 (D.C. Cir. 2010).
253 E.g., Sanders, 703 F.3d at 948-49.
254 U.S. CONST. art. I, § 1; art. II, § 1; and art. III, respectively.
255 Id. art. I, § 8, cl. 18.
256 Id. art. II, § 4.
257 Id. art. II, § 2, cl. 2. During a recess of the Senate, the President may fill a vacancy in office with a commission
which expires at the end of the next session. Id. art. II, §2, cl. 3.
258 Id. art. II, § 3.
259 Id.
260 Id. art. I, § 7, cl. 2.
261 Id. art. II, § 2, cl. 1.
262 Id. art. II, § 2, cl. 2. During a recess of the Senate, the President may fill vacancies in office by commissions which
expire at the end of the next session. Id. art. II, § 2, cl. 3.
263 Id. art. II, § 2, cl. 1.
264 Id. art. II, § 3.
265 Id. art. III, § 2.
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This “system of separation of powers and checks and balances . . . was regarded by the Framers
as a self-executing safeguard against the encroachment or aggrandizement of one branch at the
expense of the other[s].”266 Yet, in this interwoven fabric of governmental authority, the Framers
realized that, “[w]hile the Constitution diffuses power the better to secure liberty, it also
contemplates that practice will integrate the dispersed powers into a workable government. It
enjoins upon its branches separateness but interdependence, autonomy but reciprocity.”267
Commentators and litigants have questioned whether qui tam is at odds with these basic
constitutional principles.268 Their concerns are three. First, the Constitution grants the federal
courts the judicial power over “cases and controversies.” This is thought to require at least two
parties with conflicting interests, presented in a context suitable for judicial resolution, i.e.,
standing in a case or controversy. Yet, relators come to court with no interest of their own, only a
contingent personal interest.269 Second, the Constitution instructs the President to see that the
laws are faithfully executed. Yet, without his approval or unrestricted control, relators may initiate
and prosecute litigation.270 Third, the President is vested with the authority to appoint officers of
the United States and, with the courts and heads of departments, to appoint inferior officers. Yet,
relators, who engage in activities otherwise reserved to officers and inferior officers of the United
States, are appointed neither by the President, the courts, nor by the head of any department.271
Each of the constitutional challenges to the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions faces an
obvious hurdle. Qui tam statutes were fairly common at the time of the drafting of the
Constitution. Qui tam statutes were enacted by the early Congresses, populated by the men

266 Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority v. Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc., 501 U.S. 252, 273
(1991) (quoting, Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 122 (1976)).
267 United States v. Mistretta, 488 U.S. 361, 381 (1989) (quoting Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S.
579, 635 (Jackson, J., concurring)); see also Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654, 693-94 (1988) (“Time and again we
have reaffirmed the importance in our constitutional scheme of the separation of governmental powers into the three
coordinate branches . . . We have not hesitated to invalidate provisions of law which violate this principle. On the other
hand, we have never held that the Constitution requires that the three branches of government operate with absolute
independence.”).
268 Evan Caminker, The Constitutionality of Qui Tam Actions, 99 YALE L. J. 341 (1989); James T. Blanch, The
Constitutionality of the False Claims Act’s Qui Tam Provisions, 16 HARV. J. L. & PUB. POL’Y 701 (1993); Frank A.
Edgar, Jr., “Missing the Analytical Boat”: The Unconstitutionality of the Qui Tam Provisions of the False Claims Act,
27 IDAHO L. REV. 319 (1990); Robert E. Johnston, 1001 Attorneys General: Executive-Employee Qui Tam Suits and the
Constitution, 62 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 609 (1993); but see Richard A. Bales, A Constitutional Defense of Qui Tam, 2001
WIS. L. REV. 381.
269 “The constitutional cornerstone of the modern doctrine of standing is injury in fact, and without this a party cannot
invoke the power of the federal courts. Since by definition a qui tam plaintiff has no injury in fact in a False Claims
suit, then the qui tam provisions of the Act are unconstitutional under Article III’s requirements of ‘cases’ and
‘controversies.’” Edgar, supra note 264 at 345.
270 “Article II gives the President – and only the President – the power and duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be
faithfully executed.’ Although Morrison [v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988),] held that Congress can place certain
executive functions in the hands of persons who are not members of the Executive Branch, the Court has never held
that Congress may divest the Executive of the power to initiate a lawsuit to vindicate the United States’ interest. In fact,
a line of cases suggests that this power to initiate lawsuits is a special and inherently executive function. . . . The FCA’s
qui tam provision interferes with the Executive’s ‘initiation power.’ Once a relator files an action under Section
3730(b), that action will proceed regardless of whether the government chooses to intervene.” Ara Lovitt, Fight for
Your Right to Litigate: Qui Tam, Article II, and the President, 49 STAN. L. REV. 853, 868, 872 (1997).
271 “When one combines Buckley’s [Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)] holding that only properly appointed officers
can litigate on behalf of the United States with Fretag’s [Fretag v. Commission, 501 U.S. 868 (1991)] holding that
Congressional diffusion of the appointment power – and not only aggrandizement – can violate the Appointments
Clause, the conclusion is simple: It is unconstitutional for qui tam relators to enforce the FCA on behalf of the United
States government because they have not been properly appointed to do so.” Blanch, supra note 264 at 743.
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responsible for drafting and ratifying the new Constitution. Although enactment in an early
Congress is hardly a sure mark of constitutionality,272 action there “provides contemporaneous
and weighty evidence of the Constitution’s meaning.”273 Thus, critics face the problem of
explaining how a process, which the Framers did not consider unconstitutional, should now be so
construed.274
Standing
History plays a significant role in determining whether standing exists. Standing requires (1) a
concrete injury to the plaintiff’s interest, (2) attributable to the defendant, (3) and amenable to
judicial relief.275 When it put qui tam standing challenges to rest in Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, the Supreme Court observed that:
[T]he long tradition of qui tam actions in England and the American colonies . . . is
particularly relevant to the constitutional standing inquiry since . . . Article III’s restriction
of the judicial power to “Cases” and “Controversies” is properly understood to mean “cases
and controversies of the sort traditionally amenable to, and resolved by, the judicial
process.”276
On the more perplexing matter of the relator’s injury, the Stevens Court found the injury to the
United States sufficient to establish False Claims Act relator standing. With respect to the
government’s share of the fruits of successful litigation, the Court found standing in the relator as
an agent of the defrauded United States.277 With respect to the relator’s share, it considered him
the assignee of that portion of the interest of the United States,278 and a relator does not close his
status as a government assignee when he further assigns a small portion of his possible recovery
in a litigation financing agreement under which the relator relinquishes no control over the
litigation.279

272 Recall that the First Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, Section 13 of which unconstitutionally endeavored
to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 172-80 (1803).
273 Bowsher v. Synar, 478 U.S. 714, 723 (1986) (citing Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 790 (1983)).
274 United States v. UCB, Inc., 970 F.3d 835, 847 (7th Cir. 2020) (“Their ancient pedigree, however, together with their
widespread use at the time of the Founding, suggests that the False Claims Act as a whole is not in imminent danger of
unconstitutionally usurping the executive power.”).
275 Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016) (“[T]he ‘irreducible constitutional minimum’ of standing
consists of three elements. The plaintiff must have (1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the
challenged action of the defendant, and (3) that it is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.”) (citing
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992)); Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation, LLC, 963 F.3d 1089,
1101 (11th Cir. 2020) (citing Lujan).
276 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 774 (2000) (quoting Steel Co.
v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 102 (1998)).
277 Stevens, 529 U.S. at 771-72 (“It is beyond doubt that the complaint asserts any injury to the United States. . . . It
would perhaps suffice to say that the relator here is simply the statutorily designated agent of the United States, in
whose name . . . the suit is brought—and that the relator’s bounty is simply the fee he receives out of the United States’
recovery. . . . This analysis is precluded, however, by the fact that the statute gives the relator himself an interest in the
lawsuit. . . . For the portion of the recovery retained by the relator, therefore, some explanation of standing other than
agency for the Government must be identified.”).
278 Id. at 773 (“We believe, however, that adequate basis for the relator’s suit for his bounty is to be found in the
doctrine that the assignee of a claim has standing to assert the injury in fact suffered by the assignor. The FCA can
reasonably be regarded as effecting a partial assignment of the Government’s damages claim”).
279 Ruckh, 963 F.3d at 1101-102.
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The Stevens Court resolved the issue of qui tam standing, but it “express[ed] no view on the
question of whether qui tam suits violate Article II, in particular the Appointments Clause of § 2
and the ‘Take Care’ Clause of § 3.”280
Appointments Clause
. . . [The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,
shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme
Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by
Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President
alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.281
The Appointments Clause issue in qui tam cases flows from apparently contradictory language in
two Supreme Court cases. In the more recent, Buckley v. Valeo, the Court seemed to conclude that
only officers appointed under Article II could be entrusted with conducting civil litigation on
behalf of the United States:
We hold that these provisions of the Act, vesting in the Commission primary responsibility
for conducting civil litigation in the courts of the United States for vindicating public rights,
violate Art. II, §2, cl. 2, of the Constitution. Such functions may be discharged only by
persons who are “Officers of the United States” within the language of that section.282
Yet, earlier Court decisions suggested that the Appointments Clause applied only to those
purported to hold an “office of the United States,” and that Congress might authorize the
performance of services in the name of the United States by those who did so without the
attributes of office, selected other than under Article II. The line begins with United States v.
Hartwell which held that a Treasury Department clerk was an officer of the United States for
purposes of an embezzlement statute. The Court noted that the defendant had been appointed in a
manner consistent with Article II to a position that “embraced the ideas of tenure, duration,
emolument, and duties” and for which the duties were continuing and permanent rather than
occasional or temporary.283
The second case, United States v. Germaine, likewise involved a penal statute applicable to
“officers of the United States.” The Court concluded that the defendant, a surgeon paid to conduct
and report on the results of examinations of applicants and recipients of federal pensions, was not
an officer of the United States.284 The Court supported its view by noting that the defendant filled
no office; his duties were occasional and intermittent; he kept no place of business for public use;
he gave no bond; he took no oath; he was but an agent employed by the Commissioner of
Pensions to obtain information needed for the performance of the Commissioner’s duties.285
The Court used the same mode of analysis in Auffmordt v. Heden, when it concluded that
appraisers called upon in the event of a customs dispute were not officers of the United States and

280 Stevens, 529 U.S. at 778 n.8.
281 U.S. CONST. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.
282 Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 140 (1976).
283 United States v. Hartwell, 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 385, 393-4 (1867).
284 United States v. Germaine, 99 U.S. 508 (1878).
285 Id. at 511-12.
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consequently their selection other than under the Article II formula did not invalidate their
efforts.286
The Court in Buckley distinguished rather than repudiated Germaine and Affmordt, but it did so in
manner that does not necessarily resolve the qui tam issue:
[The term] “Officers of the United States” does not include all employees of the United
States, but there is no claim made that the Commissioners are employees of the United
States rather than officers. Employees are lesser functionaries subordinate to officers of the
United States, see Auffmordt v. Hedden, 137 U.S. 310, 327 (1890); United States v.
Germaine, supra, whereas the Commissioners, appointed for a statutory term, are not
subject to the control or direction of any other executive, judicial, or legislative
authority.287
In Freytag, the Court later affirmed the Buckley assertion that only officers appointed in
conformity with Article II could “exercis[e] significant authority pursuant to the laws of the
United States.”288
Yet in Freytag, the Court acknowledged the existence of various classes empowered other than by
Article II appointment who performed services in the name of the United States. There, it
distinguished Tax Court special trial judges (inferior officers) from special masters (not officers)
along the lines suggested in Germaine rather than based on a relative degree of independence
mentioned in Buckley:
The office of special trial judge is established by Law, and the duties, salary, and means of
appointment for that office are specified by statute. These characteristics distinguish
special trial judges from special masters, who are hired by Article III courts on a temporary,
episodic basis, whose positions are not established by law, and whose duties and functions
are not delineated in a statute. Furthermore, special trial judges perform more than
ministerial tasks. . . . [T]he special trial judges exercise significant discretion.289
Although the Court has thus far “express[ed] no view on the question of whether qui tam suits
violate Article II, in particular the Appointment Clause of § 2,”290 the lower federal courts
generally see no Appointments Clause impediments, because they do not consider qui tam
relators “officers of the United States.” As the Tenth Circuit has explained:
The procedural requirements of the Appointments Clause only apply to the appointment of
officers. Thus, the threshold question that we face is whether qui tam relators are “officers”
for purposes of Article II. We conclude that they are not; qui tam relators do not serve in
any office of the United States. There is no legislatively created office of informer or relator
under the FCA. Relators are not entitled to the benefits of officeholders, such as drawing a
government salary. And they are not subject to the requirement, noted long ago by the
Supreme Court, that the definition of an officer “embraces the ideas of tenure, duration,
emolument, and duties, and the latter were continuing and permanent, not occasional or
temporary. United States v. Germaine, 99 U.S. 508, 511-12 (1878); see also Auffmordt v.
Hedden, 137 U.S. 310, 327 (1890).291

286 Auffmordt v. Hedden, 137 U.S. 310, 327 (1890) (His position is without tenure, duration, continuing emolument, or
continuous duties, and he acts only occasionally and temporarily).
287 Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 126 n.162 (parallel citations omitted).
288 Freytag v. Commissioner, 501 U.S. 868, 881 (1991) (quoting Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 126).
289 Id. at 881-82 (internal citations omitted).
290 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 778 n.8 (2000).
291 United States ex rel. Stone v. Rockwell International Corp., 282 F.3d 787, 805 (10th Cir. 2002); Riley v. St. Luke’s
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Take Care
Unlike the Appointments Clause, the Take Care Clause does not explicitly vest authority in the
President. Instead, it imposes a responsibility upon him. The Framers, however, allocated powers
among the branches so as to prevent Congress or the courts from undermining or unduly
interfering with the President’s ability to perform his constitutional duties, including the duty to
take care to see that the laws are faithfully executed.292 Morrison v. Olson presents a question
perhaps most closely analogous to the one of whether qui tam statutes undermine or unduly
interfere with the President’s ability to fulfill his responsibilities under the Take Care Clause. The
case involved the constitutionality of the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in
Government Act.293 The statute permitted judicial appointment of a special prosecutor
(independent counsel) under limited circumstances to investigate and in some instances to
criminally prosecute senior executive branch officials.294
Defendants argued that the Act impermissibly “reduc[ed] the President’s ability to control the
prosecutorial powers wielded by the independent counsel,” both specifically when it precluded
removal of the special prosecutor except for cause and as a general matter.295 The Court
disagreed. It began by noting that the Constitution’s “system of separation of powers and checks
and balances” was crafted “as a self-executing safe-guard against the encroachment or
aggrandizement of one branch at the expense of the other.”296 It found that the Act presented no
such threat.297 The Court then ran through an abbreviated check list of features which might be
said to restrict the Executive’s prosecutorial control as well as those which appeared to re-enforce
his control.
It acknowledged that under the Act the President’s agent, the Attorney General: (1) did not select
the special prosecutor; (2) did not define the scope of the special prosecutor’s inquiry; and (3)
could not remove the special prosecutor without cause.298 On the other hand, (1) a special
prosecutor could be selected only upon the Attorney General’s unreviewable request; (2) the court
defined the special prosecutor’s scope of authority based upon the facts contained in that request;

Episcopal Hospital, 252 F.3d 749, 757-58 (5th Cir. 2001) (en banc) (“Supreme Court precedent has established that the
constitutional definition of an ‘officer’ encompasses, at a minimum, a continuing and formalized relationship of
employment with the United States Government. . . . There is no such relationship with regard to qui tam relators”);
United States ex rel. Taxpayers Against Fraud v. General Electric Co., 41 F.3d 1032, 1041 (6th Cir. 1995); see also
United States ex rel. Kelly v. Boeing Co., 9 F.3d 743, 758 (9th Cir. 1993) (“The appropriate questions in this case,
therefore, are whether qui tam relators exercise ‘significant authority’ under the FCA, and whether the FCA vests in
relators ‘primary responsibility’ for enforcing the Act by litigating in the federal courts. Our answers to these questions
follow logically from our determination . . . that the qui tam provisions do not violate the separation of powers
principle. We have concluded that the Executive Branch retains ‘sufficient control’ of relators such that their exercise
of authority to sue on behalf of the United States does not ‘impermissibly undermine’ executive functions. In keeping
with that conclusion, we find it impossible to characterize the authority exercised by relators as so ‘significant’ that it
must only be exercised by officers appointed in the manner which Article II, § 2, cl. 2 prescribes.”); United States v.
Halifax Hosp. Med. Ctr., 997 F. Supp. 2d 1272, 1279 (M.D. Fla. 2014).
292 Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654, 695-96 (1988); cf. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor, 478 U.S.
833, 856-57 (1986).
293 Morrison, 487 U.S. at 659-60.
294 Id., citing 28 U.S.C. 591-599 (1982 ed., Supp. V).
295 Morrison, 487 U.S. at 685.
296 Id. at 693 (quoting Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 123 (1976)).
297 Morrison, 487 U.S. at 694-95.
298 Id. at 695-96.
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and (3) the Attorney General might remove the special prosecutor for cause.299 All of which
indicated to the Court that “the Act give[s] the Executive Branch sufficient control over the
independent counsel to ensure that the President is able to perform his constitutionally assigned
duties.”
Lower court False Claims Act qui tam cases decided in Morrison’s wake generally reached the
comparable conclusion—the False Claims Act affords the Executive Branch sufficient control to
turn aside a Take Care Clause challenge, see e.g., United States ex rel. Kelly v. Boeing Co., 9 F.3d
743, 757 (9th Cir. 1993) (“Taken as a whole, and considering the removal issue in particular, the
FCA affords the Executive Branch a degree of control over qui tam relators that is not
distinguishable from the degree of control the Morrison Court found the Executive Branch
exercises over independent counsels.”).300
Attachments
False Claims Act (Text)
31 U.S.C. § 3729
(a) Liability for certain acts.–
(1) In general.– Subject to paragraph (2), any person who –
(A) knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or
approval;
(B) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a
false or fraudulent claim;
(C) conspires to commit a violation of subparagraph (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), or (G);

299 Id. at 696.
300 United States ex rel. Stone v. Rockwell International Corp., 282 F.3d 787, 805-807 (10th Cir. 2002); Riley v. St.
Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, 252 F.3d 749, 757 (5th Cir. 2001) (en banc) (“Any intrusion by the qui tam relator in the
Executive’s Article II power is comparatively modest, especially given the control mechanisms inherent in the FCA to
mitigate such an intrusion and the civil context in which qui tam suits are pursued. Hence, the qui tam portions of the
FCA do not violate the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers by impinging upon the Executive’s
constitutional duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed under Article II of the Constitution”); United States
ex rel. Taxpayers Against Fraud v. General Electric Co., 41 F.3d 1032, 1041 (6th Cir. 1994); United States v. Halifax
Hosp. Med, Ctr., 997 F. Supp. 2d 1272, 1278 (M.D. Fla. 2014) (citing Rockwell, 282 F.3d at 805); Hollander v.
Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc., 804 F.Supp.2d 344, 352-56 (E.D. Pa. 2011); United States ex rel. K & R Limited
Partnership v. Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, 154 F. Supp. 2d 19, 26 (D.D.C. 2001); United States ex rel.
Phillips v. Pediatric Services of America, Inc., 123 F. Supp. 2d 990, 992-93 (W.D.N.C. 2000) (“However, the Supreme
Court did not intend the analysis in Morrison to serve as an unalterable list of the minimum control elements necessary
for sustaining all acts implicating the Take Care Clause. On the contrary, by twice stating that the proper inquiry was to
take the act as a whole, Morrison instructs us to compare the qui tam provisions as a whole to the independent counsel
provisions as a whole”); but see Riley v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, 252 F.3d at 766 (Smith & DeMoss, JJ.,
dissenting) (“[T]he most crucial ways in which the FCA fails to provide the Executive with sufficient control are that
the FCA does not allow the Executive to initiate litigation, terminate litigation (without court approval), control the
scope and pace of the litigation, or control the procedures used by the lawyer prosecuting the case. The FCA’s most
severe violations of the separation of powers principles embedded in the Take Care Clause include the fact that
unaccountable, self-interested relators are put in charge of vindicating government rights, and that the transparency and
controls of the constitutional system are not in place to influence the outcome of such litigation.”); cf. Kirkwood
Florist, Inc. v. Hi-Float, Inc., 812 F. Supp. 2d 1000, 1002-1004 (E.D. Mo. 2011) (rejecting Appointments Clause and
Take Care Clause arguments in a qui tam action brought under 35 U.S.C. § 292) (P.L. 112-29, § 16, 125 STAT. 329
(2011) repealed Section 292’s qui tam feature); Luka v. Procter and Gamble Co., 785 F.Supp.2d 712, 718-22 (N.D. Ill.
2011) (“Every circuit to consider Article II challenges to the False Claims Act . . . has upheld the statute”) (dicta in a
Section 292 case).
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(D) has possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or to be used, by the Government
and knowingly delivers, or causes to be delivered, less than all of that money or property;
(E) is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used, or to be used, by
the Government and, intending to defraud the Government, makes or delivers the receipt without
completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;
(F) knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from an officer
or employee of the Government, or a member of the Armed Forces, who lawfully may not sell or
pledge property; or
(G) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement material to an
obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government, or knowingly conceals or
knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to
the Government,
is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than
$10,000, as adjusted by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note;
P.L. 104-410), plus 3 times the amount of damages which the Government sustains because of the act of
that person.
(2) Reduced damages.–If the court finds that–
(A) the person committing the violation of this subsection furnished officials of the United States
responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to such person about
the violation within 30 days after the date on which the defendant first obtained the information;
(B) such person fully cooperated with any Government investigation of such violation; and
(C) at the time such person furnished the United States with the information about the violation, no
criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced under this title with respect
to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation
into such violation,
the court may assess not less than 2 times the amount of damages which the Government sustains because
of the act of that person.
(3) Costs of civil actions.–A person violating this subsection shall also be liable to the United States
Government for the costs of a civil action brought to recover any such penalty or damages.

(b) Definitions.–For purposes of this section–
(1) the terms “knowing” and “knowingly” –
(A) mean that a person, with respect to information–
(i) has actual knowledge of the information;
(ii) acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or
(iii) acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information; and
(B) require no proof of specific intent to defraud;
(2) the term “claim” –
(A) means any request or demand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for money or property and
whether or not the United States has title to the money or property, that—
(i) is presented to an officer, employee, or agent of the United States; or
(ii) is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient, if the money or property is to be spent or
used on the Government’s behalf or to advance a Government program or interest, and if the
United States Government—
(I) provides or has provided any portion of the money or property requested or demanded; or
(II) will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money
or property which is requested or demanded; and
(B) does not include requests or demands for money or property that the Government has paid to an
individual as compensation for Federal employment or as an income subsidy with no restrictions on
that individual’s use of the money or property;
(3) the term “obligation” means an established duty, whether or not fixed, arising from an express or
implied contractual, grantor-grantee, or licensor-licensee relationship, from a fee-based or similar
relationship, from statute or regulation, or from the retention of any overpayment; and
(4) the term “material” means having a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the
payment or receipt of money or property.
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(c) Exemption from disclosure. –Any information furnished pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall be exempt
from disclosure under section 552 of title 5.

(d) Exclusion. –This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
[(e) Redesignated (d)]
31 U.S.C. § 3730
(a) Responsibilities of the Attorney General. –The Attorney General diligently shall investigate a
violation under section 3729. If the Attorney General finds that a person has violated or is violating section
3729, the Attorney General may bring a civil action under this section against the person.

(b) Actions by private persons. –(1) A person may bring a civil action for a violation of section 3729 for
the person and for the United States Government. The action shall be brought in the name of the
Government. The action may be dismissed only if the court and the Attorney General give written consent
to the dismissal and their reasons for consenting.
(2) A copy of the complaint and written disclosure of substantially all material evidence and information
the person possesses shall be served on the Government pursuant to Rule 4(d)(4) of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure. The complaint shall be filed in camera, shall remain under seal for at least 60 days, and
shall not be served on the defendant until the court so orders. The Government may elect to intervene and
proceed with the action within 60 days after it receives both the complaint and the material evidence and
information.
(3) The Government may, for good cause shown, move the court for extensions of the time during which
the complaint remains under seal under paragraph (2). Any such motions may be supported by affidavits or
other submissions in camera. The defendant shall not be required to respond to any complaint filed under
this section until 20 days after the complaint is unsealed and served upon the defendant pursuant to Rule 4
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(4) Before the expiration of the 60-day period or any extensions obtained under paragraph (3), the
Government shall–
(A) proceed with the action, in which case the action shall be conducted by the Government; or
(B) notify the court that it declines to take over the action, in which case the person bringing the action
shall have the right to conduct the action.
(5) When a person brings an action under this subsection, no person other than the Government may
intervene or bring a related action based on the facts underlying the pending action.

(c) Rights of the parties to qui tam actions. – (1) If the Government proceeds with the action, it shall
have the primary responsibility for prosecuting the action, and shall not be bound by an act of the person
bringing the action. Such person shall have the right to continue as a party to the action, subject to the
limitations set forth in paragraph (2).
(2)(A) The Government may dismiss the action notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the
action if the person has been notified by the Government of the filing of the motion and the court has
provided the person with an opportunity for a hearing on the motion.
(B) The Government may settle the action with the defendant notwithstanding the objections of the person
initiating the action if the court determines, after a hearing, that the proposed settlement is fair, adequate,
and reasonable under all the circumstances. Upon a showing of good cause, such hearing may be held in
camera.
(C) Upon a showing by the Government that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation
by the person initiating the action would interfere with or unduly delay the Government’s prosecution of
the case, or would be repetitious, irrelevant, or for purposes of harassment, the court may, in its discretion,
impose limitations on the person’s participation, such as–
(i) limiting the number of witnesses the person may call;
(ii) limiting the length of the testimony of such witnesses;
(iii) limiting the person’s cross-examination of witnesses; or
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(iv) otherwise limiting the participation by the person in the litigation.
(D) Upon a showing by the defendant that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation by
the person initiating the action would be for purposes of harassment or would cause the defendant undue
burden or unnecessary expense, the court may limit the participation by the person in the litigation.
(3) If the Government elects not to proceed with the action, the person who initiated the action shall have
the right to conduct the action. If the Government so requests, it shall be served with copies of all pleadings
filed in the action and shall be supplied with copies of all deposition transcripts (at the Government’s
expense). When a person proceeds with the action, the court, without limiting the status and rights of the
person initiating the action, may nevertheless permit the Government to intervene at a later date upon a
showing of good cause.
(4) Whether or not the Government proceeds with the action, upon a showing by the Government that
certain actions of discovery by the person initiating the action would interfere with the Government’s
investigation or prosecution of a criminal or civil matter arising out of the same facts, the court may stay
such discovery for a period of not more than 60 days. Such a showing shall be conducted in camera. The
court may extend the 60-day period upon a further showing in camera that the Government has pursued the
criminal or civil investigation or proceedings with reasonable diligence and any proposed discovery in the
civil action will interfere with the ongoing criminal or civil investigation or proceedings.
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Government may elect to pursue its claim through any alternate
remedy available to the Government, including any administrative proceeding to determine a civil money
penalty. If any such alternate remedy is pursued in another proceeding, the person initiating the action shall
have the same rights in such proceeding as such person would have had if the action had continued under
this section. Any finding of fact or conclusion of law made in such other proceeding that has become final
shall be conclusive on all parties to an action under this section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, a
finding or conclusion is final if it has been finally determined on appeal to the appropriate court of the
United States, if all time for filing such an appeal with respect to the finding or conclusion has expired, or if
the finding or conclusion is not subject to judicial review.

(d) Award to qui tam plaintiff. – (1) If the Government proceeds with an action brought by a person
under subsection (b), such person shall, subject to the second sentence of this paragraph, receive at least 15
percent but not more than 25 percent of the proceeds of the action or settlement of the claim, depending
upon the extent to which the person substantially contributed to the prosecution of the action. Where the
action is one which the court finds to be based primarily on disclosures of specific information (other than
information provided by the person bringing the action) relating to allegations or transactions in a criminal,
civil, or administrative hearing, in a congressional, administrative, or Government Accounting Office
report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the court may award such sums as it
considers appropriate, but in no case more than 10 percent of the proceeds, taking into account the
significance of the information and the role of the person bringing the action in advancing the case to
litigation. Any payment to a person under the first or second sentence of this paragraph shall be made from
the proceeds. Any such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds
to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and
costs shall be awarded against the defendant.
(2) If the Government does not proceed with an action under this section, the person bringing the action or
settling the claim shall receive an amount which the court decides is reasonable for collecting the civil
penalty and damages. The amount shall be not less than 25 percent and not more than 30 percent of the
proceeds of the action or settlement and shall be paid out of such proceeds. Such person shall also receive
an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable
attorneys’ fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.
(3) Whether or not the Government proceeds with the action, if the court finds that the action was brought
by a person who planned and initiated the violation of section 3729 upon which the action was brought,
then the court may, to the extent the court considers appropriate, reduce the share of the proceeds of the
action which the person would otherwise receive under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection, taking into
account the role of that person in advancing the case to litigation and any relevant circumstances pertaining
to the violation. If the person bringing the action is convicted of criminal conduct arising from his or her
role in the violation of section 3729, that person shall be dismissed from the civil action and shall not
receive any share of the proceeds of the action. Such dismissal shall not prejudice the right of the United
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States to continue the action, represented by the Department of Justice.
(4) If the Government does not proceed with the action and the person bringing the action conducts the
action, the court may award to the defendant its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses if the defendant
prevails in the action and the court finds that the claim of the person bringing the action was clearly
frivolous, clearly vexatious, or brought primarily for purposes of harassment.

(e) Certain actions barred. – (1) No court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought by a former or
present member of the armed forces under subsection (b) of this section against a member of the armed
forces arising out of such person’s service in the armed forces.
(2)(A) No court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought under subsection (b) against a Member of
Congress, a member of the judiciary, or a senior executive branch official if the action is based on evidence
or information known to the Government when the action was brought.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “senior executive branch official” means any officer or employee
listed in paragraphs (1) through (8) of section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App.).
(3) In no event may a person bring an action under subsection (b) which is based upon allegations or
transactions which are the subject of a civil suit or an administrative civil money penalty proceeding in
which the Government is already a party.
(4)(A) The court shall dismiss an action or claim under this section, unless opposed by the Government, if
substantially the same allegations or transactions as alleged in the action or claim were publicly disclosed –
(i) in a Federal criminal, civil, or administrative hearing in which the Government or its agent is a party;
(ii) in a congressional, Government Accountability Office, or other Federal report, hearing, audit, or
investigation; or
(iii) from the news media, unless the action is brought by the Attorney General or the person bringing the
action is an original source of the information.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “original source” means an individual who either (i) prior to a public
disclosure under subsection (e)(4)(a), has voluntarily disclosed to the Government the information on
which allegations or transactions in a claim are based, or (2) who has knowledge that is independent of and
materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations or transactions, and who has voluntarily provided the
information to the Government before filing an action under this section.

(f) Government not liable for certain expenses. –The Government is not liable for expenses which a
person incurs in bringing an action under this section.

(g) Fees and expenses to prevailing defendant. –In civil actions brought under this section by the United
States, the provisions of section 2412(d) of title 28 shall apply.

(h) Relief from retaliatory actions. -
(1) In general. - Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that
employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted,
suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions
of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent or associated others in
furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter.
(2) Relief. - Relief under paragraph (1) shall include reinstatement with the same seniority status that
employee, contractor, or agent would have had but for the discrimination, 2 times the amount of back pay,
interest on the back pay, and compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the
discrimination, including litigation costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. An action under this subsection
may be brought in the appropriate district court of the United States for the relief provided in this
subsection.
(3) Limitation on bringing civil action. - A civil action under this subsection may not be brought more
than 3 years after the date when the retaliation occurred.
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31 U.S.C. § 3731
(a) A subpena requiring the attendance of a witness at a trial or hearing conducted under section 3730 of
this title may be served at any place in the United States.

(b) A civil action under section 3730 may not be brought–
(1) more than 6 years after the date on which the violation of section 3729 is committed, or
(2) more than 3 years after the date when facts material to the right of action are known or reasonably
should have been known by the official of the United States charged with responsibility to act in the
circumstances, but in no event more than 10 years after the date on which the violation is committed,
whichever occurs last.

(c) If the Government elects to intervene and proceed with an action brought under 3730(b), the
Government may file its own complaint or amend the complaint of a person who has brought an action
under section 3730(b) to clarify or add detail to the claims in which the Government is intervening and to
add any additional claims with respect to which the Government contends it is entitled to relief. For statute
of limitations purposes, any such Government pleading shall relate back to the filing date of the complaint
of the person who originally brought the action, to the extent that the claim of the Government arises out of
the conduct, transactions, or occurrences set forth, or attempted to be set forth, in the prior complaint of that
person.

(d) In any action brought under section 3730, the United States shall be required to prove all essential
elements of the cause of action, including damages, by a preponderance of the evidence.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, or the Federal
Rules of Evidence, a final judgment rendered in favor of the United States in any criminal proceeding
charging fraud or false statements, whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea of guilty or nolo
contendere, shall estop the defendant from denying the essential elements of the offense in any action
which involves the same transaction as in the criminal proceeding and which is brought under subsection
(a) or (b) of section 3730.
31 U.S.C. § 3732
(a) Actions under section 3730.—Any action under section 3730 may be brought in any judicial district in
which the defendant or, in the case of multiple defendants, any one defendant can be found, resides,
transacts business, or in which any act proscribed by section 3729 occurred. A summons as required by the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall be issued by the appropriate district court and served at any place
within or outside the United States.

(b) Claims under state law.—The district courts shall have jurisdiction over any action brought under the
laws of any State for the recovery of funds paid by a State or local government if the action arises from the
same transaction or occurrence as an action brought under section 3730.

(c) Service on State or local authorities.—With respect to any State or local government that is named as
a co-plaintiff with the United States in an action brought under subsection (b), a seal on the action ordered
by the court under section 3730(b) shall not preclude the Government or the person bringing the action
from serving the complaint, any other pleadings, or the written disclosure of substantially all material
evidence and information possessed by the person bringing the action on the law enforcement authorities
that are authorized under the law of that State or local government to investigate and prosecute such actions
on behalf of such governments, except that such seal applies to the law enforcement authorities so served to
the same extent as the seal applies to other parties in the action.
31 U.S.C. § 3733
(a) In general. –
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(1) Issuance and service. –Whenever the Attorney General, or a designee (for purposes of this section),
has reason to believe that any person may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary
material or information relevant to a false claims law investigation, the Attorney General, or a designee,
may, before commencing a civil proceeding under section 3730(a) or other false claims law, or making an
election under section 3730(b), issue in writing and cause to be served upon such person, a civil
investigative demand requiring such person—
(A) to produce such documentary material for inspection and copying,
(B) to answer in writing written interrogatories with respect to such documentary material or
information,
(C) to give oral testimony concerning such documentary material or information, or
(D) to furnish any combination of such material, answers, or testimony.
The Attorney General may delegate the authority to issue civil investigative demands under this subsection.
Whenever a civil investigative demand is an express demand for any product of discovery, the Attorney
General, the Deputy Attorney General, or an Assistant Attorney General shall cause to be served, in any
manner authorized by this section, a copy of such demand upon the person from whom the discovery was
obtained and shall notify the person to whom such demand is issued of the date on which such copy was
served. Any information obtained by the Attorney General or a designee of the Attorney General under this
section may be shared with any qui tam relator if the Attorney General or designee determine it is
necessary as part of any false claims act investigation.
(2) Contents and deadlines. –
(A) Each civil investigative demand issued under paragraph (1) shall state the nature of the conduct
constituting the alleged violation of a false claims law which is under investigation, and the applicable
provision of law alleged to be violated.
(B) If such demand is for the production of documentary material, the demand shall–
(i) describe each class of documentary material to be produced with such definiteness and
certainty as to permit such material to be fairly identified;
(ii) prescribe a return date for each such class which will provide a reasonable period of time
within which the material so demanded may be assembled and made available for inspection and
copying; and
(iii) identify the false claims law investigator to whom such material shall be made available.
(C) If such demand is for answers to written interrogatories, the demand shall–-
(i) set forth with specificity the written interrogatories to be answered;
(ii) prescribe dates at which time answers to written interrogatories shall be submitted; and
(iii) identify the false claims law investigator to whom such answers shall be submitted.
(D) If such demand is for the giving of oral testimony, the demand shall—
(i) prescribe a date, time, and place at which oral testimony shall be commenced;
(ii) identify a false claims law investigator who shall conduct the examination and the custodian
to whom the transcript of such examination shall be submitted;
(iii) specify that such attendance and testimony are necessary to the conduct of the investigation;
(iv) notify the person receiving the demand of the right to be accompanied by an attorney and any
other representative; and
(v) describe the general purpose for which the demand is being issued and the general nature of
the testimony, including the primary areas of inquiry, which will be taken pursuant to the demand.
(E) Any civil investigative demand issued under this section which is an express demand for any
product of discovery shall not be returned or returnable until 20 days after a copy of such demand has
been served upon the person from whom the discovery was obtained.
(F) The date prescribed for the commencement of oral testimony pursuant to a civil investigative
demand issued under this section shall be a date which is not less than seven days after the date on
which demand is received, unless the Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General designated by
the Attorney General determines that exceptional circumstances are present which warrant the
commencement of such testimony within a lesser period of time.
(G) The Attorney General shall not authorize the issuance under this section of more than one civil
investigative demand for oral testimony by the same person unless the person requests otherwise or
unless the Attorney General, after investigation, notifies that person in writing that an additional
demand for oral testimony is necessary.
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(b) Protected material or information. –
(1) In general. –A civil investigative demand issued under subsection (a) may not require the production
of any documentary material, the submission of any answers to written interrogatories, or the giving of any
oral testimony if such material, answers, or testimony would be protected from disclosure under–
(A) the standards applicable to subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum issued by a court of the United
States to aid in a grand jury investigation; or
(B) the standards applicable to discovery requests under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to the
extent that the application of such standards to any such demand is appropriate and consistent with the
provisions and purposes of this section.
(2) Effect on other orders, rules, and laws. –Any such demand which is an express demand for any
product of discovery supersedes any inconsistent order, rule, or provision of law (other than this section)
preventing or restraining disclosure of such product of discovery to any person. Disclosure of any product
of discovery pursuant to any such express demand does not constitute a waiver of any right or privilege
which the person making such disclosure may be entitled to invoke to resist discovery of trial preparation
materials.

(c) Service; jurisdiction. –
(1) By whom served. –Any civil investigative demand issued under subsection (a) may be served by a
false claims law investigator, or by a United States marshal or a deputy marshal, at any place within the
territorial jurisdiction of any court of the United States.
(2) Service in foreign countries. –Any such demand or any petition filed under subsection (j) may be
served upon any person who is not found within the territorial jurisdiction of any court of the United States
in such manner as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prescribe for service in a foreign country. To the
extent that the courts of the United States can assert jurisdiction over any such person consistent with due
process, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have the same jurisdiction to
take any action respecting compliance with this section by any such person that such court would have if
such person were personally within the jurisdiction of such court.

(d) Service upon legal entities and natural persons. –
(1) Legal entities. –Service of any civil investigative demand issued under subsection (a) or of any
petition filed under subsection (j) may be made upon a partnership, corporation, association, or other legal
entity by–
(A) delivering an executed copy of such demand or petition to any partner, executive officer,
managing agent, or general agent of the partnership, corporation, association, or entity, or to any agent
authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process on behalf of such partnership,
corporation, association, or entity;
(B) delivering an executed copy of such demand or petition to the principal office or place of business
of the partnership, corporation, association, or entity; or
(C) depositing an executed copy of such demand or petition in the United States mails by registered or
certified mail, with a return receipt requested, addressed to such partnership, corporation, association,
or entity at its principal office or place of business.
(2) Natural persons. –Service of any such demand or petition may be made upon any natural person by–
(A) delivering an executed copy of such demand or petition to the person; or
(B) depositing an executed copy of such demand or petition in the United States mails by registered or
certified mail, with a return receipt requested, addressed to the person at the person’s residence or
principal office or place of business.

(e) Proof of service. –A verified return by the individual serving any civil investigative demand issued
under subsection (a) or any petition filed under subsection (j) setting forth the manner of such service shall
be proof of such service. In the case of service by registered or certified mail, such return shall be
accompanied by the return post office receipt of delivery of such demand.

(f) Documentary material. –
(1) Sworn certificates. –The production of documentary material in response to a civil investigative
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demand served under this section shall be made under a sworn certificate, in such form as the demand
designates, by–
(A) in the case of a natural person, the person to whom the demand is directed, or
(B) in the case of a person other than a natural person, a person having knowledge of the facts and
circumstances relating to such production and authorized to act on behalf of such person.
The certificate shall state that all of the documentary material required by the demand and in the
possession, custody, or control of the person to whom the demand is directed has been produced and made
available to the false claims law investigator identified in the demand.
(2) Production of materials. –Any person upon whom any civil investigative demand for the production
of documentary material has been served under this section shall make such material available for
inspection and copying to the false claims law investigator identified in such demand at the principal place
of business of such person, or at such other place as the false claims law investigator and the person
thereafter may agree and prescribe in writing, or as the court may direct under subsection (j)(1). Such
material shall be made so available on the return date specified in such demand, or on such later date as the
false claims law investigator may prescribe in writing. Such person may, upon written agreement between
the person and the false claims law investigator, substitute copies for originals of all or any part of such
material.

(g) Interrogatories. –Each interrogatory in a civil investigative demand served under this section shall be
answered separately and fully in writing under oath and shall be submitted under a sworn certificate, in
such form as the demand designates, by–
(1) in the case of a natural person, the person to whom the demand is directed, or
(2) in the case of a person other than a natural person, the person or persons responsible for answering each
interrogatory.
If any interrogatory is objected to, the reasons for the objection shall be stated in the certificate instead of
an answer. The certificate shall state that all information required by the demand and in the possession,
custody, control, or knowledge of the person to whom the demand is directed has been submitted. To the
extent that any information is not furnished, the information shall be identified and reasons set forth with
particularity regarding the reasons why the information was not furnished.

(h) Oral examinations. –
(1) Procedures. –The examination of any person pursuant to a civil investigative demand for oral
testimony served under this section shall be taken before an officer authorized to administer oaths and
affirmations by the laws of the United States or of the place where the examination is held. The officer
before whom the testimony is to be taken shall put the witness on oath or affirmation and shall, personally
or by someone acting under the direction of the officer and in the officer’s presence, record the testimony
of the witness. The testimony shall be taken stenographically and shall be transcribed. When the testimony
is fully transcribed, the officer before whom the testimony is taken shall promptly transmit a copy of the
transcript of the testimony to the custodian. This subsection shall not preclude the taking of testimony by
any means authorized by, and in a manner consistent with, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2) Persons present. –The false claims law investigator conducting the examination shall exclude from the
place where the examination is held all persons except the person giving the testimony, the attorney for and
any other representative of the person giving the testimony, the attorney for the Government, any person
who may be agreed upon by the attorney for the Government and the person giving the testimony, the
officer before whom the testimony is to be taken, and any stenographer taking such testimony.
(3) Where testimony taken. –The oral testimony of any person taken pursuant to a civil investigative
demand served under this section shall be taken in the judicial district of the United States within which
such person resides, is found, or transacts business, or in such other place as may be agreed upon by the
false claims law investigator conducting the examination and such person.
(4) Transcript of testimony. –When the testimony is fully transcribed, the false claims law investigator or
the officer before whom the testimony is taken shall afford the witness, who may be accompanied by
counsel, a reasonable opportunity to examine and read the transcript, unless such examination and reading
are waived by the witness. Any changes in form or substance which the witness desires to make shall be
entered and identified upon the transcript by the officer or the false claims law investigator, with a
statement of the reasons given by the witness for making such changes. The transcript shall then be signed
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by the witness, unless the witness in writing waives the signing, is ill, cannot be found, or refuses to sign. If
the transcript is not signed by the witness within 30 days after being afforded a reasonable opportunity to
examine it, the officer or the false claims law investigator shall sign it and state on the record the fact of the
waiver, illness, absence of the witness, or the refusal to sign, together with the reasons, if any, given
therefor.
(5) Certification and delivery to custodian. –The officer before whom the testimony is taken shall certify
on the transcript that the witness was sworn by the officer and that the transcript is a true record of the
testimony given by the witness, and the officer or false claims law investigator shall promptly deliver the
transcript, or send the transcript by registered or certified mail, to the custodian.
(6) Furnishing or inspection of transcript by witness. –Upon payment of reasonable charges therefor,
the false claims law investigator shall furnish a copy of the transcript to the witness only, except that the
Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, or an Assistant Attorney General may, for good cause,
limit such witness to inspection of the official transcript of the witness’ testimony.
(7) Conduct of oral testimony. –(A) Any person compelled to appear for oral testimony under a civil
investigative demand issued under subsection (a) may be accompanied, represented, and advised by
counsel. Counsel may advise such person, in confidence, with respect to any question asked of such person.
Such person or counsel may object on the record to any question, in whole or in part, and shall briefly state
for the record the reason for the objection. An objection may be made, received, and entered upon the
record when it is claimed that such person is entitled to refuse to answer the question on the grounds of any
constitutional or other legal right or privilege, including the privilege against self-incrimination. Such
person may not otherwise object to or refuse to answer any question, and may not directly or through
counsel otherwise interrupt the oral examination. If such person refuses to answer any question, a petition
may be filed in the district court of the United States under subsection (j)(1) for an order compelling such
person to answer such question.
(B) If such person refuses to answer any question on the grounds of the privilege against self-
incrimination, the testimony of such person may be compelled in accordance with the provisions of part V
of title 18.
(8) Witness fees and allowances. –Any person appearing for oral testimony under a civil investigative
demand issued under subsection (a) shall be entitled to the same fees and allowances which are paid to
witnesses in the district courts of the United States.

(i) Custodians of documents, answers, and transcripts. –
(1) Designation. –The Attorney General shall designate a false claims law investigator to serve as
custodian of documentary material, answers to interrogatories, and transcripts of oral testimony received
under this section, and shall designate such additional false claims law investigators as the Attorney
General determines from time to time to be necessary to serve as deputies to the custodian.
(2) Responsibility for materials; disclosure. –(A) A false claims law investigator who receives any
documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony under this section shall
transmit them to the custodian. The custodian shall take physical possession of such material, answers, or
transcripts and shall be responsible for the use made of them and for the return of documentary material
under paragraph (4).
(B) The custodian may cause the preparation of such copies of such documentary material, answers to
interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony as may be required for official use by any false claims law
investigator, or other officer or employee of the Department of Justice. Such material, answers, and
transcripts may be used by any such authorized false claims law investigator or other officer or employee in
connection with the taking of oral testimony under this section.
(C) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no documentary material, answers to interrogatories,
or transcripts of oral testimony, or copies thereof, while in the possession of the custodian, shall be
available for examination by any individual other than a false claims law investigator or other officer or
employee of the Department of Justice authorized under subparagraph (B). The prohibition in the preceding
sentence on the availability of material, answers, or transcripts shall not apply if consent is given by the
person who produced such material, answers, or transcripts, or, in the case of any product of discovery
produced pursuant to an express demand for such material, consent is given by the person from whom the
discovery was obtained. Nothing in this subparagraph is intended to prevent disclosure to the Congress,
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including any committee or subcommittee of the Congress, or to any other agency of the United States for
use by such agency in furtherance of its statutory responsibilities.
(D) While in the possession of the custodian and under such reasonable terms and conditions as the
Attorney General shall prescribe–
(i) documentary material and answers to interrogatories shall be available for examination by the
person who produced such material or answers, or by a representative of that person authorized by that
person to examine such material and answers; and
(ii) transcripts of oral testimony shall be available for examination by the person who produced such
testimony, or by a representative of that person authorized by that person to examine such transcripts.
(3) Use of material, answers, or transcripts in other proceedings. –Whenever any attorney of the
Department of Justice has been designated to appear before any court, grand jury, or Federal agency in any
case or proceeding, the custodian of any documentary material, answers to interrogatories, or transcripts of
oral testimony received under this section may deliver to such attorney such material, answers, or
transcripts for official use in connection with any such case or proceeding as such attorney determines to be
required. Upon the completion of any such case or proceeding, such attorney shall return to the custodian
any such material, answers, or transcripts so delivered which have not passed into the control of such court,
grand jury, or agency through introduction into the record of such case or proceeding.
(4) Conditions for return of material. –If any documentary material has been produced by any person in
the course of any false claims law investigation pursuant to a civil investigative demand under this section,
and—
(A) any case or proceeding before the court or grand jury arising out of such investigation, or any
proceeding before any Federal agency involving such material, has been completed, or
(B) no case or proceeding in which such material may be used has been commenced within a
reasonable time after completion of the examination and analysis of all documentary material and other
information assembled in the course of such investigation,
the custodian shall, upon written request of the person who produced such material, return to such person
any such material (other than copies furnished to the false claims law investigator under subsection (f)(2) or
made for the Department of Justice under paragraph (2)(B)) which has not passed into the control of any
court, grand jury, or agency through introduction into the record of such case or proceeding.
(5) Appointment of successor custodians. –In the event of the death, disability, or separation from
service in the Department of Justice of the custodian of any documentary material, answers to
interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony produced pursuant to a civil investigative demand under this
section, or in the event of the official relief of such custodian from responsibility for the custody and
control of such material, answers, or transcripts, the Attorney General shall promptly–
(A) designate another false claims law investigator to serve as custodian of such material, answers, or
transcripts, and
(B) transmit in writing to the person who produced such material, answers, or testimony notice of the
identity and address of the successor so designated.
Any person who is designated to be a successor under this paragraph shall have, with regard to such
material, answers, or transcripts, the same duties and responsibilities as were imposed by this section upon
that person’s predecessor in office, except that the successor shall not be held responsible for any default or
dereliction which occurred before that designation.

(j) Judicial proceedings. –
(1) Petition for enforcement. –Whenever any person fails to comply with any civil investigative demand
issued under subsection (a), or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material requested in
such demand cannot be done and such person refuses to surrender such material, the Attorney General may
file, in the district court of the United States for any judicial district in which such person resides, is found,
or transacts business, and serve upon such person a petition for an order of such court for the enforcement
of the civil investigative demand.
(2) Petition to modify or set aside demand. –(A) Any person who has received a civil investigative
demand issued under subsection (a) may file, in the district court of the United States for the judicial
district within which such person resides, is found, or transacts business, and serve upon the false claims
law investigator identified in such demand a petition for an order of the court to modify or set aside such
demand. In the case of a petition addressed to an express demand for any product of discovery, a petition to
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modify or set aside such demand may be brought only in the district court of the United States for the
judicial district in which the proceeding in which such discovery was obtained is or was last pending. Any
petition under this subparagraph must be filed—
(i) within 20 days after the date of service of the civil investigative demand, or at any time before the
return date specified in the demand, whichever date is earlier, or
(ii) within such longer period as may be prescribed in writing by any false claims law investigator
identified in the demand.
(B) The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief under
subparagraph (A), and may be based upon any failure of the demand to comply with the provisions of this
section or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of such person. During the pendency of
the petition in the court, the court may stay, as it deems proper, the running of the time allowed for
compliance with the demand, in whole or in part, except that the person filing the petition shall comply
with any portions of the demand not sought to be modified or set aside.
(3) Petition to modify or set aside demand for product of discovery. –(A) In the case of any civil
investigative demand issued under subsection (a) which is an express demand for any product of discovery,
the person from whom such discovery was obtained may file, in the district court of the United States for
the judicial district in which the proceeding in which such discovery was obtained is or was last pending,
and serve upon any false claims law investigator identified in the demand and upon the recipient of the
demand, a petition for an order of such court to modify or set aside those portions of the demand requiring
production of any such product of discovery. Any petition under this subparagraph must be filed–
(i) within 20 days after the date of service of the civil investigative demand, or at any time before the
return date specified in the demand, whichever date is earlier, or
(ii) within such longer period as may be prescribed in writing by any false claims law investigator
identified in the demand.
(B) The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief under
subparagraph (A), and may be based upon any failure of the portions of the demand from which relief is
sought to comply with the provisions of this section, or upon any constitutional or other legal right or
privilege of the petitioner. During the pendency of the petition, the court may stay, as it deems proper,
compliance with the demand and the running of the time allowed for compliance with the demand.
(4) Petition to require performance by custodian of duties. –At any time during which any custodian is
in custody or control of any documentary material or answers to interrogatories produced, or transcripts of
oral testimony given, by any person in compliance with any civil investigative demand issued under
subsection (a), such person, and in the case of an express demand for any product of discovery, the person
from whom such discovery was obtained, may file, in the district court of the United States for the judicial
district within which the office of such custodian is situated, and serve upon such custodian, a petition for
an order of such court to require the performance by the custodian of any duty imposed upon the custodian
by this section.
(5) Jurisdiction. –Whenever any petition is filed in any district court of the United States under this
subsection, such court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter so presented, and to enter
such order or orders as may be required to carry out the provisions of this section. Any final order so
entered shall be subject to appeal under section 1291 of title 28. Any disobedience of any final order
entered under this section by any court shall be punished as a contempt of the court.
(6) Applicability of federal rules of civil procedure. –The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply
to any petition under this subsection, to the extent that such rules are not inconsistent with the provisions of
this section.

(k) Disclosure exemption. –Any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral
testimony provided under any civil investigative demand issued under subsection (a) shall be exempt from
disclosure under section 552 of title 5.

(l) Definitions. –For purposes of this section–
(1) the term “false claims law” means–
(A) this section and sections 3729 and 3732; and
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Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes

(B) any Act of Congress enacted after the date of the enactment of this section which prohibits, or
makes available to the United States in any court of the United States any civil remedy with respect to,
any false claim against, bribery of, or corruption of any officer or employee of the United States;
(2) the term “false claims law investigation” means any inquiry conducted by any false claims law
investigator for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is or has been engaged in any violation of a
false claims law;
(3) the term “false claims law investigator” means any attorney or investigator employed by the
Department of Justice who is charged with the duty of enforcing or carrying into effect any false claims
law, or any officer or employee of the United States acting under the direction and supervision of such
attorney or investigator in connection with a false claims law investigation;
(4) the term “person” means any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity,
including any State or political subdivision of a State;
(5) the term “documentary material” includes the original or any copy of any book, record, report,
memorandum, paper, communication, tabulation, chart, or other document, or data compilations stored in
or accessible through computer or other information retrieval systems, together with instructions and all
other materials necessary to use or interpret such data compilations, and any product of discovery;
(6) the term “custodian” means the custodian, or any deputy custodian, designated by the Attorney General
under subsection (i)(1);
(7) the term “product of discovery” includes–
(A) the original or duplicate of any deposition, interrogatory, document, thing, result of the inspection
of land or other property, examination, or admission, which is obtained by any method of discovery in
any judicial or administrative proceeding of an adversarial nature;
(B) any digest, analysis, selection, compilation, or derivation of any item listed in subparagraph (A);
and
(C) any index or other manner of access to any item listed in subparagraph (A); and
(8) the term “official use” means any use that is consistent with the law, and the regulations and policies of
the Department of Justice, including use in connection with internal Department of Justice memoranda and
reports; communications between the Department of Justice and a Federal, State, or local government
agency, or a contractor of a Federal, State, or local government agency, undertaken in furtherance of a
Department of Justice investigation or prosecution of a case; interviews of any qui tam relator or other
witness; oral examinations; depositions; preparation for and response to civil discovery requests;
introduction into the record of a case or proceeding; applications, motions, memoranda and briefs
submitted to a court or other tribunal; and communications with Government investigators, auditors,
consultants and experts, the counsel of other parties, arbitrators and mediators, concerning an investigation,
case or proceeding.

Author Information

Charles Doyle

Senior Specialist in American Public Law

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57

Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
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copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

Congressional Research Service
R40785 · VERSION 6 · UPDATED
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