False Claims Act / Qui Tam Defense Lawyer

A False Claims Act matter usually arrives sideways. A company learns that a former employee filed a sealed complaint months earlier, or a contracting officer stops answering routine questions, or a civil investigative demand lands asking for years of billing records and internal email. The liability provision at 31 U.S.C. § 3729 reaches a person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval to the United States, and it reaches false records and statements material to such a claim. Because the money at issue is federal money, the same conduct is often examined at the same time by civil attorneys seeking damages and by federal agents deciding whether to open a criminal file.

Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. represents government contractors and subcontractors, health care organizations and their owners, grant recipients, executives, billing managers, and employees who have been asked to sit for interviews in False Claims Act matters. Work in this area begins with reconstructing what was actually submitted, what the contract or program rules required, and who knew what at the time, because those three questions decide almost everything that follows. To discuss a False Claims Act or qui tam matter, call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

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What 31 U.S.C. § 3729 Makes Unlawful

The statute is written around claims for payment rather than around a single scheme. A claim is a request for federal money or property, and liability attaches when someone knowingly presents a false claim, knowingly uses a false record or statement material to a false claim, conspires to do either, or knowingly avoids an obligation to pay money back to the United States. That last category, often described as a reverse false claim, catches conduct that has nothing to do with invoicing at all, such as keeping an overpayment after discovering it.

Two words carry most of the weight. Knowingly is defined in the Act to include actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance of the truth, and reckless disregard of the truth, so a defendant who never formed a plan to cheat can still be inside the statute if the record shows the question was avoided rather than answered. Material means having a natural tendency to influence the payment decision, which turns fights over minor regulatory noncompliance into fights over what the paying agency would have done had it known.

The Act imposes civil damages measured against the loss to the United States, together with a civil penalty attached to each false claim. The multiplier and the per-claim penalty figures are set by statute and adjusted over time, so confirm the current numbers against the statutory text and the applicable regulations with counsel rather than relying on any figure quoted on a website.

How a Qui Tam Complaint Becomes an Investigation

Most False Claims Act cases begin with a private person, called a relator, who files suit in the name of the United States under the Act’s qui tam provisions. The complaint is filed under seal and served on the government rather than on the defendant, which is why companies frequently learn of a case only after the government has already spent a long time working it.

During the sealed period the Department of Justice and the agency inspectors general assigned to the program investigate. They interview the relator, subpoena documents, pull claims data from the paying agency, and often interview current and former employees without telling them a sealed case exists. The government then decides whether to intervene and take over the litigation, decline and let the relator proceed alone, or move to dismiss.

Intervention changes the shape of a case. It signals that federal attorneys have looked at the data and are prepared to litigate, and it usually brings the criminal side of the Department into the conversation if it was not there already. A declination does not end anything, because a relator may continue, and declination is not a finding that the claims were true.

Where the Criminal Exposure Comes From

The liability provision of the False Claims Act is civil. It does not carry a prison sentence. The criminal exposure in these matters comes from separate federal statutes that prosecutors may charge based on the same billing records, and the decision to bring those charges is made by prosecutors rather than by the civil attorneys handling the qui tam case.

That structure creates the central problem in False Claims Act defense. Everything produced in the civil track, including interrogatory answers, deposition testimony, and documents identified as responsive, is available to prosecutors. A company that treats a civil investigative demand as an ordinary discovery exercise can build the government’s criminal record for it. Individual employees face a sharper version of the same problem, because a company’s civil interests and an individual’s exposure diverge quickly, and separate counsel is often necessary.

Sequencing therefore matters more than volume. Deciding what to produce, when to produce it, who speaks to the government, and whether to seek a proffer or a tolling arrangement should be decided against both tracks at once, not against the civil calendar alone.

Responding to a Civil Investigative Demand or Subpoena

A civil investigative demand can require documents, written answers, and oral testimony. It is compulsory process, and ignoring it is not an option, but the scope is negotiable in practice and the response deadline is frequently extended by agreement. The first steps are to preserve records, suspend any automatic deletion, and identify the custodians and systems that actually hold the relevant data.

Privilege planning comes next. Internal audits, compliance investigations, and consultant reports are exactly the material the government wants, and whether they are protected depends on how they were commissioned and handled long before the demand arrived. Counsel should also determine early whether an internal investigation is needed and how its findings will be held.

Employees deserve a clear explanation of their position. They are not required to speak with agents who appear at their homes, they may have counsel present, and false statements to federal agents create fresh criminal exposure independent of the underlying billing question. Telling employees what their rights are is lawful; telling them what to say is not, and the line between the two is a line federal prosecutors watch closely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a False Claims Act case mean someone will be arrested?

Not by itself. The liability provision at 31 U.S.C. § 3729 is civil, and a great many False Claims Act matters resolve through settlement or litigation without any criminal charge. What makes the risk real is that the same records are read by prosecutors, and criminal charges, when they come, are brought under different statutes. The practical question is never whether the civil case alone can put someone in prison, but whether the conduct the civil case describes will also be charged criminally by prosecutors reviewing the same file.

What is a qui tam case and who can file one?

A qui tam case is a suit brought by a private person in the name of the United States under the qui tam provisions of the Act. The person who files, the relator, is often a current or former employee, a competitor, or a subcontractor with access to billing information. The complaint is filed under seal so the government can investigate before the defendant is served. If the case recovers money, the relator receives a share fixed by the statute, which is one reason these cases are filed in volume.

How long can a case stay under seal?

The Act sets an initial seal period, and courts routinely extend it when the government moves for more time, sometimes repeatedly. The specific period and the standard for extension are set by statute, so confirm them against the current text with counsel. The practical point for a defendant is that by the time a complaint is unsealed, the government has usually had a substantial head start on documents and witnesses, and defense work begins from behind rather than from even.

What does knowingly mean under the statute?

The Act defines it more broadly than everyday usage. Actual knowledge that a claim is false satisfies the standard, but so does deliberate ignorance of whether it is true and reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. No specific intent to defraud is required. In practice that means a defense built on the absence of a scheme is incomplete. The record has to show that the question of accuracy was actually addressed, through a compliance process, a legal opinion, or documented guidance from the paying agency.

Can a company and its employees use the same lawyer?

Sometimes at the outset, rarely for long. A company may want to explain a billing practice as an isolated error by an individual, while the individual may want to show the practice was directed from above. Once those positions separate, joint representation becomes untenable, and the separation usually appears earlier than anyone expects. Individuals who are asked to sit for interviews or testimony in a False Claims Act matter should have their position assessed by counsel who represents them alone.

What should a company do in the first week?

Preserve everything, including email, claims data, and messaging platforms, and suspend routine deletion in writing. Identify who the demand actually reaches and which systems hold that material. Instruct managers not to question employees about the subject matter until counsel has set a process, because uncoordinated internal questioning creates witnesses and waives protections. Then map the two tracks, civil and criminal, before answering anything, and set a single point of contact for the government.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle False Claims Act Matters

False Claims Act work is documentary work. The billing system, the contract or program rules in force at the time, and the internal messages around the decision usually settle the case long before anyone argues about intent, so the early effort goes into reconstructing that record accurately rather than into rhetoric.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and founded the firm in 1997. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His background at George Mason University in accounting and information systems is applied to complex financial and technology-related cases, which is the category these matters fall into. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys, who contract directly with the firm, work on federal criminal matters together.

The firm represents companies, executives, billing and compliance personnel, and employees in False Claims Act and qui tam matters, including matters still under seal and matters where a parallel criminal investigation is underway. To discuss a False Claims Act matter, call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

Disclaimers

This page describes the False Claims Act at 31 U.S.C. § 3729 in general terms for people trying to understand a federal process. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. Federal statutes and the decisions interpreting them change over time, so confirm anything stated here against the current statutory text with counsel before acting on it.

Every federal matter turns on facts that belong to that matter alone. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

Attorney responsible for this advertising: Mr. Sris. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. Call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation; the firm’s intake line is staffed 24/7.

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A false claims act qui tam case is one part of fraud & financial crimes work, and our page on bank fraud defence covers the wider process.