FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CIV WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1995 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RECOVERS OVER $1 BILLION IN QUI TAM AWARDS AND SETTLEMENTS WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice has recovered more than $1 billion in civil fraud cases brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act since they were amended in 1986. Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, praised the work of Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa and Representative Howard L. Berman of California in announcing the figure today. Grassley and Berman sponsored the 1986 whistleblower provisions, also known as the qui tam amendments to the False Claims Act, which significantly strengthened the statute. The statute allows a citizen, also known as a "relator," to file suit on behalf of the United States alleging that a person has submitted false or fraudulent claims on the United States. The government has a period of time to investigate the allegations to determine whether to take over the suit or allow the private citizen to pursue it alone. The private citizen may recover from 15 percent to 25 percent of the settlement or judgment if the government takes over the case and prosecutes it successfully and the same amount if the whistleblower litigates the case. "This is a remarkable achievement for the taxpayers of this country," said Hunger. "Senator Grassley and Representative Berman must be commended for their leadership and vision in sponsoring the legislation that has been used so effectively in the nine years since its enactment. "The recovery of over $1 billion demonstrates that the public-private partnership encouraged by the statute works and is an effective tool in our continuing fight against fraudulent use of public funds." Of the total amount recovered since 1986, the Department intervened in or settled cases resulting in recoveries of $1,058,177,552. Relators, or "whistleblowers," have been awarded $184,470,378 or 17.87 percent of the government's proceeds where shares have been determined. In cases declined by the government, private citizens obtained settlements or judgments of $15,597,141. Their shares have averaged 28 percent of the proceeds where shares have been determined, or $3,412,661. "The qui tam amendments were intended to encourage private citizens to come forward with information about fraud against the federal government," said Hunger. "Obviously they are working very well. "These recoveries could not have been achieved without the outstanding and tireless efforts of the attorneys in the Civil Division and the U.S. Attorneys' offices throughout the country working in cooperation with agency investigators," Hunger stressed. The largest qui tam recovery to date was a $150 million agreement with United Technologies Corporation to settle a lawsuit filed by a former vice president of finance alleging that the company overstated progress payments submitted by its Sikorsky Aircraft Division and misrepresented the facts in reporting the fraud to the government through the Department of Defense's Voluntary Disclosure Program. The relator received $22.5 million, the largest recovery by a whistleblower to date. Other significant cases include a $112.5 million agreement with Teledyne Inc. to settle two qui tam cases involving Teledyne's former Relays Division and Teledyne Systems Company. The government charged the company with fraud in testing military components and in its cost accounting practices. An $88 million settlement on September 30 with Lucas Industries pushed qui tam recoveries over $1 billion. That settlement resolved a qui tam lawsuit filed in Utah that alleged that Lucas defrauded the government by providing defective military parts and falsifying testing and quality control reports. Attached are qui tam statistics through fiscal 1995. QUI TAM STATISTICS Number of qui tam cases filed at end of fiscal 1995: 1,105 Number where a recovery has been obtained under the False Claims Act: 153 Qui Tam Filings By Fiscal Year: FY 87 - 33 cases FY 88 - 60 cases FY 89 - 95 cases FY 90 - 82 cases FY 91 - 90 cases FY 92 - 119 cases FY 93 - 131 cases FY 94 - 221 cases FY 95 - 274 cases Qui Tam Recoveries (approximate): FY 88 - $2 million FY 89 - $32 million FY 90 - $40 million FY 91 - $36 million FY 92 - $124 million FY 93 - $193 million FY 94 - $379 million FY 95 - $243 million Total fraud recovery from FY 87 through FY 95: $3,342,390,684 (qui tam recoveries are about one-third of total) Defense fraud and health care fraud recoveries, as percentages of total recoveries: FY 87 - 37% defense fraud, 16% health care fraud FY 88 - 85% defense fraud, 1% health care fraud FY 89 - 79% defense fraud, 8% health care fraud FY 90 - 65% defense fraud, 3% health care fraud FY 91 - 83% defense fraud, 4% health care fraud FY 92 - 70% defense fraud, 5% health care fraud FY 93 - 29% defense fraud, 46% health care fraud FY 94 - 53% defense fraud, 38% health care fraud FY 95 - 48% defense fraud, 36% health care fraud ##### 95-542