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