Committing Fraud against the Government Doesn’t Pay

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that U.S. District Court Judge Roberto Lange awarded the United States of America $279,184.00 against John Dewayne Ford for submitting multiple false-unemployment claims to the United States Railroad Retirement Board.

John Dewayne Ford, age 43, was laid off from his job with the Burlington Northern Railroad. Ford admitted that between May 2010 and April 2012, he claimed unemployment insurance benefits even though he was actually employed elsewhere. Ford submitted 40 false claims to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) certifying his claims for unemployment benefits, and in doing so; he perjured himself certifying his applications were true and accurate.

Ford was prosecuted criminally and pled guilty to the offense of Theft of Government Property. He was sentenced to a term of 3 years’ probation and ordered to pay criminal restitution in the amount of $19,728.                 

On April 6, 2015, the United States Attorney’s Office filed a civil action against Ford to recover damages and civil penalties pursuant to the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, for the false claims Ford knowingly submitted to the RRB. The FCA imposes civil liability on persons who knowingly submit false claims to the government.  Persons who submit a false claim must pay to the United States a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 for each false claim, plus three times the amount of damages which the government sustained.

In the court opinion filed today, the United States was awarded treble damages in the amount of $59,184. Although the District Court stated it would prefer to fashion a remedy that would have assessed only a single minimum penalty for this ongoing scheme, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the correct application of the statutory language related to civil penalties requires “that the focus in each case be upon the specific conduct of the person from whom the Government seeks to collect the statutory forfeitures.” Based on Ford’s 40 false submissions, a civil penalty was imposed at the minimum $5,500 per false claim totaling $220,000. The total civil judgment entered in favor of the United States was for $279,184.00. The government was also awarded interest and costs expended in bringing the civil case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office places a high priority on criminal and civil enforcement in cases involving all types of fraud committed against the government, and works with various law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate these matters. The investigation in this case was conducted by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.  This civil lawsuit was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cheryl Schrempp DuPris. The criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman.     

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