ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER

Iraq War False Claims Act Case

Huge Whistleblower Settlement

A food purveyor to American troops in the Iraq War recently settled a massive criminal and civil false claim whistleblower (also known as “qui tam”) case against it. During the war, the purveyor held over $8.5 billion in contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to supply food to U.S. troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. The purveyor is alleged to have knowingly overcharged DOD during the contract period and to have misrepresented its costs. The contractor also defrauded the government by using savings and discounts from U.S. suppliers without disclosing their lower costs or passing them on to the DOD. If you have credible information of false claims against the government or tax avoidance schemes, please contact the Evans Law Firm today at (415)441-8669, and we can help. Attorneys at the Evans Law Firm have extensive experience with whistleblower and qui tam cases.

Qui tam cases take a long time. Over a decade ago a former business partner of the contractor initiated this whistleblower case against the food purveyor under the Federal False Claims Act (FCA). The FCA rewards citizens and taxpayers who report information of fraud against the government. California has a similar statute. Both the federal and California False Claims Acts are complex statutes, and persons who are interested in bringing a qui tam action should always consult with a qualified attorney. Often false claim cases involve companies who sold defective products to the government, ran fraudulent investment schemes, cheated on their taxes or overbilled the government for services such as medical services under Medicare and Medicaid. In California, qui tam cases are very diverse and include, for example, mining companies that have filed false reports to conceal the theft of natural resources and avoid paying royalties, and financial institutions that have filed false reports with state agencies.

Bounties for successful whistleblowers and relators receive run up to as much as 40% of what the government recovers. The whistleblower in the Iraq War whistleblower case stands to reap $38.5 million for his work in uncovering the fraud. But note that these cases are very complex and the process takes years from reporting to recovery and granting of awards; the current case started over a decade ago. Whistleblowers always need the help of experienced counsel to guide these cases along. Both California and the federal government have very particular and high standards as to the information requisite to begin and continue a case and only consider applications with the most credible of false claims allegations. Authentic and adequate documentation is also always a must.

Contact Us

If you have information regarding false claims, tax fraud or abusive tax avoidance or securities fraud or are looking to be a whistleblower in San Francisco County or in any California county, contact the Evans Law Firm whistleblower/qui tam attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our attorneys have experience with complex qui tam or whistleblower cases, including False Claims Act cases, IRS tax avoidance whistleblower cases and tax and securities fraud whistleblowers, and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.