The federal government recovered more than $3 billion in taxpayer dollars lost to fraud in 2019, using a law championed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Whistleblower claims account for more than two-thirds of those recoveries. Since its enactment in 1986, the False Claims Act is responsible for more than $62 billion in recoveries, with Grassley’s whistleblower provision saving taxpayers more than $44.7 billion.
“The value that whistleblowers provide for our country by improving government is often immeasurable, but when it comes to combatting fraud, they’re worth their weight in gold. Whistleblowers go out of their way to fight fraud on behalf of the government and claw back hard-earned taxpayer dollars fleeced by fraudsters. No doubt about it, whistleblowers are essential to fighting fraud, and the Justice Department should continue to empower them to call swindlers on the carpet for the government and the American taxpayer,” Grassley said.
The Justice Department (DOJ) announced the 2019 recoveries today, crediting Grassley’s law as a key tool for tackling fraud.
In 1986, Grassley led the successful effort to update the False Claims Act, which allows the government to recover taxpayer dollars from entities that defrauded federal agencies. A key provision in that update, known as qui tam, allows whistleblowers to bring suites against alleged fraudsters on behalf of the government and share in any recoveries. That provision is credited with more than two-thirds of all False Claims Act recoveries since 1987.
Last year, Grassley raised concerns about a DOJ memo outlining when the government can seek to dismiss qui tam cases without first examining a case’s potential benefit to taxpayers.
DOJ statistics on fraud recoveries since enacting the 1986 False Claims Act are available HERE.
