Seattle Whistleblower Attorneys report that the Department of Justice obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in fiscal year 2016 ending Sept. 30, 2014. This is the third highest annual recovery in False Claims Act history, bringing the fiscal year average to nearly $4 billion since fiscal year 2009, and the total recovery during that period to $31.3 billion.
Of the $4.7 billion the government recovered in fiscal year 2016, $2.9 billion related to lawsuits filed under the qui tamprovisions of the False Claims Act. During the same period, the government paid out $519 million to the individuals who exposed fraud and false claims by filing a qui tam complaint.
The number of lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the Act has grown significantly since 1986, with 702 qui tamsuits filed this past year – an average of 13.5 new cases every week. The growing number of qui tam lawsuits, particularly since 2009, has led to increased recoveries. From January 2009 to the end of fiscal year 2016, the government recovered nearly $24 billion in settlements and judgments related to qui tam suits and paid more than $4 billion in whistleblower awards during the same period.