On January 15, 2025, the DOJ announced that its False Claims Act (FCA) recovery for fiscal year 2024 (which ended on September 30, 2024) exceeded $2.9 billion.
This figure is slightly higher than the total recovery from the prior fiscal year ($2.7B) and the year before that ($2.2B). Out of the total $2.9 billion, $2.4 billion (83%) was the result of qui tam (whistleblower) actions. The whistleblowers themselves received a total of nearly $404 million, a whopping figure that’s actually slightly lower than it had been in the previous two years.
In its press release, the DOJ touted its FCA successes, noting that FCA settlements and judgments since 1986 (when the FCA was substantially strengthened) now exceeds $78 billion. From the press release:
“The Department’s enforcement of the False Claims Act this past year demonstrates its continued commitment to pursuing those who seek to defraud the American taxpayers,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Mizer. “The False Claims Act and its whistleblower provisions remain a critical tool in protecting the public fisc and ensuring that taxpayer funds serve the purposes for which they were intended.”
“The Department places a high priority on fighting fraud and abuse in federal programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The results announced today highlight once again that such conduct will not be tolerated, and that those who knowingly misuse taxpayer funds will be held accountable.
The largest FCA settlement of 2024 came from defense contractor Raytheon Company, which agreed to pay $428 million to resolve allegations that it violated the FCA by providing the DoD with false cost and pricing data in support of its DoD contracts.
Of the total recovery, over half — $1.67 billion — came from healthcare cases. The largest such case was the October 2024 settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals, which agreed to pay $425 million to resolve allegations that it violated the FCA by fixing prices of its generic drugs. In its press release, the DOJ focused on cases involving opioids, unnecessary services and substandard care, Medicare Advantage fraud, and violations of the Anti-Kickback and Stark statutes.
In addition to healthcare fraud, the DOJ’s press release discussed its focus on military procurement fraud, pandemic-related fraud (including PPP fraud), and its cybersecurity initiative which, according to the press release, “is dedicated to using the False Claims Act to promote cybersecurity compliance by government contractors and grantees by holding them accountable when they knowingly violate applicable cybersecurity requirements.”
In addition to the FY24 monetary recoveries, 979 new qui tams were filed, which is an all-time record high (prior to FY24, the highest number of new qui tams was 757 in 2013). Out of the 979 new qui tams, 370 are healthcare related, 34 are defense related, and the rest (575) are deemed “other,” which might indicate that many of these relate to pandemic/PPP fraud.
While there is a lot to unpack from the DOJ’s data, it certainly appears that the DOJ’s focus on FCA recoveries continues.
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