Where are the Qui Tam or Whistleblower Provisions of the FCA located?
In 1986 the qui tam, or private citizen suit provisions of the False Claims Act, (found at 31 U.S.C. ‘ 3730) were substantially strengthened and liberalized to provide greater incentives for private individuals (designated as “relators”) to come forward and report fraud against the government. Any violation of the Act may be brought by a private person in the name of the United States (the cases are captioned U.S. ex rel. [relator] v. Defendant) on behalf of the government as a qui tam action. Particularly in the health care area, qui tam actions alleging fraud increasingly are becoming the predominant source of the government’s actions under the Act.
