Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes (R40785, updated April 26, 2021)

CRS Report R40785 "Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes" (Charles Doyle, updated 26 Apr 2021, 62 pp.): history of qui tam in England and the colonies; contemporary federal qui tam statutes; FCA history (1863, 1943, 1986, 2009, 2010 amendments); current law (who may sue, first-to-file and public-disclosure bars, liability elements, retaliation, penalties $5,000-$10,000 adjusted and treble damages, relator shares 15-25%/25-30%/max 10%, procedure: seal, 60-day intervention window, 6/3/10-year limits); Indian protection qui tam (25 U.S.C. 201, half to informer); constitutional challenges; statute text appendix (pp. 45-56 printed). Numbers: FCA recoveries 1986-2009 over $20 billion, over $40 billion since then, over $3 billion in FY2019, and a quoted "$62 billion ... $7.3 billion to whistleblowers". Already recorded: 5 rules (1863-1986 shares, 1943 bar) and 4 events. Added 5 observations, 9 rules, a proposed programme for 25 U.S.C. 201 with 2 rules, 4 events and 3 cases (Marcus v. Hess, Drakeford v. Tuomey, Tyson v. Amerigroup, the ex rel. cases with printed amounts). Not recorded: colonial and English informer shares (history, no programme); DOJ fraud estimate of 1-10% of the federal budget ($10-100 billion a year, fn 57: not a programme number); FCA judgments in cases not identified as qui tam (Aleff $1.3m, Bourseau $15.6m, Mackby $729,454.92, Eghbal $5.851m, Byrd $1.575m); customs informer awards up to 25% (19 U.S.C. 1619) and other moiety statutes (no programme in the dataset); the 60-day seal/intervention period and first-to-file bar (no rule type).