WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today filed an amicus curiaebrief i a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that would decide if government subcontractors who commit fraud are liable under the False Claims Act. The case, Allison Engine Company, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Sanders, was appealed to the Supreme Court from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The False Claims Act is a critical tool in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money. I hope to show the court that the decision of the Sixth Circuit was correct and that Congress did not intend the FCA to include a presentment requirement,” Grassley said. “An amicus brief gives me the opportunity to explain the intent of the law I wrote which hopefully will give the Supreme Court a chance to get it right.”
Grassley authored the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act with Representative Howard Berman. The Grassley-Berman “qui tam” amendments empowered whistleblowers to file suit on behalf of the United States against those who fraudulently claim federal funds, including Medicare, Medicaid, contract payments, disaster assistance and other benefits, subsidies, grants and loans.
Grassley has long contended that a false claim need not be presented directly to a government employee. Instead, the 1986 amendments were intended to reach government contractors and subcontractors who defraud the government. Grassley said that requiring a "presentment" requirement could effectively create a fraud free zone for subcontractors who only submit claims to prime contractors.
Grassley has been an outspoken defender of the False Claims Act. Last year he sponsored legislation in response to recent federal court decisions that threaten to limit the scope and applicability of the 1986 amendments.