Strengthened Tool to Investigate Fraud Allegations in Qui Tam Cases

On March 24, 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder signed an Order, giving authority to U.S. Attorneys (to include, in effect, Assistant U.S. Attorneys) to issue civil investigative demands under the False Claims Act. CIDs are administrative subpoenas that can cover documents, depositions and interrogatories, that can be filed and served on a company while a qui tam is still under investigation. Up to two days ago, U.S. attorneys were required to obtain approval from the Attorney General for the issuance of a CID-a process that took several months if not longer, discouraging their use amongst assistant U.S. attorneys in qui tam cases. The long-needed delegation of authority stemmed from the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA), signed by President Obama on May 20, 2009, which authorized the Attorney General to delegate his authority to issue civil investigative demands. As a result, the Attorney General signed Order No. 3134-2010 (Jan. 15, 2010) delegating to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, the Attorney General’s authority to issue CIDs, and permitting that authority to be re-delegated to other Department officials, including United States Attorneys.

Tagged as: False Claims Act, fraud enforcement recovery act, healthcare fraud, qui tam