2/3 Of DOJ's Nearly $5 Billion Recovery Under False Claims Act Derived From Whistleblower Suits In 2012

On December 4, the Justice Department announced a record-breaking recovery of $4.9 billion in settlements and judgments in civil cases brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) for the fiscal year ending September 20, 2012. This year's recovery eclipses the prior record by more than $1.7 billion. The last fiscal year's recovery comprises more than a third of the total recoveries of $24.2 billion since the Act was amended in 1986.

Included in the total was $3 billion in recoveries for health care fraud and $1.4 billion for mortgage and housing fraud. This was the second straight year in which the Justice Department set a new record for FCA recoveries for health care fraud, with two of the three top settlements this year coming from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Of significance, $3.3 billion of the nearly $5 billion recovery resulted from whistleblower actions, according to the Justice Department. In fact, the Justice Department noted the increased incentives for whistleblowers under the various amendments to the FCA resulted in an unprecedented number of investigations and recoveries by whistleblower suits. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery said, "The whistleblowers who bring wrongdoing to the government's attention are...