A Defense Contractor Fraud Attorney Can Help

Defense contractor fraud is big business. The federal government spends an average of $500 billion on military expenditures each year.

Whistleblowers have helped the United States recover billions of dollars lost because of defense contractor fraud.

Yet, private defense contractors regularly engage in systemic, fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money. This fraud hurts taxpayers and unnecessarily places the lives of our armed forces at risk.

The Federal False Claims Act (FCA) helps honest citizens fight back.

The FCA is a whistleblower protection act. It allows private individuals with knowledge of past or present fraud committed against the federal government to sue on the government's behalf. Private citizens who file FCA whistleblower lawsuits are commonly referred to as qui tam plaintiffs, relators, or just whistleblowers.

Defense contractor fraud is the oldest type of whistleblower claim. In fact, President Abraham Lincoln originally signed the FCA into law in 1863 to combat defense contractor fraud during the Civil War. This is why you sometimes hear the FCA referred to as Lincoln's Law.

The rewards for being a False Claims Act whistleblower can be great.

Whistleblowers have helped the United States recover billions of dollars lost because of defense contractor fraud.

If your whistleblower lawsuit is successful, you can receive 15-30% of the government's total recovery.

If you are thinking about blowing the whistle on military fraud, you should immediately speak with an experienced defense contractor fraud attorney. Our defense contractor fraud attorneys provide assistance to whistleblowers across the United States.

Do I Have a Good Defense Contractor Fraud Case?

The first thing our defense contractor fraud lawyers do is determine if you have a good case.

To win your whistleblower case, your legal team needs to understand the complexities of the military's procurement process.

Procurement is the procedure by which military supplies and services are purchased by the federal government. Defense contractor fraud is a type of procurement fraud. It occurs when private military contractors or subcontractors knowingly fail to provide the federal government with a product or service in violation of contractual requirements.

Defense contractor fraud can occur at any point during the procurement process. For instance, it can involve falsifying accounting records, falsifying test results, falsifying invoices, mischarging and misallocating costs, product substitution, and even bribes.

There are numerous schemes government contractors use to defraud the military. The most common involve:

• Cross-Charging: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor improperly shifts costs and expenses between one or more contracts.
• Improper Product Substitution: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor substitutes cheaper or substandard parts in violation of their government contract.
• Improper Cost Allocation: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor improperly distributes and/or shifts costs from contracts with private businesses and foreign governments onto their "cost-plus" contracts.
• Substandard Products or Services: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor knowingly provides the United States government with worthless or substandard products or services.
• Inflation of Costs and Charges: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor misrepresents actual costs and expenses in order to receive more funding from the United States government under their federal contract.
• Truth-In-Negotiations Act ("TINA") Violations: This type of fraud occurs when a defense contractor inflates their costs and expenses knowing that another company cannot underbid them for their work.

Choosing the Right Defense Contractor Fraud Lawyer Can Make All the Difference

Whistleblower cases involving Department of Defense contractors require a comprehensive investigative plan.

Our approach is thorough and exhaustive.

We identify all witnesses. We examine all documents and electronic data. We carefully evaluate each military contract provision and every Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that applies to your case. We do everything necessary to help you build the best whistleblower case.

False Claims Act qui tam lawsuits involving defense contractors have many technical rules. The most important is called the first-to-file rule.

Under the first-to-file rule, only the first person who files a defense contractor fraud whistleblower lawsuit has a right to a whistleblower reward.

This means you are literally in a race to the courthouse to make sure you file your whistleblower complaint before another whistleblower files the same case. This also means that you should never discuss the fraud you have uncovered with a co-worker. Doing this may encourage another whistleblower to file their False Claims Act lawsuit before you, thereby barring yours.

When you know about government fraud, it is always in your interest to quickly report it to a skilled defense contractor fraud attorney. Our experienced defense contractor fraud attorneys will ensure you comply with all of the requirements of the False Claims Act.

Let us use our experience and skill to help you collect the whistleblower rewards you deserve.