The False Claims Act was passed in 1863 when the Union War Supplies were falsely sold and
mainly unusable by the Union Army.
In times of war since, Congress changed Lincoln’s law, making it seem more accurate and powerful
than it has proven to be. In World War I fraud in war materials was high. Congress extended the
Statute of limitations of the False Claims Act under the War Statute of limitations Act and then
rescinded it a few years later. The same happened in World War II.
In 2015 the Supreme Court Ruled in the Carter v. Halliburton case that America was not at war as
neither Congress nor the President had declared war, so any military fraud since WWII can’t be
recovered as False Claims Acts are sealed in federal courts for more than 6 years. Therefore, most
military fraud over the last 40 years remained hidden.
In 1943 Congress changed the False Claims Act rules, reducing Relators fees from 50% of principle
amounts to 10%. This which essentially made the law useless; attorneys would not take 30%
contingency cases and Congress added several ways to slow and stop prosecutions. Due to this,
taxpayers had no protection. In 1970, the GAO published a report on massive fraud entitled ,
“Fraud in Government”
In 1986 Congress amended the false Claims Act increasing Relators fees. However, they left all the
“corporate protections.” Very few corporations have been sued and fewer prosecuted. They know by
just returning 1% and signing a 5-year Corporate Integrity Agreement, they only must return 1% of
what they defrauded taxpayers of. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/3729
The “Big Fish” corporations remain protected by civil settlements. The qui tam relators’ attorneys,
and 2,000 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units are left to pursue local, smaller, less protected and
capable providers. This results in rejecting new Medicaid and Medicare patients.