Attorney General's Office Sheds Light on False Claims Act Investigations
On January 25, 2008, The DOJ issued it's responses to questions posed to former AG Gonzales by the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2007. Several of these questions dealt with how the DOJ handles False Claims Act investigations (those questions are found on pages 51-58 of the DOJ letter)
Among the interesting revelations contained in these responses is that the DOJ is currently investigating approximately 1,000 separate False Claims Act allegations, with the following approximate breakdown by issue:
- Health Care: 630
- Pharmacuetical: 150
- Defense Procurement: 135 (30 of which are related to the Iraq War)
- Other Procurement: 95
The responses also cover issues such as the average amount of time it takes DOJ to intervene in a case, and how erosive judicial decisions (such as Sanders and Rockwell) have hampered the ability of the DOJ to pursue FCA cases.
