April 1, 2007 Joining a trend nationwide, on April 1, 2007, the State of New York adopted a False Claims Act which provides for substantial monetary rewards to people who file claims to expose fraud against the Government. As adopted, the law empowers individuals to file claims to expose fraud against: (a) The State of New York, (a) any County, City, Town, Village or School District within the State, or (c) any Local Public Benefit Corporation or Municipal Corporation. If someone is aware of a fraud committed against any of these entities, they can file a claim to recover triple the amount defrauded, plus civil penalties of between $6,000 and $12,000 for each false claim submitted to the government. As a reward, the person filing the claim will typically become entitled to receive up to 30% of all monies recovered by the Government. The New York State False Claims Act was modeled on the Federal False Claims Act. Persons who filed claims under the Federal False Claims Act received over one hundred ninety million ($190,000,000.00) dollars in rewards in 2006 alone. |