§46-171 - Actions for false claims to the counties; qui tam actions.

[PART X.] QUI TAM ACTIONS OR RECOVERYOF

FALSECLAIMS TO THE COUNTIES

[§46-171] Actions for false claims to thecounties; qui tam actions. (a) Any person who:

(1) Knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, toan officer or employee of a county a false or fraudulent claim for payment orapproval;

(2) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made orused, a false record or statement to get a false or fraudulent claim paid orapproved by a county;

(3) Conspires to defraud a county by getting a falseor fraudulent claim allowed or paid;

(4) Has possession, custody, or control of propertyor money used, or to be used, by a county and, intending to defraud a county orwilfully to conceal the property, delivers, or causes to be delivered, lessproperty than the amount for which the person receives a certificate orreceipt;

(5) Is authorized to make or deliver a documentcertifying receipt of property used, or to be used by a county and, intendingto defraud a county, makes or delivers the receipt without completely knowingthat the information on the receipt is true;

(6) Buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation ordebt, public property from any officer or employee of a county that the personknows may not lawfully sell or pledge the property;

(7) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made orused, a false record or statement to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligationto pay or transmit money or property to a county; or

(8) Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission ofa false claim to a county, who subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim,and fails to disclose the false claim to the county within a reasonable timeafter discovery of the false claim;

shall be liable to the county for a civil penalty ofnot less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000, plus three times the amount ofdamages that the county sustains due to the act of that person.

(b) If the court finds that a person who hasviolated subsection (a):

(1) Furnished officials of the county responsible forinvestigating false claims violations with all information known to the personabout the violation within thirty days after the date on which the defendantfirst obtained the information;

(2) Fully cooperated with any county investigation ofthe violation; and

(3) At the time the person furnished the county withthe information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, oradministrative action had commenced under this title with respect to theviolation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of aninvestigation into the violation;

the court may assess not less than two times theamount of damages that the county sustains because of the act of the person. Aperson violating subsection (a) shall also be liable to the county for the costsand attorneys' fees of a civil action brought to recover the penalty ordamages.

(d) This section shall not apply to anycontroversy involving an amount of less than $500 in value. For purposes ofthis subsection, "controversy" means the aggregate of any one or morefalse claims submitted by the same person in violation of this part. Proof ofspecific intent to defraud is not required.

(e) For purposes of this section:

"Claim" includes any request ordemand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for money or property that ismade to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient if the county provides anyportion of the money or property that is requested or demanded, or if thegovernment will reimburse the contractor, grantee, or other recipient for anyportion of the money or property that is requested or demanded.

"Knowing" and "knowingly"means that a person, with respect to information:

(1) Has actual knowledge of the information;

(2) Acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth orfalsity of the information; or

(3) Acts in reckless disregard of the truth orfalsity of the information;

and no proof of specific intent to defraud isrequired. [L 2001, c 227, pt of §1]