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Past Results Don’t Guarantee Future Success. The results in your case may vary depending on your particular facts and circumstances. All cases involve Jason T. Brown, Esquire and/or Brown, LLC
The Right Way
Whistleblowers who have information regarding companies or individuals defrauding the federal government may be entitled to a whistleblower award – if they blow the whistle the right way. At Brown, LLC, our whistleblower lawyers in Jersey City, NJ, represent individuals with information that enables the government, under a statute known as the False Claims Act (FCA), to recover federal funds that were obtained by fraud and in turn, if successful, receive a whistleblower award.
New Jersey state law has its own version of the False Claims Act (to recover state funds that were fraudulently obtained). The state also has the “Conscientious Employee Protection Act” or CEPA, which forbids an employer from terminating or otherwise retaliating against an employee who blows the whistle on illegal conduct. The firm is also interested in hearing about systemic fraud committed on private insurance companies as well – which although not actionable at this point, may be in the future.
You should call Brown, LLC’s whistleblower attorneys if you have information about systemic fraud against Medicare, Medicaid, the State of New Jersey, or private insurance, or have suffered retaliation as a result of reporting or encountering illegal or unethical conduct at work.
Brown, LLC has a team of whistleblower lawyers led by a former FBI Special Agent. The team has won several hundred million dollars in settlements and judgments, (however, past results of course don’t guarantee future success). Our whistleblower lawyers in Jersey City handle cases all over the country. We work hard to win cases we take, since we generally work on a contingency basis, meaning we’re only paid if we win money for you. Our firm will educate you about the process and work hard to obtain a significant whistleblower award for you.
How the Federal False Claims Act Works
A case under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) is a lawsuit brought by a whistleblower on behalf of the U.S. government, concerning fraud upon a federal program. Common examples are Medicare/Medicaid fraud, pharmaceutical fraud, and defense contractor fraud, but the FCA can be used to recover funds defrauded from any federal program. To dig a little deeper, here are some examples:
Medicare/Medicaid Fraud
- Overbilling
- False coding or “upcoding”
- Billing for services not provided
- Kickbacks: paying for referrals or paying a third party “a piece of the action”
Pharmaceutical Fraud
- Faking results of drug trials in order to get or keep FDA approval (yes, this happens)
- Promoting a medicine or medical device for “off-label” use
- Selling products that don’t work
- Kickbacks: giving doctors free services, goods, or cash for using or promoting a product
Defense Contractor Fraud
- Overbilling
- Billing for services not rendered or products not provided
- Kickbacks (e.g., paying someone off to get a contract)
- Not fulfilling a government contract in the manner certified to the government, including not paying the prevailing wage as required by the Davis-Bacon Act
- Bribing a foreign official (illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)
Your rights are time-sensitive. Talk with the Whistleblowers Lawyers at Brown, LLC
There’s no fee unless we win your case.
Note that you cannot file an FCA lawsuit on your own – you must work with a qui tam lawyer. The FCA process is complex and technical and has many pitfalls for the unwary. If you have insider information about fraud against the federal government, call the experienced whistleblower lawyers at Brown, LLC in Jersey City, NJ today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
FCA Whistleblower Awards
A successful whistleblower is entitled to an award of between 15% and 30% of what the government recovers in an FCA case (the percentage varies depending on just how the case plays out). In the last three decades, the U.S. government has paid whistleblowers hundreds of millions of dollars. Contact us at Brown, LLC and request a free, confidential consultation with our whistleblower lawyers in Jersey City, NJ, to learn if your information may qualify for a financial award.
Other Whistleblower Programs
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Reward Program. If you have information regarding tax underpayments by individuals or companies exceeding $2 million, you could receive between 15% and 30% of the total amount collected by the government. Examples of IRS fraud include having two sets of books (or offshore accounts) to hide income, and claiming false deductions and/or losses. Please note that Brown, LLC will only consider cases in which the fraud is large and the proofs are extensive, since the IRS will only act on very large frauds that are handed to them on a silver platter.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program. Whistleblowers who provide information to the SEC about violations of SEC laws and/or regulations may receive an award of 10% to 30% of the amount recovered. These cases generally deal with insider trading, self-dealing, putting the company’s interests in front of their clients’, or even bribing foreign officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. An SEC whistleblower who uses a lawyer can potentially remain anonymous. Brown, LLC’s Jersey City offices are a seven-minute PATH ride from Wall Street – close enough for you to easily visit us, but far enough away that it’s unlikely you’ll bump into anyone you know if you do. Of course, our SEC whistleblower lawyers can meet with you at a different location if needed.
The Commodity Exchange Act Whistleblower Reward Program. Under this program administered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), if you report violations concerning commodities options, swaps, or futures, you may be eligible for a reward of 10% to 30% of what the government recovers. Commodities fraud may involve inside trading, self-dealing, and putting clients’ interests last. Companies that trade and deal with products such as gas, oil, agricultural products, foreign currency, and anything else that is traded on the global market are included in this category.
There are many other federal and state whistleblower statutes. It’s critical to speak with a law firm that has experience navigating through all the whistleblower options. After a careful review of your information, Brown, LLC’s whistleblower lawyers in Jersey City, NJ, can discuss your options, likely outcomes, and whether it’s better to file a whistleblower lawsuit or take a different approach. Several variables will affect the whistleblower award you may receive (if any), such as the size of the government’s recovery, whether the government intervenes in the action or not, any delay in blowing the whistle, whether you profited from the fraud, cooperation by you and your counsel in the government’s investigation, and many other factors.
If you have information about a company or an individual who has committed Medicare/Medicaid fraud, or is defrauding the government in some other way, contact us to learn more about various whistleblower programs. At Brown, LLC, we protect whistleblowers and provide free consultations with a whistleblower lawyer. Residents of Jersey City, NJ, and all over the country routinely turn to us for answers and to prosecute their whistleblower lawsuits. Call us today.