Does Long Claim Life = Chill Proof?

Though it is hard to come up with good things to say about the long life of whistleblower claims, especially if you are the anxious whistleblower, their longevity may shield them against some of the more tumultuous swings of public mood and focus.

For example, some muse about the possible chilling impact of the AIG buyout on the government's investigations into domestic fraud schemes. Hopefully, everyone realizes that government tends to go about setting priorities as if it had ADD. Today, domestic tax shelters may be at the top of everyone's target list; tomorrow it may be pharmaceutical companies; the next, it might be offshore schemes. Given how long it takes to bring a whistleblower case to fruition, day to day news seems unlikely to have an impact on how the case will eventually resolve.

People may not realize how long it takes to resolve a whistleblower claim. On July 2, 2008, the Washington Post reported that the Department of Justice had a backlog of more than 900 whistleblower cases alleging fraud against the government. One critic stated that if the DOJ got no new cases from this point on, it would still take 10 years to clear its desk of the cases it already has. The typical FCA case takes about 6 years from our experience.

Similarly, tax whistleblower reward cases average 7 years before they resolve.

Potential whistleblowers may worry about a chill on the government's enthusiasm for investigating domestic schemes against large financial organizations and decide not to report fraud when they see it. Perhaps, in the short term, a chilling effect may be discernible, but it seems unlikely that crises of the moment would have any long term impact on the government's desire to recoup funds for the public fisc. Frankly, the more the government can re-acquire from fraudsters, the better off we all are, no matter what the current economic climate.

So, don't read too much into the financial news of the day, and don't let it deter you from reporting fraud against the government. Who knows what we'll be facing six years from now when your claim resolves? Report the fraud no matter what is going on in the news. Fraud is fraud, and the U. S., and the taxpayers, deserve that money back.