U.S. Supreme Court Holds False Claims Act Requires Intent to Defraud Government

[Source: Health Lawyers Weekly, June 13, 2008, Vol. 6, Iss. 23 - AHLA]

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held June 9 that the False Claims Act (FCA) requires proof that the defendant “intended that the false statement be material to the Government’s decision to pay or approve the false claim.”

The opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, reversed a Sixth Circuit decision that held it was sufficient under the FCA for a plaintiff to prove merely that a false statement resulted in payment from the government.

According to the Court, “the Sixth Circuit’s interpretation of § 3729(a)(2) [of the FCA] impermissibly deviates from the statute’s language, which requires the defendant to make a false statement ‘to get’ a false or fraudulent claim ‘paid or approved by the Government.’”

Thus, a defendant must intend for the government to pay the claim, the Court held.

“Eliminating this element of intent would expand the FCA well beyond its intended role of combating “fraud against the Government,’” Alito wrote.
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See also Waller Lansden bulletin

Allison Engine Co. v. United States ex rel. Sanders, No. 07-214 (U.S. June 9, 2008).