Qui tam is a term lawyers use to refer to the number of whistleblower protection laws for people who alert the government to fraud or corruption. Qui tam is short for the Latin expression “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro seipse,” which translates to “he who sues for the king as for himself.” In essence a qui tam suit is pursued by a private individual on behalf of the government in order to prevent misuse of funding and finances.

A great deal of qui tam lawsuits in the past were organized by private individuals against defense contractors who participate in questionable business activities, but more recently these type of lawsuits have been brought against a number of other institutions including health care practitioners. Many of these investigations involve home health industries, accounting issues, and acute-care hospitals.

There are several types of cases that are filed as qui tam actions. One of the most common types of cases filed is the mischarging case. Mischarging cases generally involve filing false claims for goods and services that were never provided or delivered. A very common mischarging situation is employee labor charged to a government contract not worked on. Other common schemes are claims made to the government for medical services performed by a physician when the service was actually performed by a nurse or other healthcare provider that should have been billed at a much lower rate.

Yet another type of qui tam case is the false negotiation or defective pricing that involves the submission of false cost and pricing data to the government. This takes place during the negotiation of a contract that subsequently results in an inflated contract price. Other cases involve product and service substitution such as falsely certifying that a product meets specifications and false testing schemes certifying the reliability of an unreliable product.

Becoming one of the noble people who take it upon themselves to act on behalf of their country is not easy, and most likely you will need assistance finding the resources and protection from those who would persecute you for your integrity. People who act on behalf of their nation and country can even be entitled to a part of the settlement, generally 10 to 30% of the settlement. Do it for yourself, and do it for your country. Contact a professional attorney at Qui tam law firms such as Tycko & Zavareei LLP. This firm represents individual whistleblowers who expose fraud by bringing suits against companies that have committed fraud on federal, state or local governments.

The attorneys at Tycko & Zavareei LLP are top graduates of top law schools, and have years of experience in a wide range of cases. The litigators are dedicated to providing you with intelligent, creative, and aggressive representation. Although based in Washington, D.C., Tycko & Zavareei LLP routinely handles large and complex matters in courts throughout the country.

To learn how Tycko & Zavareei LLP can help you bring your whistleblower case, please visit the firm’s web site FraudFighters.net which is devoted to fighting fraud against the government. It provides basic information about the federal False Claims Act, and other similar laws that encourage whistleblowers to expose fraud against the government, and that provide legal protections to those whistleblowers.

Qui tam is a very successful tool in combating fraud. This law arms private citizens with direct knowledge of fraud with a weapon to prosecute government contractors and others defrauding the government and to share in the monetary recovery.