Qui tam allows a citizen to file a lawsuit on behalf of the government and share in the money recovered.
It is a shortened form of the Latin phrase:
Qui tam laws have a long history in England. The earliest written record of their use dates from the Middle Ages.
Under King Edward II, a law dating from 1318 stated that "...no officer in City or in Borough...shall merchandise for Wines ... And if any do, and be thereof convict, the Merchandize whereof he is convict shall be forfeit to the King, and the third part thereof shall be delivered to the Party that sued the Offender, as the King's Gift..."1
When colonists came to America they brought the concept of qui tam along with them.
In the colony of Massachussets, the law stated that "penalties for fraud in the sale of bread [are] to be distributed one third to inspector who discovered the fraud and the remainder for the benefit of the town where the offense occurred."2
Qui tam as we know it today is a result of the False Claims Act.
Passed under President Abraham Lincoln to combat corrupt war profiteers, the Act is also known as the "Lincoln Law."
During the Civil War, shady contactors supplied the Union with subpar clothing and equipment, including faulty rifles and decrepit mules.3
President Lincoln spoke out against those who would jeopardize the safety of Union soldiers for their own financial gain:
"Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the nation while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains of the south and their countrymen are moldering in the dust."
- Abraham Lincoln4
In 1943, Congress passed amendmants curtailing the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.
The amendmants greatly decreased the private citizen's share of the recovered money. It also increased the government's power to intervene and take over a case brought by a citizen.5
Amidst growing concerns about the the national debt, Congress moved to reinvigorate qui tam provisions, increasing both penalties and the citizen's share in the money recovered.
A 1985 government report noted that "9 of the top 10 [largest defense contractors] were under investigation for multiple fraud offenses" and estimated that "fraud against the Government could be costing taxpayers anywhere from $10 to $100 billion annually."6
Qui tam provisions continue to play a vital role in safeguarding taxpayers' money and reducing the national debt. Since the 1986 strengthening of the False Claims Act, qui tam provisions have helped recover more than $27 billion in taxpayer money.7
The provisions' effectiveness in combating defense and healthcare fraud led to their expansion in the 2010 financial reform package.9
As health care spending has grown in proportion to the federal budget, qui tam provisions have proven an essential tool in controlling health care costs. In 2010, the government collaborated with whistleblowers to recover $2.5 billion in health care fraud, the largest such recovery in history.8
High profile cases of financial fraud, such as the uncovery of the Ponzi scheme operated by Bernie Madoff, have led the government to expand qui tam provisions beyond government contracts into the private financial sector.10
1) From the Statutes of the Realm, 12 Edward II, Ch. 6 (1318), 177-178. As quoted in Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes by Charles Doyle for the Congressional Research Service (2009), 2.
2) From the Colonial Laws of Massachussets (1686). As quoted in Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes by Charles Doyle for the Congressional Research Service (2009), 3.
3, 4) From Bad Mules: A Primer on the Federal and Michigan False Claims Acts by David L Haron, Mercedes Varasteb Dordeski and Larry D. Labman in the Michigan Bar Journal (Nov. 2009), 22.
5) From Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes by Charles Doyle for the Congressional Research Service (2009), 6-7.
6) From Senate Report No. 99-345 (1986). As quoted in Qui Tam: The False Claims Act and Related Federal Statutes by Charles Doyle for the Congressional Research Service (2009), 7.
7, 8) From "Department of Justice Recovers #3 Billion in False Claims Cases in Fiscal Year 2010" by the Department of Justice (Nov. 22, 2010).
9, 10) From "Financial Reform Law Includes Big Cash Incentives for Whistle-Blowers" by David Savage in the Los Angeles Times (Jul. 23, 2010).