Federal Coronavirus Spending and the False Claims Act: A Gathering Storm
We are “at war” with the coronavirus, and the country has increasingly adopted a quasi-wartime crisis footing. While people are doing everything they can to save their businesses, it’s important to make sure they are setting themselves up for success by thinking about how their current actions may be viewed post-pandemic. Both individuals and businesses should assume that the actions taken in the midst of the current pressure cooker will later be scrutinized by whistleblowers and plaintiff’s lawyers with the luxury of time and hindsight. As always, applicants for federal funds or participants in sales to federal programs must carefully navigate issues that could arise later, including any and all representations they make about their eligibility for such programs, or, for providers of goods or services, the potential for claims around appropriateness of reimbursements, including price gouging.
