The legal field contains Latin terms, such as Qui Tam, a provision in the US False Claims Act. It is the shortened form of a Latin phrase that means "who sues on behalf of the King as well as for themselves."

This lawsuit is a legal action where one person who aids the federal government in prosecution (that is, whistleblowers) is rewarded. The point of a qui tam action is to encourage private citizens to join the government in enforcing the law. This article contains all you need to know about filing a qui tam lawsuit in South Carolina.

Fraudulent actions can result in a qui tam lawsuit, including Medicare and Medicaid fraud. In addition, defense contractor fraud, procurement fraud, and fraudulent COVID relief claims are common types of qui tam lawsuits.

Individuals cannot file a qui tam lawsuit if they were criminally convicted for being involved in the fraud. Also, if there is another suit or the government is already pursuing the case, one cannot file a qui tam lawsuit. To file a qui tam action, the information must be public unless the whistleblower is the original source of the information.

A qui tam lawsuit occurs when the False Claims Act is violated, usually by entities seeking to defraud the federal government. If an individual or company engages in the following conduct, they violate the FCA and will face penalties if found guilty:

If the qui tam lawsuit is successful and the government recovers what it was defrauded of, the whistleblower can receive a reward of up to 30 percent of the recovered amount. However, to get this reward, it is not enough to merely inform the government of the fraud; there must be an official filing.

The False Claims Act has a statute of limitations for filing a qui tam lawsuit, which is six years. A claim must be filed within six years from the day the violation occurred to file the claim. However, in cases where the government is already aware of the fraud, you have three years from the day the government found out.

The False Claims Act's qui tam laws offer anti-retaliation provisions to protect whistleblowers against retaliation from their employers. If a whistleblower is fired or suffers any other kind of retaliation because of the suit, they can sue. The law also allows the whistleblower to sue to win extra damages as well as double back pay.

"Once you have filed a qui tam lawsuit in South Carolina, you need to prove the fraud claim with supporting documentation,' says Attorney Bill Nettles, Attorney at Law. You might want to work with a knowledgeable attorney who will confidently file the lawsuit in a federal district court. As such, no one else will know about it but the government, not even the person you are filing a claim against.