Grassley Reform Credited with Recovering More Than $53 Billion Lost to Fraud

More than $4.7 Billion in Taxpayer Funds Recouped from Fraudsters in 2016 Alone

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley’s False Claims Act reforms helped the federal government recover more than $4.7 billion from fraudsters in fiscal 2016, according to a Justice Department announcement today. That brings the total amount of taxpayer dollars recovered from fraud since Grassley’s reforms to more than $53.1 billion.

“Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone in our efforts to protect taxpayers against fraud. The False Claims Act is the single most effective tool to recovering taxpayer dollars lost to fraudsters who exploit the government.  It encourages whistleblowers to raise the alarm when they encounter unscrupulous actors and prevent further government waste. And it is clearly working.  For those who doubt the value of whistleblowers and the False Claims Act, when it comes to fraud against the government, I’d say at least $53 billion, and counting,” Grassley said.

The False Claims Act was enacted to prosecute fraud against taxpayers by unscrupulous companies and government contractors.  Grassley, the current Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, authored reforms to the False Claims Act in 1986 to encourage whistleblowers to come forward with information involving such fraud. In the last decade, the government has clawed back an average of $3.4 billion annually, thanks in large part, to Grassley’s qui tam provisions, which allow whistleblowers to share in the government’s recovery.  Many of the recoveries were initiated by whistleblowers who took advantage of Grassley’s provisions allowing them to bring their own case on the government’s behalf.

Grassley also led an effort in 2009 to pass the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act, which bolstered existing tools and resources for government investigators and prosecutors to combat fraud. 

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