False Claims Act Relator

A False Claims Act relator is a person who, as a qui tam plaintiff, brings a False Claims Act case on behalf of the government. A False Claims Act relator is also called a whistleblower. He or she is the person who brings the facts and claims of fraud to the government.

A False Claims Act relator can be an employee, a customer, an unrelated party, a competitor, or any other person or entity that learns about government billing or claim fraud.

Often current employees have the best "view" of a scheme to defraud the government. These individuals have the ability to see such a scheme first hand and typically are familiar with the claims and billing process. Competitors may suspect a billing scheme is being perpetrated by another company because of pricing differentials or from information received from disgruntled employees. It is also not unusual for former employees to report a scheme to defraud. In all cases, it is important that the whistleblower be the "original source" of the information; i.e., that the information is not publicly known or known to the government in advance.