Federal officials said that the record-setting number of whistleblower False Claims Act cases filed in 2024 was likely driven by COVID-19-related fraud, with the use of data mining having an outsized role in those cases.
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Blank Rome LLP partner Jennifer Short, who represents FCA defendants, raised concerns that those "data mining relators" often ignored context such as the rapidly changing nature of pandemic relief program laws and rules during the early stages of COVID-19, which led to "good faith mistakes" by businesses that had no intent to defraud the government.
"They can see the dots," she said. "They can see here's a transaction, here's a business that holds itself out on its website as this. They can see those dots, but to make out an FCA violation, you have to be able to connect those dots in a way that conforms with the elements of the False Claims Act."
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"COVID Fraud Drove Record FCA Caseload, Gov't Officials Say," by Daniel Wilson was published in Law360 on February 20, 2025.
