Curb Whistleblower Awards? Not in Fraud Cases, Says Senate

An amendment that would have set a $50 million maximum on the amount a whistleblower can collect through a False Claims Act lawsuit was rejected by the Senate in a 31-61 vote on Thursday. The awards can currently reach 30 percent of the total recovered for the government if a judge approves that much. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who authored the 1986 False Claims Act, said whistleblower suits under the law have since recovered $22 billion. The amendment was proposed as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, which would strengthen the government's ability to combat financial fraud.