What happens when Whistleblowers Violate The Seal in qui tam cases? Recently, two relators in Georgia found out the hard way: they were lucky to get away with paying a penalty of only $1.61 million for their indiscretions.
Frustrated by the Government’s slow investigation of their allegations, the relators contacted Fox News and shared confidential information with the news organization. Once the defendant found out that the relators had broken the seal order of the court, it sought to get the relators dismissed completely from the case. (Such results are rare but not unheard of in False Claims Act cases.). That would have cost them the entire $43,161,500 they were slated to receive for pursuing a successful non-intervention case against Wells Fargo for allegedly defrauding the Veterans’ Administration by overcharging on closing costs for residential mortgages for veterans.
The lesson here is a simple one: do not discuss your case with anyone other than your attorney because loose lips can cost you $ millions.
For more on this case see: United States ex rel. Bibby v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 636 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 5, 2015)
