ALLISON ENGINE COMPANY, INC., et al. v. UNITED STATES ex rel. ROGER L. SANDERS AND ROGER L. THACKER (553 U.S. 662)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 9, 2008 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 553 U.S. 662 · 128 S. Ct. 2123
- Decided
- June 9, 2008
- Term
- October Term 2007
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. The False Claims Act (FCA) imposes civil liability on any person who knowingly uses a “false record or statement to get a false or fraudulent claim paid or approved by the Government,” 31 U. S. C. § 3729(a)(2), and any person who “conspires to defraud the Government by getting a false or fraudulent claim allowed or paid,” § 3729(a)(3). We granted review in this case to decide what a plaintiff asserting a claim under these provisions must show regarding the relationship between the making of a “false record or statement” and the payment or approval of “a false or fraudulent claim ... by the Government.” Contrary to the decision of the Court of Appeals below, we hold that it is insufficient for a plaintiff asserting a § 3729(a)(2) claim to show merely that “[t]he false statement’s use . . . resulted] in obtaining or getting payment or approval of the claim,” 471 F. 3d 610, 621 (CA6 2006), or that “government money was used to pay the false or fraudulent claim,” id., at 622. Instead, a plaintiff asserting a § 3729(a)(2) claim must prove that the defendant intended that the false record or statement be material to the Government’s decision to pay or approve the false claim. Similarly, a plaintiff asserting a claim under § 3729(a)(3) must show that the conspirators agreed to make use of the false record or statement to achieve this…
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