New York, New York. January 19, 2006.  Despite limited media exposure, New York City recently enacted a local False Claims Act (FCA).  New York City is now one of at least sixteen states or municipalities which have passed laws to protect local governments from contractor fraud.  These laws are modeled directly after the federal False Claims Act.

The New York City FCA not only provides for financial penalties, but it also encourages whistleblowers to expose fraud by permitting successful plaintiffs to obtain awards up to as much as 30% of funds they help recover.

Stephen M. Kohn, Chairman of the Board of Director’s for the National Whistleblowers Center stated, “Enacting municipal False Claims Acts is fast becoming a vital and powerful tool in protecting taxpayers from fraud.  Since the federal government passed the first FCA, the taxpayers have recovered billions of dollars from fraudulent federal contractors.  It is time for state and local governments to follow this very successful precedent.”  The National Whistleblowers Center strongly urges any person who suspects such misconduct to confidentially report the fraud through the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Report Fraud Now program.