Montana Code 17-8-403. False claims — procedures — penalties
17-8-403. False claims — procedures — penalties. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person is liable to a governmental entity for a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 for each act specified in this section, plus three times the amount of damages that a governmental entity sustains, along with expenses, costs, and attorney fees, if the person:
Terms Used In Montana Code 17-8-403
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Claim: includes any request or demand for money, property, or services, whether made pursuant to a contract and regardless of whether a governmental entity holds title to the money or property, that is made to:
(a)an employee, officer, agent, or other representative of a governmental entity; or
(b)a contractor, grantee, or other person, whether under contract or not, if any portion of the money, property, or services requested or demanded is to be spent or used on a governmental entity's behalf or to advance a governmental program or interest and if the governmental entity:
(i)provides or has provided any portion of the money, property, or services requested or demanded; or
(ii)will reimburse a contractor, grantee, or other person for any portion of the money, property, or services requested or demanded. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Government attorney: means the attorney general except for complaints involving a unit of the university system. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Governmental entity: means :
(a)the state;
(b)a city, town, county, school district, tax or assessment district, or other political subdivision of the state; or
(c)a unit of the Montana university system. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Knowingly: means that a person, with respect to information, does any of the following:
(i)has actual knowledge of the information;
(ii)acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or
(iii)acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Material: means having a natural tendency to influence or be capable of influencing the payment or receipt of money, property, or services. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Obligation: means an established duty, whether fixed or not, arising from:
(a)an express or implied contractual, grantor-grantee, or licensor-licensee relationship;
(b)a fee-based or similar relationship;
(c)a statute or regulation; or
(d)the retention of any overpayment. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Person: includes any natural person, corporation, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business, trust, or other legal or business entity. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
- Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- State: means the state of Montana. See Montana Code 17-8-402
- Willfully: when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted, means a purpose or willingness to commit the act or make the omission referred to. See Montana Code 1-1-204
(a)knowingly presents or causes to be presented a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval;
(b)knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim;
(c)conspires to commit a violation of this subsection (1);
(d)has possession, custody, or control of public property or money used or to be used by the governmental entity and knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered less than all of the property or money;
(e)is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used or to be used by the governmental entity and, with the intent to defraud the governmental entity or to willfully conceal the property, makes or delivers a receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;
(f)knowingly buys or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt public property of the governmental entity from any person who may not lawfully sell or pledge the property;
(g)knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to a governmental entity or knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to a governmental entity; or
(h)as a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false or fraudulent claim to the governmental entity, subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim or that the claim is fraudulent and fails to disclose the false or fraudulent claim to the governmental entity within a reasonable time after discovery of the false or fraudulent claim.
(2)In a civil action brought under 17-8-405 or 17-8-406, a court shall assess a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 for each act specified in this section, plus not less than two times and not more than three times the amount of damages that a governmental entity sustains if the court finds all of the following:
(a)The person committing the act furnished the government attorney with all information known to that person about the act within 30 days after the date on which the person first obtained the information.
(b)The person fully cooperated with any investigation of the act by the government attorney.
(c)At the time that the person furnished the government attorney with information about the act, a criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had not been commenced with respect to the act and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into the act.
(3)A person who violates the provisions of this section is also liable to the governmental entity for the expenses, costs, and attorney fees of the civil action brought to recover the penalty or damages.
(4)Liability under this section is joint and several for any act committed by two or more persons.
(5)This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made in relation to claims filed with the state compensation insurance fund under Title 39, chapter 71, or to claims, records, payments, or statements made under the tax laws contained in Title 15 or 16 or made to the department of natural resources and conservation under Title 77.
(6)(a) A court shall dismiss an action or claim brought under 17-8-406, unless opposed by the governmental entity or unless the action is brought by the government attorney or the person who is the original source of the information, if substantially the same allegations or transactions alleged in the action or claim were publicly disclosed in:
(i)a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing in which the governmental entity or an agent of the governmental entity is a party;
(ii)a state legislative, state auditor, or other governmental entity report, hearing, audit, or investigation; or
(iii)the news media.
(b)The production of a record pursuant to Article II, section 9, of the Montana constitution or 2-6-1003 is not a public disclosure for purposes of this section.
(c)For purposes of this subsection (6), “original source” means an individual who:
(i)prior to a public disclosure, voluntarily disclosed to the governmental entity the information on which the allegations or transactions in a claim are based; or
(ii)has knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations and transactions and voluntarily provided the information to the governmental entity before filing an action.
(7)A person may not file a complaint or civil action brought under 17-8-406 against the state or an officer or employee of the state arising from conduct by the officer or employee within the scope of the officer’s or employee’s duties to the state unless the officer or employee has a financial interest in the conduct upon which the complaint or civil action arises.
(8)The amount of the civil penalty set forth in subsections (1) and (2) must be adjusted for inflation in a manner consistent with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, Public Law 101-410.
(9)If a governmental entity does not intervene, the person who initiated the action has the same right to conduct the action as the government attorney would have had if the governmental entity had intervened, including the right to inspect government records and interview officers and employees of the governmental entity.