§ 631. Prohibition; penalties

(a) No person shall:

(1) knowingly present, or cause to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval;

(2) knowingly make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim;

(3) knowingly present, or cause to be presented, a claim that includes items or services resulting from a violation of 13 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 21 or section 1128B of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1320a-7b;

(4) knowingly present, or cause to be presented, a claim that includes items or services for which the State could not receive payment from the federal government due to the operation of 42 U.S.C. § 1396b(s) because the claim includes designated health services (as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1395nn(h)(6)) furnished to an individual on the basis of a referral that would result in the denial of payment under 42 U.S.C. chapter 7, subchapter XVIII (the “Medicare program”), due to a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1395nn;

(5) having possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or to be used, by the State, knowingly deliver, or cause to be delivered to the State or its agent, less than all of that property or money for which the person receives a certificate or receipt;

(6) being authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used, or to be used, by the State or its agent and, intending to defraud the State, make or deliver the receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;

(7) knowingly buy, or receive as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from an officer or employee of the State, who lawfully may not sell or pledge the property;

(8) enter into a written agreement or contract with an official of the State or its agent knowing the information contained in the agreement or contract is false;

(9) knowingly make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the State;

(10) knowingly conceal or knowingly and improperly avoid or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the State;

(11) as a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim to the State, or as a beneficiary of an overpayment from the State, and who subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim or the receipt of overpayment, fail to disclose the false claim or receipt of overpayment to the State by the later of:

(A) a date that is 120 days after the date on which the false claim or receipt of overpayment was identified; or

(B) the date any corresponding cost report is due, if applicable; or

(12) conspire to commit a violation of this subsection.

(b) Any person who violates a provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be liable to the State for:

(1) a civil penalty of not less than $5,500.00 and not more than $11,000.00 for each act constituting a violation of subsection (a) of this section, as adjusted by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. § 2461);

(2) three times the amount of damages that the State sustains because of the act of that person; and

(3) the costs of the investigation and prosecution of such violation.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section, the Court may enter judgment for not less than two times the amount of damages that the State sustains because of the act of that person, and assessing no civil penalties, if the Court finds that:

(1) the person committing the violation of subsection (a) of this section furnished officials of the State responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to that person about the violation within 30 days after the date on which the person first obtained the information;

(2) the person fully cooperated with any investigation by the State of such violation; and

(3) at the time the person furnished the State with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced under this subchapter with respect to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into the violation.

(d) This chapter shall not apply to claims, records, or statements made or presented to establish, limit, reduce, or evade liability for the payment of tax to the State or other governmental authority. (Added 2015, No. 25, § 1, eff. May 18, 2015; amended 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 457, eff. July 1, 2022.)