Fraud By The Numbers

Fraud By The Numbers Series

  • The VA: The Civilian Agency with the Most Procurement Dollars at Stake – and a Fraud Problem

    In earlier Fraud by the Numbers, we have reviewed the U.S. Government’s own procurement data, to examine how taxpayer dollars are allocated across agencies and procurement priorities. After all, it’s the government money flowing to these agencies that attracts fraud.   Using the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) annual snapshot, we have analyzed: – Drug Procurement (reporting…

  • The Need for Whistleblowers in Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

    The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2020 created a whistleblower reward program for individuals who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, the primary anti-money laundering law in the United States. The program, administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has been in effect since January 1, 2021. The AMLA specified that the whistleblower…

  • Cybersecurity and Government Contracts: What You Should Know as a Whistleblower

    If you’ve worked for a company that holds federal contracts, especially in tech, healthcare, or defense, you might be surprised to learn that cybersecurity failures can be considered fraud against the government. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is actively investigating and settling cases where companies misrepresented their cybersecurity practices. This growing area of enforcement…

  • Battling Tax Fraud When State Revenues Are Decimated: Whistleblowers Are the Solution

    States are currently facing significant fiscal challenges, with tax revenues weakening through late 2024 and into fiscal year 2025. This downturn is marked by notable declines in corporate income taxes and sluggish sales-tax growth. These trends, coupled with federal policy shifts and significant changes to federal tax policy under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” are…

  • $137 Billion: The Amount Medicare Spends on Prescription Drugs Annually

    Federal and state governments spend an enormous amount of their resources on prescription drugs. $137 billion, or roughly 1/6th of the Medicare budget, which pays for everything from major surgeries to nursing homes to dialysis, goes to cover pharmaceuticals. That doesn’t take into account the drug co-pays from Medicare beneficiaries, what state Medicaid programs spend…

  • Kickbacks and Stark Act Self-Referral Violations Continue to Be Key Focus Areas for Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

    Healthcare fraud generates the bulk of the Government’s recoveries under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In fiscal year 2024, for example, $1.67 billion of the $2.9 billion in FCA recoveries obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) were from healthcare fraud cases. Kickback and physician self-referral arrangements that violate the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”)[1] and the…

  • FY 2024 at the IRS Whistleblower Office: Improved Processing Times, the Third Highest Awards Total, and More

    The IRS Whistleblower Office published their annual fiscal year (“FY”) report for 2024. Since the whistleblower program began in 2007, the agency has collected $7.37 billion as a result of whistleblower tips. FY 2024 saw an increase in award totals, but an overall decrease in the number of awards. In FY 2024, the Whistleblower Office…

  • The Power of Private Equity Versus Enforcement: Whistleblowers Can Bridge the Gap

    Over the past decade, private equity (PE) firms have dramatically increased their presence in the U.S. economy, including in critical sectors like healthcare and government procurement that involve millions of dollars in taxpayer funds. This expansion, driven by the pursuit of new revenue streams and operational efficiencies, has reshaped these industries. However, alongside this growth,…

  • Whistleblowers Can Reverse the Decline in Defense FCA Cases

    Each year in Fraud by the Numbers, we have lamented the historic decline in defense contracting False Claims Act (FCA) cases. It’s an ironic trend given the FCA’s origin as a means of fighting fraud by military contractors in the Civil War. In 2024, the federal government recovered about $93 million in Department of Defense…

  • SEC Individual Charges

    This installment of the Fraud by the Numbers series, we turn to the latest U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) statistics on enforcement actions against individuals. For those who are unfamiliar, the SEC provides a link specific to actions against individuals (aka SEC Action Lookup – Individuals (SALI)). Like other U.S. Government Agencies, including the U.S.…