The penalties in a qui tam case can be extraordinary. The Federal False Claims Act allows for treble damages, or three (3) times what the government paid for each false claim and a per claim penalty of a minimum of $11,462 and a maximum of $23,331 per claim. In New York state, the per claim penalty amount is between $6,000 and $12,000. As such, the penalties associated with a qui tam case can be extremely high.
