Types of Fraud

Any form of defrauding the government by overcharging for goods and services or supplying poor quality items to fulfill a contract may qualify under the False Claims Act. Advising the government pays up to 25 percent of the amount recovered to the whistleblower.

Healthcare Providers

Unusual billing or overbilling Medicare or Medicaid not only raises the cost of health insurance but serves to misrepresent the actual cost of health care in our country. Duplicate or lengthy billing statements are two ways that healthcare providers bill for more than their customary rate and often times get paid for services they didn’t provide.

Drug Companies

Medications can vary in price from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars for the same drug; the only difference is the brand name. Big drug companies operate for profit. Ask the pharmacist if there are generic forms of the medications needed.

Pharmacists may notice that particular doctors are prescribing name brand medications when just as effective, generic brands are available. This behavior of writing prescriptions for overpriced medications may be an indication of kick-backs or other fraudulent behavior between the doctors and the drug companies.

Medical Equipment Suppliers

Home healthcare brings many patients home to be cared for by loved ones which is a meaningful time for families. There is also the opportunity for unscrupulous medical equipment suppliers to provide lesser quality items for higher prices. Fraudulent suppliers may know that the family isn’t familiar with the expected quality of particular items and will substitute for lesser quality or faulty items.

Defense Contractors

Defending freedom comes at a price, but deceitful defense suppliers use the opportunity to overcharge for any and everything ordered by the government. Everyone has heard stories of the $100 toilet seat or the $500 hammer. Defense spending is so big that it’s difficult for the government to check on all the invoices that come through the finance departments.

Financial Industries

The housing and banking financial disasters recently caused the greatest slowdown in the global economy since the Great Depression. As the U.S. struggles to move forward, crooked businessmen employ deceptive practices that ultimately cost the government millions of dollars. Ethics in business is an essential quality needed to improve the economy. If a financial practice seems too good to be true or absolutely incredible, it deserves a closer look to determine if it is indeed ethical and legal.

Tax Fraud

Taxes are the government’s income. It’s a basic reaction to not like taxes, but they are essential for providing public service. The more taxpayers cheat on their taxes, the higher the tax bill for the honest citizen. Sometimes, a cheater will boast about how much was deceptively kept off the tax bill. Without paying a fair share, the cheater is stealing from the government and the public.

Fraud on Government Contracts

When the government needs a service, a service provider is contacted, a purchase order generated and projected service amount needed is fit into the budget. As the service is provided, the provider generates invoices. The finance department pays the invoices up to the maximum budgeted amount allowed by the contract. The government trusts that the service provider will bill for only services provided at the regular rate of business.

Fraud in this area includes special increased rates on services provided or billed hours more than the actual time spent on a particular project. This type of fraud is usually noticed by accounting staff as the unusual amounts stand out from regular billing practices.