U.S. Supreme Court Ends 18 Year Long False Claims Act Case On US$74.3M Loans for Nigerian Government

U.S. Supreme Court ends 18 year long False Claims Act case in favor of MWI



WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the longest running False Claims Act (FCA) cases in the history of that law came to an abrupt end today after 18 years and 136 days when the United States Supreme Court rejected the relator's petition for a writ of certiorari. Earlier, on September 19, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) declined to file a petition for a writ of certiorari to seek Supreme Court review of an adverse decision (against the government and in favor of Moving Water Industries (MWI) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit), effectively ending their pursuit of the case against MWI. On November 21, 2016 DoJ filed an opposition brief in the Supreme Court which concluded by arguing that "The [relator's] petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied".

On November 24, 2015, the D.C. Circuit issued a unanimous opinion in the case of U.S. ex rel. Purcell v. MWI Corporation, 807 F.3d 281 (D.C. Cir. 2015), reversing a judgment of liability on two FCA counts against MWI and remanding the case with instructions to the District Court to enter judgment for MWI. The D.C. Circuit decisively held that there can be no FCA violation where the law or regulation at issue is ambiguous, where defendant's interpretation of the language is reasonable, and where the agency at issue (the Export-Import Bank of the United States or "Ex-Im" failed to issue any authoritative or official guidance to warn the defendant away from a different interpretation, however reasonable. On June 21, 2016, the Court denied DoJ's petition for rehearing as well as its petition for rehearing en banc, and on August 18, 2016, the District Court entered judgment for MWI Corporation, effectively exonerating it from any wrongdoing.

The Government's case against MWI began on August 27, 1998, when a former MWI employee filed a complaint under seal in Washington, DC, under the qui tam (whistleblower) provisions of the FCA. The allegations in the complaint related to eight Ex-Im-financed sales by MWI to seven Nigerian states, which sales began in 1990 with all shipments completed by 1995. Grand jury proceedings then commenced into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, but those proceedings concluded in early 2002 with no indictment. At that time, the former employee's civil FCA complaint was unsealed and DoJ elected to intervene, seeking treble statutory damages amounting to $222.9 million. DoJ knew at that time that: (i) the $74.3 million Export-Import Bank loans had been repaid in full by the Government of Nigeria and (ii) the United States Government had actually received $33.7 million in interest and fees on the transa

Read full report on
https://nigeriansreportng..com.ng/2017/01/us-supreme-court-ends-18-year-long.html?m=1

am not understanding

casttlebarbz:
am not understanding

Read the complete report on the case.