Pandemic-related fraud and false claims remain a high priority for the Department of Justice (DOJ). Despite low recoveries in federal fiscal year 2023 in the area of COVID-19 related fraud, DOJ is celebrating its COVID-19 enforcement achievements and vowing to stay the course. On April 9, Attorney General Merrick Garland released DOJ’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s 2024 report, detailing task force efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in pandemic relief programs.

Per DOJ, since the Task Force’s inception nearly three years ago, it has recovered more than $1.4 billion in misused pandemic relief funds and other COVID-related monies. Within total recoveries, DOJ reported more than 400 civil settlements and judgments.

Congress, for its part, has proposed to invest more than a billion dollars to bolster pandemic-related enforcement efforts. Senate Democrats have collaborated with the White House to propose a $1.3 billion legislative package to strengthen the Government’s anti-fraud and recovery efforts. Modeled after a White House budget request, the proposal includes allocating $300 million to expand the investigative and prosecutorial capabilities of DOJ’s COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force. The proposal would allocate another $250 million to empower agency Inspectors General—including IG Offices within the Small Business Administration and the Department of Labor—and would fund long-term investigator hiring.

Additionally, the proposed legislation includes a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting pandemic-era fraud to 10 years. Garland noted that the extension, if passed, would ensure “investigators and prosecutors have both enough time and enough resources to identify, investigate and prosecute the criminals who stole billions in pandemic relief dollars.”

Grantees, contractors, and others who received pandemic relief funds—and any other COVID-related funding or reimbursements—would do well to make sure their house is in order before the Feds come knocking. Organized recordkeeping and the preservation of essential documents are key to assuring a prompt and effective response to enforcement activity. Keeping in mind that the statute of limitations may be extended, entities should enact policies that mandate preserving documents relating to pandemic-relief funding for at least ten years. Bottom line: entities should be prepared to demonstrate their entitlement to, and appropriate use, of all federal funding—even that obtained during the pandemic’s chaotic early days.

Subpoenas and Civil Investigative Demands are often time-sensitive. The federal civil False Claims Act, the DOJ’s primary anti-fraud tool, authorizes DOJ to issue a CID requiring the productions of documents, written interrogatories, and/or oral testimony transcribed by a court reporter. The FCA allows DOJ to require that documents and other written responses be produced within twenty days. Witnesses must be produced within seven. While DOJ attorneys will often permit a longer time to respond to such requests, advanced preparation will save significant time in collecting relevant materials and information and mounting a strong defense.

If you have any questions regarding False Claims Act investigations, please contact our Enforcement Insider Editors Rosie Dawn Griffin (rgriffin@feldesman.com) and Mindy B. Pava (mpava@feldesman.com) or call 202.466.8960. Be sure to also check out our Enforcement Insider blog to stay up to date on the latest enforcement actions and court decisions of interest to federal grantees.