Supreme Court will Review E-Rate False Claims Act Case

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2024 – The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on how much E-Rate participants can be forced to pay as a penalty for submitting inflated reimbursement requests.

At issue was whether reimbursement requests under the Federal Communications Commission program count as “claims” under the False Claims Act, which mandates higher financial penalties against entities that allegedly cheat to obtain government money. The act calls for damages triple the amount of the improperly obtained payments, plus mandatory civil penalties.