2010 Tennessee Code
Title 4 - State Government
Chapter 18 - False Claims
4-18-103 - Liability for violations.

4-18-103. Liability for violations.

(a)  Any person who commits any of the following acts shall be liable to the state or to the political subdivision for three (3) times the amount of damages that the state or the political subdivision sustains because of the act of that person. A person who commits any of the following acts shall also be liable to the state or to the political subdivision for the costs of a civil action brought to recover any of those penalties or damages, and shall be liable to the state or political subdivision for a civil penalty of not less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) and not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each false claim:

     (1)  Knowingly presents or causes to be presented to an officer or employee of the state or of any political subdivision thereof, a false claim for payment or approval;

     (2)  Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record or statement to get a false claim paid or approved by the state or by any political subdivision;

     (3)  Conspires to defraud the state or any political subdivision by getting a false claim allowed or paid by the state or by any political subdivision;

     (4)  Has possession, custody, or control of public property or money used or to be used by the state or by any political subdivision and knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered less property than the amount for which the person receives a certificate or receipt;

     (5)  Is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used or to be used by the state or by any political subdivision and knowingly makes or delivers a receipt that falsely represents the property used or to be used;

     (6)  Knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from any person who lawfully may not sell or pledge the property;

     (7)  Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record or statement to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the state or to any political subdivision;

     (8)  Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim to the state or a political subdivision, subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim, and fails to disclose the false claim to the state or the political subdivision within a reasonable time after discovery of the false claim; or

     (9)  Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used any false or fraudulent conduct, representation, or practice in order to procure anything of value directly or indirectly from the state or any political subdivision.

(b)  Notwithstanding subsection (a), the court may assess not less than two (2) times nor more than three (3) times the amount of damages that the state or the political subdivision sustains because of the act of the person described in that subsection, and no civil penalty, if the court finds all of the following:

     (1)  The person committing the violation furnished officials of the state or of the political subdivision responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to that person about the violation within thirty (30) days after the date on which the person first obtained the information;

     (2)  The person fully cooperated with any investigation by the state or a political subdivision of the violation; and

     (3)  At the time the person furnished the state or the political subdivision with information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced with respect to the violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into the violation.

(c)  Liability under this section shall be joint and several for any act committed by two (2) or more persons.

(d)  This section does not apply to any controversy involving an amount of less than five hundred dollars ($500) in value. For purposes of this subsection (d), “controversy” means any one (1) or more false claims submitted by the same person in violation of this chapter.

(e)  This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made pursuant to workers' compensation claims.

(f)  This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made under any statute applicable to any tax administered by the department of revenue.

[Acts 2001, ch. 367, § 3; 2003, ch. 418, § 4.]