§ 2399b. False claims and ineligible commodities
(a)
Penalties; costs
Any person who makes or causes to be made or presents or causes to be presented to any bank or other financial institution or to any officer, agent, or employee of any agency of the United States Government a claim for payment from funds made available under this chapter for the purposes of furnishing assistance and who knows the claim to be false, fraudulent, or fictitious or to cover a commodity or commodity-related service determined by the President to be ineligible for payment from funds made available under this chapter, or who uses to support his claim any certification, statement, or entry on any contract, abstract, bill of lading, Government or commercial invoice, or Government form, which he knows, or in the exercise of prudent business management should know, to contain false, fraudulent, or fictitious information, or who uses or engages in any other fraudulent trick, scheme, or device for the purpose of securing or obtaining, or aiding to secure or obtain, for any person any benefit or payment from funds so made available under this chapter in connection with the negotiation, procurement, award, or performance of a contract financed with funds so made available under this chapter, and any person who enters into an agreement, combination, or conspiracy so to do,
(1)
shall pay to the United States an amount equal to 25 per centum of any amount thereby sought to be wrongfully secured or obtained but not actually received, and
(2)
shall forfeit and refund any payment, compensation, loan, commission, or advance received as a result thereof, and
(3)
shall, in addition, pay to the United States for each such act
(b)
Recovery of penalties; procedure; finality of withholding of funds; recovery of withheld funds; limitation period
In order to secure recovery under this section, the President may, as he deems appropriate,
(1)
institute suit in the United States district court for any judicial district in which the person alleged to have performed or participated in an act described by this section may reside or may be found, and
(2)
upon posting by registered mail to such person a notice of claim describing the basis therefor and identifying the funds to be withheld, withhold from funds owed by any agency of the United States Government to such person an amount equal to the refund, damages, liquidated damages, and exemplary damages claimed by the United States under this section. Any such withholding of funds from any person shall constitute a final determination of the rights and liabilities of such person under this section with respect to the amount so withheld, unless within one year of receiving the notice of claim such person brings suit for recovery, which is hereby authorized, against the United States in any United States district court.
(c)
“Person” defined
For purposes of this section, the term “person” includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity.