Eleventh Circuit Rules Qui Tam Relator Barred From Forfeiture Case

The False Claims Act (FCA) allows the government to pursue any "alternate remedy available" if the government chooses not to intervene in a qui tam action. See 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(5). However, if the government pursues an "alternate remedy," the FCA gives the qui tam plaintiff the "same rights" in the "alternate" proceeding that the plaintiff would have had if the qui tam action "had continued." Id. In U.S. v. Couch et al., the question before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was whether the FCA allows a qui tam plaintiff to intervene in a criminal forfeiture proceeding when the government chooses to prosecute fraud rather than intervene in the qui tam plaintiff's action. No. 17-13402 (Oct. 17, 2018). The Eleventh Circuit held that criminal forfeiture law bars qui tam plaintiffs from intervening in related forfeiture proceedings.