National Report General Service Administration (GSA) Fraud Day takes place annually on March 6 in the U.S. The day draws the public’s attention to the amount of fraud committed against the G.S.A. government program. It also emphasizes the need for whistleblowers and educates the people on how to claim a substantial reward for reporting G.S.A. fraud. About 10% of the U.S. government spending is lost due to fraud, summing up to $350 billion annually. G.S.A. import fraud is difficult to detect by the G.S.A., creating a need for whistleblowers. “Joel Hesch,” a former U.S. Department of Justice Attorney, started this holiday for the same purpose.
The U.S. Congress amended the False Claims Act in 1986 to encourage whistleblowers to come forward with allegations of fraud. The False Claims Act, also called the “Lincoln Law,” is an American federal law that holds people and organizations responsible for defrauding government programs. Whistleblower provisions in 2009 and 2010 further improved the False Claims Act. On July 21, 2010, Congress established the Whistleblower Program to provide monetary incentives to people who come forward and disclose probable violations of federal securities laws to the S.E.C.
“Joel Hesch,” a whistleblower attorney who spent over 15 years working in the Department of Justice whistleblower reward office, created National Report GSA Fraud Day in 2018. He established the day to help stamp out fraud. In a short but detailed video, he spoke about the holiday, its purpose, and how to celebrate the event. Hesch also created his law firm devoted to helping whistleblowers get the government result they deserve. Hesch has written two free e-books to aid the public with information on how to help eliminate fraud. One book addresses typical Medicare fraud schemes, while the other lectures about fraud against the military, homeland security, and other agencies and teaches people how to report these types of fraud.
Whistleblowers helped the U.S. government recover $2.2 billion in settlements and judgments in legal litigation against the government for fraud and false claims.
