San Diego False Claims Act Lawyers | CA White Collar Crime Attorneys

San Diego Federal False Claims lawyers and former DOJ prosecutors defending government contractors, healthcare providers, and businesses across San Diego and Southern California against federal fraud investigations.

If you’re on this page, something specific has probably already happened. You received a Civil Investigative Demand. A subpoena arrived from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. An employee left angry, and now you suspect a qui tam lawsuit is sitting under seal. Or an auditor flagged something in a government contract, a Medicare claim, or a wire transfer, and you don’t yet know how serious it is.

Each of those situations has a different starting point, but they share one thing: the earlier a False Claims Act defense lawyer is involved, the more options you have. Below, we walk through what the False Claims Act actually covers, what the penalties look like in 2026, how these investigations tend to unfold in San Diego specifically, and how our team approaches each type of case — government contracting, healthcare, and wire fraud — differently, because they require different expertise.

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What Is the False Claims Act?

The federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729–3733, makes it illegal to knowingly submit — or cause someone else to submit — a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government. It applies broadly: to government contractors billing the Department of Defense, to hospitals and physicians billing Medicare or Medicaid, to businesses that received PPP or SBA funds, and to anyone paid, directly or indirectly, with federal dollars. “Knowingly” includes actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, and reckless disregard for the truth — a company doesn’t need intent to defraud to face liability if it should have known a claim was false.

Most FCA cases in San Diego originate one of two ways: a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit filed under seal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, or a direct government investigation opened by DOJ, HHS-OIG, DCIS, or another federal agency after an audit or data anomaly triggers scrutiny.

Penalties Under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729–3733

Civil and criminal exposure under the FCA is significant, and the civil penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation each year.

• Civil penalties: Treble damages — three times the government’s actual losses — plus a per-claim civil penalty currently set at $14,308 to $28,619 per false claim (2026 figures, unchanged from 2025 under DOJ’s most recent inflation adjustment). In cases involving hundreds or thousands of claims, such as recurring Medicare billing or repeated contract invoices, these per-claim penalties compound quickly, often exceeding the underlying damages.
• Criminal penalties (18 U.S.C. § 287): If the government proves a claim was submitted with actual knowledge of its falsity, the case can proceed criminally, carrying up to five years in federal prison per count, plus fines up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations per false claim.
• Collateral consequences: Beyond fines and damages, contractors face suspension or debarment from future federal work, and healthcare providers face exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid — penalties that often outlast the case itself.

Led Locally by a Former Federal Prosecutor

Carolyn L. Oliver, Of Counsel and our San Diego lead, brings more than 40 years of legal experience to Watson & Associates’ federal white collar defense practice. Before entering private practice, Oliver served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Major Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California — prosecuting the same categories of False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, and government contract fraud cases she now defends. That vantage point matters: she has sat on the government’s side of the table, seen how a case file gets built, and knows which arguments actually move a prosecutor and which ones don’t. Read Carolyn’s full background.

She works alongside a small group of attorneys chosen for the same reason: Theodore Watson, national practice leader and a former federal agency executive admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, who oversees the firm’s False Claims Act and healthcare fraud defense practice nationally. Chris Mancini  brings 45 + years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, including as Deputy Chief of both the Criminal and Civil Divisions, and now supports the firm’s federal civil and criminal defense matters. Robert “Bob” Ayers brings more than 20 years of defending corporate executives and public officials in fraud, bribery, and regulatory matters, with a steady, discreet approach to internal investigations and trial preparation. Wise D. Allen, a former Judge Advocate with international contracting experience, focuses on procurement fraud and False Claims Act defense for government contractors. Together, this team has handled these cases from both sides of the courtroom — which is the advantage clients are actually paying for.

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How a Qui Tam Whistleblower Case Unfolds in San Diego

Most False Claims Act cases begin with a qui tam lawsuit — Latin for “he who sues on behalf of the king as well as himself” — filed by a private individual, called a relator, usually a current or former employee, competitor, or contractor. The complaint is filed under seal in federal court, meaning the target of the lawsuit typically has no idea it exists while the government spends months, sometimes years, investigating before deciding whether to intervene.

That seal period is dangerous precisely because you don’t know it’s happening. Businesses often take entirely ordinary actions — reorganizing a department, terminating an underperforming employee, deleting old files as part of routine data hygiene — that can later be characterized as retaliation or evidence destruction once the case unseals. If you have any reason to suspect a whistleblower complaint may be pending — an employee departure under strange circumstances, a sudden document request, informal questions from a former staff member’s attorney — that is the moment to get counsel involved, not after a subpoena confirms it.

If the government intervenes, it takes over primary prosecution of the case and the relator can receive between 15% and 25% of any recovery. If the government declines to intervene, the relator may still pursue the case independently, usually with a lower likelihood of success, and can receive up to 30% of any recovery. Either path can result in years of litigation, so the decisions made in the first weeks — how documents are preserved, what is said to investigators, whether to engage proactively with DOJ — shape the entire trajectory of the case.

How a False Claims Act Case Typically Moves

1. Case opens — A qui tam lawsuit is filed under seal, or a federal agency opens a direct inquiry after an audit or data anomaly.
2. Investigation — DOJ issues Civil Investigative Demands and subpoenas, and reviews business, billing, and financial records.
3. Government decision — The seal lifts, and DOJ decides whether to intervene and take over prosecution or decline and let the case proceed without it.
4. Resolution — The matter concludes through a negotiated settlement, dismissal, or, in a smaller number of cases, trial.

Government Contractors: False Claims Act Risk Tied to TAA and Buy American Act Compliance

San Diego’s concentration of defense, aerospace, and technology contractors creates a category of False Claims Act exposure that most white collar defense firms simply aren’t built to handle: allegations tied to country-of-origin and domestic-content compliance under the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) and the Buy American Act (BAA).

Under FAR 52.225-5, government contracts covered by the TAA require that delivered products be either wholly made in the U.S. or a TAA-designated country, or “substantially transformed” there into a new article with a distinct name, character, or use (FAR 25.003). The Buy American Act, by contrast, applies a domestic-content cost test to unrestricted supply contracts. Contractors self-certify compliance under both — there is no government inspector checking sourcing before a contract is awarded — which means the burden and the exposure both sit with the contractor. When a supplier quietly shifts manufacturing to a non-compliant country, or a contractor mischaracterizes a component’s domestic content percentage, a previously accurate certification becomes a false one, and every invoice submitted under it becomes a potential false claim.

Beyond TAA and BAA issues, government contract False Claims Act cases in San Diego commonly involve:

• Cost accounting and cost allocation violations under the Cost Accounting Standards.
• Labor charging discrepancies, including mischarging time between contracts or labor categories.
• Small business subcontracting and socioeconomic compliance failures.
• Product substitution — delivering a different or lower-spec item than what was certified.
• Quality control and testing certification issues on defense and aerospace contracts.

These cases are technical, and they reward a defense team that understands both the legal standard and the underlying contract mechanics. Our approach pairs experienced FCA defense counsel with forensic accountants and industry experts to demonstrate good-faith compliance efforts — which is frequently the difference between a case that resolves quietly and one that escalates.

Federal Healthcare Fraud and the False Claims Act in San Diego

Healthcare remains the single largest category of False Claims Act enforcement nationally, and San Diego’s substantial healthcare and biotech sector draws sustained federal attention from HHS-OIG, the FBI, and the DOJ’s Healthcare Fraud Strike Force. Common allegations include billing for services not rendered, upcoding, medically unnecessary testing or procedures, and violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute or Stark Law that in turn render associated claims false under the FCA.

These cases are rarely as simple as “fraud or not.” They often turn on clinical judgment calls made in real time by a provider, reviewed years later by an auditor with no clinical context and the benefit of hindsight. Our healthcare fraud defense work involves medical experts, compliance specialists, and billing professionals who can reconstruct the clinical reasoning behind a treatment decision — because that reasoning, documented and explained clearly, is often the strongest defense available.

Wire Fraud Charges in San Diego

Wire fraud allegations under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 frequently accompany a False Claims Act case, since electronic submission of a false claim — an email, an online portal filing, an electronic funds transfer — can itself support a separate wire fraud charge. Federal prosecutors must prove a defendant intentionally devised a scheme to defraud and used interstate or foreign wire communications to carry it out. A wire fraud conviction carries up to 20 years in federal prison, rising to 30 years if the fraud involves a financial institution or a declared disaster or emergency, with fines up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations. Because wire fraud charges are frequently added to strengthen a weaker FCA case, a wire fraud attorney in San Diego who understands both statutes — and how prosecutors use them together — is often essential to a complete defense.

San Diego Qui Tam Defense Lawyers (Federal)

Qui tam defense requires specialized expertise that most law firms lack. Our federal  San Diego False Claims Act investigation attorneys have developed comprehensive strategies for defending against whistleblower allegations while managing the unique challenges of sealed proceedings.

The sealed nature of qui tam cases creates particular dangers. During the seal period, businesses may unknowingly take actions that appear to obstruct justice or destroy evidence. Our San Diego Qui Tam defense lawyers and False Claims Act attorneys help clients understand their obligations and avoid these pitfalls while building their False Claims Act defense.

San Diego PPP Fraud Criminal Defense Lawyers

The Paycheck Protection Program’s rushed implementation created numerous compliance challenges for San Diego businesses. Complex eligibility requirements, changing guidance, and retroactive rule modifications have led to False Claims Act investigations against businesses that genuinely believed they were complying with program requirements.

Our San Diego False Claims Act criminal defense lawyers and white collar crime attorneys understand that many PPP fraud investigations involve good-faith compliance efforts rather than intentional fraud. The SBA’s necessity certification requirement has become a particular enforcement focus, with businesses facing allegations even when they met all technical program requirements.

Common PPP allegations include payroll cost misrepresentation, violations of necessity certification, and improper use of funds. Our False Claims Act defense strategy focuses on demonstrating clients’ good-faith efforts to comply with ambiguous and changing program requirements.

We work with forensic accountants and business valuation experts to analyze clients’ financial condition during the pandemic and demonstrate a legitimate need for PPP funding. This comprehensive approach to the PPP False Claims Act defense has achieved favorable outcomes for numerous businesses.

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Other Federal Charges That Commonly Follow a False Claims Act Investigation

An FCA investigation rarely stays contained to a single statute. As agents dig through records, related charges frequently surface, including:

• Mail and wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343), when claims or communications were transmitted electronically or by mail.
• Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371), when more than one person is alleged to have participated in the scheme.
• Obstruction of justice, arising from document handling or communications during an active investigation — a risk that makes early legal guidance on preservation obligations critical.
• Money laundering (18 U.S.C. §§ 1956–1957), when proceeds of an alleged false claim were transferred or used in a way prosecutors characterize as concealment.
• Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law violations, in healthcare matters, which independently trigger FCA liability when tied to a federal claim.
• PPP and SBA loan fraud, for businesses that received pandemic-era federal funding and are now facing scrutiny over certifications made under fast-changing program guidance.

Because these charges compound, a defense strategy built around a single statute is rarely sufficient. Our team evaluates the full scope of potential exposure from the outset, not just the allegation named in the first letter or subpoena.

What To Do If You’ve Received a Subpoena or Civil Investigative Demand

A Civil Investigative Demand, or CID, is one of the most powerful tools available to DOJ in a False Claims Act investigation — an administrative subpoena that can compel documents, written interrogatory responses, and sworn testimony, often issued early in an investigation before any charges are filed. A few things matter more than anything else in the days after one arrives:

• Do not respond to investigators without counsel present, even informally. Statements made to “clear things up” are frequently used against the person who made them.
• Put a legal hold on relevant records immediately. Document preservation obligations begin the moment you become aware of a potential investigation, and failure to preserve records can lead to spoliation sanctions independent of the underlying allegations.
• Assume the government has been building its case for months. By the time a CID or subpoena arrives, investigators have often already reviewed substantial records and spoken with witnesses; the element of surprise favors them, not you.
• Get a legal assessment of civil versus criminal exposure early. These cases sit on a spectrum, and knowing which end you’re on shapes every subsequent decision, from whether to engage proactively with the government to how document review is structured.

San Diego White Collar Crime Defense: What We Do Differently

Most firms handling these cases nationally fall into one of two categories: healthcare-only boutiques with no government contracting experience, or general white collar practices without dedicated federal prosecution backgrounds on staff. Watson & Associates was built differently — a team where the healthcare fraud attorneys, the government contracts attorneys, and the general federal criminal defense attorneys work under one roof, led locally in San Diego by a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted these exact cases.

That structure matters in a market like San Diego, where a single company can face overlapping exposure — a defense contractor with a TAA compliance question that also touches a small business subcontracting certification, or a healthcare system facing both a Stark Law question and a wire fraud allegation tied to how claims were transmitted. Rather than referring pieces of a case to different specialists, our team evaluates the full picture from the start and builds one coordinated defense strategy across every statute in play.

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Talk to a San Diego False Claims Act Lawyer Today

If you’re facing a government investigation, a qui tam lawsuit, or you simply have questions after learning about an audit or a departed employee’s complaint, the conversation costs you nothing and the clock is already running. Call 1.866.601.5518 to speak directly with Carolyn Oliver or Theodore Watson, or reach out through our contact page.

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Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by reading this page. Not all attorneys of Watson & Associates, LLC are licensed in California.