US ex rel Ondis v. City of Woonsocket, No. 08-2389

By FindLaw Staff on November 18, 2009 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

In plaintiff's qui tam action against a city under the False Claims Act claiming that the city had defrauded the federal government by making false statements to the Department of Housing and Urban Development  when applying for federal grants, dismissal of the case is affirmed where there was no error in a conclusion that the FCA's public disclosure bar applied to divest the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over the action as: 1) the city's alleged misrepresentation and what the plaintiff alleges was the city's true plan were sufficiently in the public domain to ground an inference of fraud; 2) the public disclosure occurred in the manner specified in the statute; 3) plaintiff's suit is based upon those publicly disclosed allegations or transactions; 4) plaintiff does not qualify for the original source exception; and 5) district court did not err in precluding certain testimony during an evidentiary hearing.  

Read US ex rel Ondis v. City of Woonsocket, No. 08-2389

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Decided November 18, 2009

Judges

Before:  Torruella, Selya, and Howard, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Selya, Circuit Judge

Counsel

For Appellant: Leon A. Blais,  Blais & Parent

For Appellee: Michael B. Galvin, Justin P. O'Brien and Dwyer & Collora LLP

Copied to clipboard