In 1986, Congress amended the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. See generally False Claims Act Amendments of 1986, Pub.L. 99-562, 100 Stat. 3153 (October 27, 1986), reprinted in, 10A USCCAN (December 1986). One of Congress's objectives in modifying the Act was to encourage the use of qui tam actions in which citizens are authorized to bring, as "private Attorneys General," lawsuits on behalf of the United States alleging frauds upon the government. The private citizen plaintiff in such a lawsuit is often referred to as the "relator." To this end, Congress increased the amount by which a relator would share in any money recovered, liberalized the circumstances under which a private citizen could bring a qui tam action, and increased the relator's role intime.

Given this brief period, it is necessary to gather as much information as quickly as possible. To this end, it is important that United States Attorneys promptly forward a copy of a qui tam complaint and statement of evidence to the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division, because relators frequently fail to serve the Attorney General or delay in doing so. The Commercial Litigation Branch will contact the agency involved, the Criminal Division, and, frequently, the Inspector General of the agency, to determine if the allegations are known to them and to obtain an assessment of the material evidence furnished by the relator. The Criminal Division will, in turn, check with appropriate United States Attorneys' offices USAOs and investigative agencies to determine if the allegations relate to