New York City is inserting notices into 240,000 paychecks this week to encourage employees to report frauds against the City. The notices inform City employees about the False Claims Act (FCA) which provides whistleblowers with a percentage of the government’s recovery against fraudulent claimants. New York City, Chicago and Washington (DC) are the only cities with "Little FCAs" that take advantage of a federal amendment that gives state and local governments a share of federal fraud recoveries in their jurisdictions. By enacting comparable local legislation, the local government can share in the millions of dollars recovered every year by the federal government. The National Whistleblower Center has an interactive map showing that 26 states have Little FCAs and 24 do not.
Epoch Times reports that the NYC payroll insert is the initiative of council member David Yassky. Mr. Yassky told the paper, “This effort to raise awareness of the False Claims Act will help us go after contractors who defraud the taxpayers, and ensure dollars are going toward helping middle class and working class people through these difficult economic times.”