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V. False Claims and Fraud
Federal law provides that official funds may be used only for the purposes for which they are appropriated.[30] When funds are used other than for their intended purposes, the misused funds may be recovered by the government for repayment to the United States Treasury.
[30] 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a).
The use of the MRA for other than official purposes, including double billing and claims for nonexistent expenses, could subject a Member, officer, or employee to civil penalties under the False Claims Act.[31] Any citizen may initiate such a suit, in the name of the United States, by alleging that false, fraudulent, or fictitious claims have been made. The Department of Justice may then take over the suit.[32] The government has also initiated civil suits against Members subsequent to their criminal prosecution for the same or related conduct. In one such suit, for example, the government contended that a former Member had used, and permitted his family and friends to use, his official telephone credit card to charge personal calls.[33]
[31] 31 U.S.C. § 3729. A civil penalty of $5,000 to $10,000, plus 3 times the amount of damages that the government sustains, may be imposed for knowing violations.
[32] 31 U.S.C. § 3730.
[33] United States v. Eilberg, 507 F. Supp. 267, 272-73 (E.D. Pa. 1980); see also United States v. Eilberg, 536 F. Supp. 514 (E.D. Pa. 1982).
Committee on House Administration regulations require Members to certify and document all expenses before funds may be disbursed from the MRA.[34] The use of money received by submitting such a voucher for other than official expenses may involve a fraud against the government, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (prohibiting making any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or using false writings, documents, or entries, concerning any matter within the jurisdiction of any agency or department of the United States). The Supreme Court has ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 1001 applies to false statements, writings, or other representations made to a disbursing officer of the U.S. House of Representatives in furtherance of a fraudulent scheme.[35] In another case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a Member’s conviction of fraud for having used an official allowance “for purposes other than those intended by the appropriation and duly certified by the congressman.”[36]
[34] Members’ Handbook: Seeking Reimbursement: Vouchers.
[35] United States v. Bramblett, 348 U.S. 503 (1955).
[36] United States v. Diggs, 613 F.2d 988, 997 (D.C. Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 982 (1980).
Other criminal provisions of the United States Code prohibit:
- Making false or fictitious claims upon the United States;[37]
- Conspiring to defraud the government by obtaining or aiding in obtaining the payment of false claims;[38]
- Knowingly stealing or “convert[ing] to [one’s] use or the use of another . . . any money or thing of value of the United States.”[39]
[37] 2 U.S.C. § 287.
[38] 2 U.S.C. § 286; see also 18 U.S.C. § 371.
[39] 18 U.S.C. § 641.
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