Section 12651 Of Article 9. False Claims Actions From California Government Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 6. >> Article 9.
12651
. (a) Any person who commits any of the following enumerated
acts in this subdivision shall have violated this article and shall
be liable to the state or to the political subdivision for three
times the amount of damages that the state or political subdivision
sustains because of the act of that person. A person who commits any
of the following enumerated acts shall also be liable to the state or
to the political subdivision for the costs of a civil action brought
to recover any of those penalties or damages, and shall be liable to
the state or political subdivision for a civil penalty of not less
than five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500) and not more than
eleven thousand dollars ($11,000) for each violation:
(1) Knowingly presents or causes to be presented a false or
fraudulent claim for payment or approval.
(2) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false
record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim.
(3) Conspires to commit a violation of this subdivision.
(4) Has possession, custody, or control of public property or
money used or to be used by the state or by any political subdivision
and knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered less than all of
that property.
(5) Is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt
of property used or to be used by the state or by any political
subdivision and knowingly makes or delivers a receipt that falsely
represents the property used or to be used.
(6) Knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or
debt, public property from any person who lawfully may not sell or
pledge the property.
(7) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false
record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit
money or property to the state or to any political subdivision, or
knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids, or decreases
an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the state or to
any political subdivision.
(8) Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false
claim, subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim, and fails to
disclose the false claim to the state or the political subdivision
within a reasonable time after discovery of the false claim.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the court may assess not less
than two times and not more than three times the amount of damages
which the state or the political subdivision sustains because of the
act of the person described in that subdivision, and no civil
penalty, if the court finds all of the following:
(1) The person committing the violation furnished officials of the
state or of the political subdivision responsible for investigating
false claims violations with all information known to that person
about the violation within 30 days after the date on which the person
first obtained the information.
(2) The person fully cooperated with any investigation by the
state or a political subdivision of the violation.
(3) At the time the person furnished the state or the political
subdivision with information about the violation, no criminal
prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced
with respect to the violation, and the person did not have actual
knowledge of the existence of an investigation into the violation.
(c) Liability under this section shall be joint and several for
any act committed by two or more persons.
(d) This section does not apply to any controversy involving an
amount of less than five hundred dollars ($500) in value. For
purposes of this subdivision, "controversy" means any one or more
false claims submitted by the same person in violation of this
article.
(e) This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements
made pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title
1 or to workers' compensation claims filed pursuant to Division 4
(commencing with Section 3200) of the Labor Code.
(f) This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements
made under the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(g) This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements
for the assets of a person that have been transferred to the
Commissioner of Insurance, pursuant to Section 1011 of the Insurance
Code.