STATE FALSE CLAIMS ACT: INDIANA

5-11-5.5-1 Definitions

Sec. 1. The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:

(1) "Claim" means a request or demand for money or property that is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient if the state:

(A) provides any part of the money or property that is requested or demanded; or

(B) will reimburse the contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any part of the money or property that is requested or demanded.

(2) "Documentary material" means:

(A) the original or a copy of a book, record, report, memorandum, paper, communication, tabulation, chart, or other document;

(B) a data compilation stored in or accessible through computer or other information retrieval systems, together with instructions and all other materials necessary to use or interpret the data compilations; and

(C) a product of discovery.

(3) "Investigation" means an inquiry conducted by an investigator to ascertain whether a person is or has been engaged in a violation of this chapter.

(4) "Knowing", "knowingly", or " known" means that a person, regarding information:

(A) has actual knowledge of the information;

(B) acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or

(C) acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.

(5) "Person" includes a natural person, a corporation, a firm, an association, an organization, a partnership, a limited liability company, a business, or a trust.

(6) "Product of discovery" means the original or duplicate of:

(A) a deposition;

(B) an interrogatory;

(C) a document;

(D) a thing;

(E) a result of the inspection of land or other property; or

(F) an examination or admission;

that is obtained by any method of discovery in a judicial or an administrative proceeding of an adversarial nature. The term includes a digest, an analysis, a selection, a compilation, a derivation, an index, or another method of accessing an item listed in this subdivision.

(7) "State" means Indiana or any agency of state government. The term does not include a political subdivision.

5-11-5.5-2 Fraudulent actions against the state; civil penalty

Sec. 2. (a) This section does not apply to a claim, record, or statement concerning income tax (IC 6-3).

(b) A person who knowingly or intentionally:

(1) presents a false claim to the state for payment or approval;

(2) makes or uses a false record or statement to obtain payment or approval of a false claim from the state;

(3) with intent to defraud the state, delivers less money or property to the state than the amount recorded on the certificate or receipt the person receives from the state;

(4) with intent to defraud the state, authorizes issuance of a receipt without knowing that the information on the receipt is true;

(5) receives public property as a pledge of an obligation on a debt from an employee who is not lawfully authorized to sell or pledge the property;

(6) makes or uses a false record or statement to avoid an obligation to pay or transmit property to the state;

(7) conspires with another person to perform an act described in subdivisions (1) through (6); or

(8) causes or induces another person to perform an act described in subdivisions (1) through (6);

is, except as provided in subsection (c), liable to the state for a civil penalty of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000) and for up to three (3) times the amount of damages sustained by the state. In addition, a person who violates this section is liable to the state for the costs of a civil action brought to recover a penalty or damages.

(c) If the factfinder determines that the person who violated this section:

(1) furnished state officials with all information known to the person about the violation not later than thirty (30) days after the date on which the person obtained the information;

(2) fully cooperated with the investigation of the violation; and

(3) did not have knowledge of the existence of an investigation, a criminal prosecution, a civil action, or an administrative action concerning the violation at the time the person provided information to state officials;

the person is liable for a penalty of not less than two (2) times the amount of damages that the state sustained because of the violation. A person who violates this section is also liable to the state for the costs of a civil action brought to recover a penalty or damages.