STATE FALSE CLAIMS ACT: RHODE ISLAND

§ 9-1.1-1. Name of act. [Effective until February 15, 2008.]

This chapter may be cited as the State False Claims Act.

§ 9-1.1-2. Definitions. [Effective until February 15, 2008.]

As used in this chapter:

(a) "State" means the state of Rhode Island; any agency of state government; and any political subdivision meaning any city, town, county or other governmental entity authorized or created by state law, including public corporations and authorities.

(b) "Guard" means the Rhode Island National Guard.

(c) "Investigation" means any inquiry conducted by any investigator for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is or has been engaged in any violation of this chapter.

(d) "Investigator" means a person who is charged by the Rhode Island attorney general, or his or her designee with the duty of conducting any investigation under this act, or any officer or employee of the state acting under the direction and supervision of the department of attorney General.

(e) "Documentary material" includes the original or any copy of any book, record, report, memorandum, paper, communication, tabulation, chart, or other document, or data compilations stored in or accessible through computer or other information retrieval systems, together with instructions and all other materials necessary to use or interpret such data compilations, and any product of discovery.

(f) "Custodian" means the custodian, or any deputy custodian, designated by the attorney general under § 9-1.1-6 of the Rhode Island general laws.

(g) "Product of discovery" includes:

(1) The original or duplicate of any deposition, interrogatory, document, thing, result of the inspection of land or other property, examination, or admission, which is obtained by any method of discovery in any judicial or administrative proceeding of an adversarial nature;

(2) Any digest, analysis, selection, compilation, or derivation of any item listed in paragraph (1); and

(3) Any index or other manner of access to any item listed in paragraph (1).

§ 9-1.1-3. Liability for certain acts. [Effective until February 15, 2008.]

(a) Any person who:

(1) Knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, to an officer or employee of the state or a member of the guard 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 to get a false or fraudulent claim paid or approved by the state;

(3) Conspires to defraud the state by getting a false or fraudulent claim allowed or paid;

(4) Has possession, custody, or control of property or money used, or to be used, by the state and, intending to defraud the state or willfully to conceal the property, delivers, or causes to be delivered, less property than the amount for which the person receives a certificate or receipt;

(5) Authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used, or to be used, by the State and, intending to defraud the State, makes or delivers the receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;

(6) Knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from an officer or employee of the state, or a member of the guard, who lawfully may not sell or pledge the property; or

(7) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement to conceal, avoid or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the state, is liable to the state for a civil penalty of not less than five thousand dollars ($ 5,000) and not more than ten thousand dollars ($ 10,000), unless such a penalty has been or will be imposed for that claim or violation under the federal false claims act (31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq.) in the same or prior action, plus three (3) times the amount of damages which the state sustains because of the act of that person except that if the court finds that:

(a) The person committing the violation of this subsection furnished officials of the state responsible for investigating false claims violations with all information known to such person about the violation within thirty (30) days after the date on which the defendant first obtained the information;

(b) Such person fully cooperated with any state investigation of such violation; and

(c) At the time such person furnished the state with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced under this title with respect to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into such violation; the court may assess not less than two (2) times the amount of damages which the state sustains because of the act of the person. A person violating this subsection (a) shall also be liable to the state for the costs of a civil action brought to recover any such penalty or damages.

(b) Knowing and knowingly defined. As used in this section, the terms "knowing" and "knowingly" mean that a person, with respect to information:

(1) Has actual knowledge of the information;

(2) Acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information; or

(3) Acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information, and no proof of specific intent to defraud is required.

(c) Claim defined. As used in this Section, "claim" includes any request or demand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for money or property which is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient if the State provides any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded, or if the State will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded.

(d) Exclusion. This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made under the Rhode Island Personal Income Tax Law contained in RIGL Chapter 44-30.