Giantkillers : the team and the law that help whistle-blowers recover America's stolen billions / Henry Scammell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scammell, Henry.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. False Claims Amendments Act of 1986.

United States.

Popular actions--United States.

Popular actions.

Corruption investigation.

Citizen suits (Civil procedure)--United States.

Citizen suits (Civil procedure).

Whistle blowing--Law and legislation--United States.

Whistle blowing.

Whistle blowing--Law and legislation.

Corruption investigation--United States.

Physical Description:

x, 306 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Giant killers

Place of Publication:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, [2004]

Summary:

Enacted 150 years ago to help whistle-blowers bring crooked government contractors to justice, the False Claims Act is one of America's most important -- and least known -- public-interest laws. Giantkillers tells the dramatic and inspiring behind-the-scenes story of how crusading publicinterest attorney John Phillips revitalized this ailing law after it had been gutted by lobbyists and left for dead. During the 1980s, in response to massive fraud by corporate Goliaths such as Columbia/HCA, Smith Barney, and General Electric, Phillips took on a dramatic, high-stakes battle. Forging an unlikely alliance with a conservative senator and liberal congressman, it helped recraft the False Claims Act to give whistle-blowers the power to sue corrupt contractors on the government's behalf and receive up to 30 percent of the judgment. Since then, The Wall Street Journal says that "no other lawyer has done as much to help the government expose fraud."

Although corporate abuse receives front-page, prime-time coverage, few people understand how the offenders are actually brought to justice via the False Claims Act, how long the process takes (years to decades), and, ultimately, the toll the arduous process can take on the financial, physical, and emotional health of the whistle-blowers and their families. Through the incredible stories of ordinary people who risked friendships, careers, families, and even their lives in order to fight gross betrayals of the public trust, Giantkillers traces the evolution of the whistle-blower from social outcast to a new kind of American hero. Emil Stache nearly lost his life to contractor fraud when he fell victim to a faulty artillery shell in Vietnam. Years later, working for a crooked company that manufactured parts for nuclear weapons, he turned to the FBI to make sure the same thing didn't happen to others. Jim Alderson, who lost his job after blowing the whistle on rampant misfeasance by a national health-care company, went from being a small-town accountant and family man in Montana to the central figure in the longest, richest fraud case in American history. Michael Lissack, a Wall Street maverick on the rise, sacrificed his idyllic lifestyle to expose unchecked corruption, changing the face of an industry.

Charged with suspense, inspiring heroics, and riveting courtroom drama, Giantkillers offers a vivid insider's look into the world of whistle-blowers, their adversaries, and their allies, weighing the lure of corporate greed and reckless power against the high cost -- and often breath-taking rewards -- of personal integrity.

Contents:

Preface: A New American Hero xi

1 Last Man Standing 1

2 Quality Assurance 7

3 Killing Range 21

4 The Raid 27

5 Shoddy 36

6 No Good Deed Unpunished 47

7 In the Public Interest 52

8 Cliffhanger 67

9 First Light 80

10 Greasy Spoon 93

11 Rough Road to Fat City 106

12 Man in the Middle 116

13 Unjust Rewards 132

14 Solomon 143

15 Where the Money is 154

16 An American Dream, Part II 168

17 Let Me Count the Ways 181

18 Rocky Mountain Low 188

19 Flatlands 211

20 A Dog of a Case 221

21 The Fireman 229

22 One-Eyed Kings 240

23 Final Reckoning 259

24 What Happened Next 272

Afterword: Turning Up the Light / Senator Chuck Grassley, Congressman Howard Berman

I. The Law 280

II. Qui Tam Statistics 304.

ISBN:

087113909X

OCLC:

52937662