Jana, Inc. v. United States

42 Cont. Cas. Fed. 77,370, 41 Fed. Cl. 735, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 216, 1998 WL 566858
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedSeptember 3, 1998
DocketNo. 94-203C
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 42 Cont. Cas. Fed. 77,370 (Jana, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jana, Inc. v. United States, 42 Cont. Cas. Fed. 77,370, 41 Fed. Cl. 735, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 216, 1998 WL 566858 (uscfc 1998).

Opinion

Opinion and Order1

WEINSTEIN, Judge.

Plaintiff, Jana, Inc. (Jana) has moved for partial summary judgment on eight of the government’s thirteen counterclaims for fraud under: the False Claims Act (FCA), as amended, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733 (1994); section 5 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978(CDA), as amended, 41 U.S.C. § 604 (1994); and the common law. Plaintiff also seeks dismissal of defendant’s special plea in fraud under 28 U.S.C. § 2415 (1994) and of defendant’s claim for an offset under 28 U.S.C. § 1503 (1994). The first seven counterclaims arise from allegedly false claims under a 1980 time and materials contract with the Department of the Navy (Navy) to develop aeronautical/technical manuals and associated support services, contract No. N001-40-80-D-2454 (contract 2454). The eighth through thirteenth counterclaims concern a 1984 cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery contract with the Navy, No. N001-4085-D-E-260 (contract E-260), also to provide aeronautical manuals and related services.2 The motion is denied.

The counterclaims were filed on May 17, 1995. On June 8, 1995, plaintiff moved to dismiss all of these counterclaims for lack of jurisdiction. The first ground argued is that all but five of plaintiffs invoices under these contracts having been submitted and reviewed by the government prior to October 27, 1986 were barred thereafter by the six-year statutes of limitations in the pre-1986 FCA3 and Section 5 of the CDA, 41 U.S.C. [737]*737§ 604. Plaintiff argues that both statutes began to run upon the submission of a false invoice and did not begin, as the government argues, when the government made final payment of the claim. Second, plaintiff argues that defendant’s allegations of jurisdiction were insufficient. Defendant argues that the six-year statute was equitably tolled, at the earliest, on April 26, 1990.

On November 15, 1995, the court ruled that the 1986 amendment to the FCA, adding 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(2) to the six-year statute of limitation under § 3731(b)(1), should be applied retroactively. Under 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(2), if the government doesn’t know of the violation, the statute is not tolled until 3 years after the government knew or should have known of the false claim, but in no event until 10 years from the date of the violation. The court thus held that the only counterclaims barred were the portions of the first, second, eighth and ninth counterclaims based on false claims in connection with contract 2454 that were submitted before May 17, 1989 (6 years before the counterclaims were filed) and neither re-asserted subsequently nor discovered after May 17, 1992 (3 years before the counterclaims were filed). See Jana, Inc. v. United States, 34 Fed. Cl. 447 (1995).

The court’s November 15, 1995 opinion also held that there was no statute of limitation for a special plea in fraud under 28 U.S.C. § 2415 or for common-law fraud counterclaims. Defendant, as required by the November, 1995 order, has presented the basis for its contention that the government did not discover the violation until after May 17, 1992. Thereafter, at the government’s request, discovery was extended until after the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) completed an audit of plaintiffs claim under contract E-260, which was initially scheduled to be completed on December 31, 1996, but was not actually completed until July 10, 1997, due to plaintiffs delays in providing information to the auditor. Discovery closed on September 29, 1997.

Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment contends that the counterclaims regarding contract E-260 are barred, either by the FCA’s six-year statute of limitations or because the July 10, 1997 DCAA audit report on the incurring, allowability, and allocation of costs found no fraud associated with contract E-260. Alternatively, plaintiff requests a ruling that the 3-year statute of limitations under the post-1986 FCA began to run in April or May of 1990, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) first received notice that certain irregularities had occurred with respect to this contract, and thus that the counterclaims were barred by the time they were filed in this court on May 17, 1995. Thus, effectively, plaintiff contends that the 3-year statute trumps the six-year statute. See 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b). Plaintiff also claims that the government has failed to plead fraud with the particularity required by Rule 9(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). And plaintiff yet again asks the court to reconsider its November 15, 1995 decision that the 1986 FCA amendment was retroactive and, thus, that defendant’s FCA counterclaims regarding violations prior to May 17, 1989 under contract 2454 were not barred by the six-year statute but only until 3 years after defendant learned of the false claims (in 1992).4

Defendant continues to argue that the six-year statutory bar on claims for damages under the FCA does not begin to run until the date of payment of the fraudulent claim, within seven years of the violation, although the civil claim begins to run on the date of submission.5 Defendant contends that this [738]*738did not occur until October (or, at the earliest, July) of 1992. If so, the May 17, 1995 filing occurred within the three year time period allowed by the 1986 amendment to the FCA. Defendant also claims that the six-year statute, 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(1), does not begin to ran until the date of final payment of a false claim, not, as plaintiff contends, on the date of plaintiffs request for payment. Alternatively, defendant contends that the 3-year statute did not begin to ran until the government reasonably should have discovered the fraud, which event, it claims, occurred within ten years after the alleged violation(s).

Background6

The following material facts are not in dispute:

On February 8, 1980, the Navy Regional Contracting Office (NRCC) awarded Jana a time-and-materials contract (contract 2454) in the amount of $4,492,445.00, to provide aeronautical/teehnieal publication services to the Navy. Plaintiffs payment vouchers for delivery order ZZN5 under contract 2454 were signed by the contractor’s representative between September 10, 1984 and March 9, 1987, and approved by the contracting officer (CO) between October 18, 1984 and March 17, 1987. Under contract 2454’s delivery order ZZM3, Jana, by the contractor’s representative, signed payment vouchers between August 13, 1984 and September 15, 1986, which were approved by the CO between September 25, 1984 and September 15, 1986.

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Bluebook (online)
42 Cont. Cas. Fed. 77,370, 41 Fed. Cl. 735, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 216, 1998 WL 566858, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jana-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-1998.