§ 357.040 — Liability for damages and civil penalty for certain acts

Nevada § 357.040

• Jurisdiction: Nevada
• Title 31: PUBLIC FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
• Ch. 357: Submission

Text

1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 357.050 , a person who, with or without specific intent to defraud, does any of the following listed acts is liable to the State or a political subdivision, whichever is affected, for the amounts set forth in subsection 2:
(a) Knowingly presents or causes to be presented a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval.
(b) Knowingly makes or uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement that is material to a false or fraudulent claim.
(c) Has possession, custody or control of public property or money used or to be used by the State or a political subdivision and knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered to the State or a political subdivision less money or property than the amount of which the person has possession, custody or control.
(d) Is authorized to prepare or deliver a document that certifies receipt of money or property used or to be used by the State or a political subdivision and knowingly prepares or delivers such a document without knowing that the information on the document is true.
(e) Knowingly buys, or receives as a pledge or security for an obligation or debt, public property from a person who is not authorized to sell or pledge the property.
(f) Knowingly makes or uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement that is material to an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the State or a political subdivision.
(g) Knowingly conceals or knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the State or a political subdivision.
(h) Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim and, after discovering the falsity of the claim, fails to disclose the falsity to the State or political subdivision within a reasonable time.
(i) Conspires to commit any of the acts set forth in this subsection.
2. For each act described in subsection 1 that is committed by a person, the person is liable for:
(a) Three times the amount of damages sustained by the State or political subdivision, whichever is affected, because of the act of the person;
(b) The costs of a civil action brought to recover the damages described in paragraph (a); and
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 or more than $11,000. A civil penalty imposed pursuant to this paragraph must correspond to any adjustments in the monetary amount of a civil penalty for a violation of the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a), made by the Attorney General of the United States in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-410, as amended.
3. As used in this section, a person acts “knowingly” with respect to information if he or she:
(a) Has knowledge of the information;
(b) Acts in deliberate ignorance of whether the information is true or false; or
(c) Acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.

Legislative History

(Added to NRS by 1999, 824 ; A 2007, 2398 ; 2013, 1044 ; 2015, 912 )