Washington — Crime may not pay, but blowing the whistle on companies that swindle the government sure can.
Jim Alderson got $20 million in one settlement and split $100 million with another whistleblower in a related case, both involving Medicare fraud by the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain and a company it acquired.
Once facing a wrecked career and no pension, Alderson, 58, now owns houses in Plano, Texas, and Whitefish, Mont., drives a new Thunderbird and has established a charitable foundation with the money he received. While his pastures became greener after long legal battles, blowing the whistle was no easy ride into the sunset.
"You risk everything when you do it," he said.
Alderson is among the beneficiaries of a law passed nearly two decades ago that encourages whistleblowers to come forward by promising them up to a quarter of the money recovered by the government.
Since its inception, the False Claims Act has generated $12 billion for the federal treasury and more than $1 billion for hundreds of whistleblowers.
Companies have been caught for many things, from selling defective parts for U.S. military aircraft to paying kickbacks to doctors for prescribing unneeded medicines and services and then overbilling Medicare and Medicaid.
"It's a very powerful law," said Patrick Burns, spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, a consumer advocacy group. "You start pulling on a thread and a whole circus tent comes unraveled."
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