The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has confirmed a District Court ruling to dismiss a suit by Jeffrey Berkowitz of Complete Packaging and Shipping Supplies which alleged that nine of his competitors were violating the FCA by selling products to the government that did not comply with the Trade Agreements Act.
Each of the defendants allegedly had a GSA Schedule contract that contained a “Trade Agreements Certificate” certifying that the products being sold were from TAA-compliant countries. The relator alleged that they were selling products that did not comply with the TAA, and thus were attempting to defraud the government. The District Court dismissed the case with prejudice, holding that the relator failed to allege enough details to support a claim for fraud.
On appeal, the relator argued that any invoices that the defendants submitted to the government that did not comply with the TAA constituted false statements under the FCA. The Seventh Circuit disagreed, finding that he was required to allege “specific facts demonstrating what occurred at the individualized transactional level for each defendant.”