Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/210/257/393672/
Timestamp: 2020-01-19 08:25:30
Document Index: 26565563

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3491', '§ 232', '§ 232', '§ 232', '§ 3494', '§ 235']

United States Ex Rel. Bayarsky v. Brooks et al, 210 F.2d 257 (3d Cir. 1954) :: Justia
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United States Ex Rel. Bayarsky v. Brooks et al, 210 F.2d 257 (3d Cir. 1954)
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - 210 F.2d 257 (3d Cir. 1954) Argued September 17, 1953
Bayarsky instituted the instant qui tam action on January 5, 1942, under the False Claims Act, enacted March 2, 1863, R.S. § 3491. The Act was amended on December 23, 1943, 57 Stat. 608. See 31 U.S.C.A. § 232. The case has been before us once before on appeal and the facts set out in our earlier opinion need not be repeated here. We reversed an order of the court below abating the suit, concluding that despite the fact that the complaint filed by Bayarsky, mutatis mutandis, was a Chinese copy of an indictment filed by the United States, and contained no information not in the possession of the United States on January 5, 1942, nonetheless the suit did not abate because the United States had filed a timely appearance in the action pursuant to 31 U.S.C.A. § 232(C) and (D). See D.C.N.J. 1945, 58 F. Supp. 714 and 3 Cir., 1946, 154 F.2d 344. Following our opinion the instant suit lay dormant, as did an independent suit on the identical claim filed by the United States in its own name on May 19, 1943, being United States v. Adametz, C.A. No. 2914 (D.C.N.J.). Thereafter the claim was settled by a payment of $225,000 made to the United States. The sole issue before the court below was Bayarsky's right to an informer's fee. The court decided that he was not entitled to anything, D.C., 110 F. Supp. 175, and the appeal at bar followed.
The employment by Congress of the article "the", emphasized and quoted in the foregoing paragraph, read in conjunction with the phrase, also quoted, "who brought such suit", indicates that the information given to the United States upon which recovery by the informer must be based is the information or evidence upon which the informer based his own suit. Otherwise, the use by Congress of the word "the" is meaningless. Bayarsky reads 31 U.S.C.A. § 232(E) (1) as if the word "the" were omitted. Had it been omitted any substantial information given to the United States by the informer following the filing of the informer's suit would furnish a basis for an award to the informer as Bayarsky in effect contends.
It is only fair to point out that Bayarsky rendered one valuable service to the United States in this case. He prevented the bar of the statute of limitations from running. Bayarsky began his suit before the statute of limitations had barred action. See R.S. § 3494, 31 U.S.C.A. § 235. But the United States did not intervene until 1944, after the statute had run. It was only by intervention in Bayarsky's suit that the United States was able to recover. Bayarsky had requested the United States to take over the action soon after he had begun it but the United States refused to intervene in the suit at that time