July 10, 2019

Overstock.com has been ordered by a Delaware court to pay $7.3 million following a jury verdict against it on claims that the online retailer misrepresented its disposition of abandoned gift card balances to Delaware’s revenue agency in order to avoid obligations under the Delaware escheat law, which requires that Delaware-chartered companies turn over unclaimed assets to the state.  The case was brought by whistleblower William Sean French, a former employee of a gift card company, under the Delaware False Claims and Reporting Act. DEL (note: the trial court judgment was reversed by the Delaware Supreme Court in an opinion issued June 24, 2020)

Tagged in: FCA State, Government Programs Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,