U.S. v. Pecore

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendants' request for attorney fees under Equal Access to Justice Act where defendants were prevailing parties in False Claims Act, even though defendants argued that govt. was guilty of overreaching when it decided to bring FCA claim against defendants. Dist. Ct. could properly find that govt. had reasonable basis to believe that defendants knowingly submitted false invoices for work performed by defendants' Tribe under Hazardous Fuels Reduction program, so as to preclude attorney fee award, where: (1) record showed that Tribe had serious budget difficulties in its road dept. that eventually spent funds at issue in FCA claim; and (2) defendants used different invoicing systems that created confusion as to whether Tribe had actually performed work indicated in invoices. Ct. also rejected defendants' claim that govt. had failed to properly investigate its own FCA claim prior to filing said claim and noted that factual dispute contained in record demonstrated that reasonable person could have believed either party's theory of case.