Precision Lens Fraud Suit Not ‘Extinguished’ by Owner’s Death

The False Claims Act case against Paul Ehlen—whose eyewear company was found liable for $487 million but who died in a June plane crash—will continue against his estate.

Kathryn Ehlen, Paul’s widow and the estate’s personal representative, failed to show that the FCA claims against her husband were “extinguished” upon his death, Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the US District Court for the District of Minnesota said in a Wednesday order.

By statute, only civil actions for damages survive the death of the defendant, the court said.

The FCA is both remedial—by allowing for the recovery of damages—and punitive—by ...