US Backs FCC Whistleblower in SCOTUS Wisconsin Bell Fraud Suit

In an amicus brief filed to the US Supreme Court, the US government said a False Claims Act whistleblower should be allowed to proceed with his suit alleging that Wisconsin Bell Inc. defrauded a Federal Communications Commission program that helps schools and libraries.

The company, an AT&T subsidiary, says that the suit can’t go forward because any alleged misconduct didn’t cost the government anything. The FCC’s E-Rate—or Education Rate—program that whistleblower Todd Heath says was defrauded, is funded by private money, according to Wisconsin Bell.

But money in the Universal Service Fund that supports E-Rate “does belong to the ...