District Court Judge Rules Qui Tam Action Against Halliburton to Proceed
On July 8, 2013, the U.S. District Court District of Columbia ruled in favor of qui tam plaintiff Harry Barko. Barko, who is represented by Michael Kohn, David Colapinto and Stephen Kohn, brought an action alleging violations of the False Claims Act by Halliburton Company and its subcontractors.
Barko alleges that Defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States by using a subcontracting procedure that vastly inflated the costs of constructing laundry facilities and providing laundry services on at least three American military bases in Iraq. Halliburton and the other defendants asked the court to dismiss the action against them. The court ruled that Barko “provided a detailed description of the the specific falsehoods that are the basis for his suit,” denied Halliburton’s request and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
